Bora-Sheelei is the warrior-maiden of Tuvan heroic song, celebrated as the rare female protagonist in a genre dominated by male heroes. In the epic that bears her name alongside her brother's, it is she who drives the action: when Boktu-Kirish is slain, she sets out shrewd and undaunted on the quest that will bring him back to life, taking on a warrior's part and outwitting her enemies. Her portrait as a decisive, resourceful heroine has made 'Boktug-Kirish, Bora-Sheelei' one of the most beloved and most frequently recorded of Tuvan epics, and a touchstone for discussions of women in Siberian-Turkic oral literature.