Excerpts from Hungarian mythology - Part 2 – Táltos horses

The táltos horse is a common character in Hungarian tales and legends. Its presence in Hungarian mythology dates back to the ancient Ugric era. The image of the táltos horse and the táltos are not two different, separating concepts, but are very much organically connected. The táltos and the horse can only accomplish their job together. The hero usually find a weakened horse, they have to care for it and feed with embers. When the horse has eaten the embers it turns into a táltos horse. A common motive in these stories is that the protagonist, who himself also has supernatural abilities on have third attempt to free, "steal" his future wife. Some characteristics of the táltos horses: they are intelligent, foresee future events, able to speak, possessing several supernatural abilities, often have five legs, sometimes with wings, have ability to fly, advising his owner. These stories also found in ob ugric mythology. Mir-Susne-Hum the culture hero of the Samoyedic and Ugric peoples also have táltos horse. He was the seventh son of Num-Torum, the supreme god of the Ob-Ugrian people. The fact that táltos horses often have an extra body part show similarity with táltos who, for example, often have six fingers.