Su İyesi

Su İyesi is described in Turkic sources as the localized guardian spirit (iye) of particular waters. Some accounts note that the water personification can be female or male and one source indicates she/he may be considered a child of Yer Tanrı in certain genealogical framings; however, detailed unified cosmogonic narratives are not provided in the available materials. Overall Su İyesi belongs to the wider category of iyes — tutelary spirits associated with elements and places in a Turko‑Mongolian folk ontology.

Although essentially incorporeal, Su İyesi is reported to assume anthropomorphic or zoomorphic forms. The female Su Ana is attested as a naked young woman with a fairy-like face and long yellow hair often described as covered in black fish scales, possessing a fish's tail and eyes that 'burn like fire', and she is said to travel along her river on a half-sunken log. The male Su Ata is described as an old man with a frog-like face, greenish beard, a body covered in algae and muck, and webbed paws instead of hands. Occasional accounts note other forms (e.g., a bull) as variant depictions.

Su İyesi is associated with control or influence over local water phenomena: floods, storms, shipwrecks and drownings are attributed to it when angered. It is said to break dams, wash away water mills, and drag people and animals down to underwater dwellings to serve or be drowned. Conversely, traditions also ascribe beneficent roles such as bringing rain. Some named types (e.g., Su Dedesi) are said to cause a malady described as 'Water Disease' (watery bubbles in the body) in folkloric descriptions.