Fire-Bringer Born of Stone

Kabardian/Adyghe ⟨Сосрыкъуэ⟩ Sosrəqʷə; the element ⟨къуэ⟩ qʷə = 'son'. He is the Circassian counterpart of Ossetian Soslan/Sozyryko but treated here as a distinct Circassian figure. Classed demigod (culture-hero/Nart) per the schema; the Narts are a semi-divine race.

Parentage

• parent: Mother of the Narts

Domains

• fire theft
• trickery
• culture hero

Powers

• wrests fire from the sleeping giant for the Narts
• withstands being quenched in the smith's water like a blade
• catches and hurls the deadly rolling wheel back uphill
• is tempered in the smith's forge to a body of iron, invulnerable but at the knees/hips

Epithets

• the fire-bringer latin · Sosruquo · nartThe steel-bodied trickster-hero, born from a stone, who carried fire back to the NartsJ. Colarusso, Nart Sagas from the Caucasus (secondary)

Relations

• companion: The Great NartComrades among the four great Narts.Colarusso, Nart Sagas from the Caucasus (2002) (secondary)
• companion: The Avenger NartComrades among the four great Narts.Colarusso, Nart Sagas from the Caucasus (2002) (secondary)

Sources

• Sosruquo is a Nart trickster-hero, born from a stone impregnated by a shepherd watching Setenaya, tempered by the smith Tlepsh, and the bringer of fire to the Narts.: Colarusso, John. Nart Sagas from the Caucasus. Princeton UP, 2002, Sosruquo cycle (birth from stone, tempering, fire-bringing, death by the wheel). (secondary); Jaimoukha, Amjad. The Circassians: A Handbook. Curzon, 2001 (Sosriqwe as fire-bringer and son of Satanaya). (secondary)
• Folk etymology parses the name as 'son of the fiery sword-strike' (sa 'sword' + wa 'strike' + sər 'heat' + qʷa 'son').: Colarusso, John. Nart Sagas from the Caucasus, 2002, notes on Sosruquo's name. (secondary)