Tulpar

Origin and myth

Tulpar is the winged or heavenly horse of Turkic legend, known under closely related names among Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Bashkirs, Tatars and other Turkic peoples. It belongs to the oral tradition of the steppe, where the horse was the centre of life, and a hero was unthinkable without a steed as legendary as himself. In Kazakh epics such as Koblandy-batyr and Alpamys, and in the Kyrgyz Manas, the hero's horse has the qualities of a tulpar: it is faster than the wind, tireless, devoted to its master and bound to his fate. Koblandy's horse Taiburyl, for example, is one of the most celebrated steeds of Kazakh epic.

The wings are not always literal. In many epic passages a hero's horse is "winged" in the sense of impossibly swift, and Turkic proverbs call the horse a man's wings; in other legends and in art the tulpar truly flies. The image is old on the steppe: winged horses appear in Saka-period metalwork, including the headdress of the Golden Man from the Issyk burial mound. This blend of real horse and sky creature sets the tulpar apart from the Greek Pegasus, which was born winged from a single myth.

Tulpar remains a word of praise for an exceptional horse, and the image is on the state emblem of Kazakhstan, where two winged horses flank a shanyrak, the crown of a yurt.

Appearance

A tulpar is a steppe horse first: compact, deep-chested, with a short strong back, muscular hindquarters and thick mane and tail. The head is refined with wide nostrils and alert ears.

The wings are the identifying feature. In heraldic and modern depictions they are bird wings rising from the shoulders, long primaries sweeping back past the croup. Ancient Saka metalwork renders wings in a more stylised way, which a sculptor can echo with curling, simplified feather tips. A half-folded pose suits the earthy, horse-first character of the tulpar better than a full heraldic spread. Coat colours of epic horses vary from tale to tale, and many are named after their colour, so any natural horse colour is defensible.

In modern fantasy

Winged horses are a standard fixture of fantasy games and films, usually under the Pegasus name, and the tulpar is generally absorbed into that category in tabletop systems and in strategy games with flying cavalry units. Where Central Asian settings are built out, in works drawing on nomadic culture, the tulpar can appear under its own name, typically as the hero's loyal mount.

3D printing notes

Horses are unforgiving subjects for 3D printing because they stand on four thin legs, and a winged horse adds two large overhangs. For 28-32 mm tabletop miniatures, resin is the only realistic choice; print the horse with a tail or a wing tip touching the base to give the legs extra support, and consider a rearing pose where the hind legs and tail form a tripod.

At 75 mm, split the model into body, two wings and possibly the head-and-neck, all keyed with pegs. Print the wings flat, feather side up, so the supports land on the underside. The body can be hollowed to 2 mm walls. FDM works at this size for the body if the wings are printed in resin or thickened to 2.5 mm.

A 150 mm and larger display piece looks best in a galloping or leaping pose with a single rear hoof and the tail attached to a rocky or grassy steppe base. Design the connection points to hide a 3 mm brass rod through the leg and into the base. If you want a print-in-place feature, a wing hinge that lets the wings fold flat against the body works at 100 mm and up with 0.4 mm clearances.

Painting and display

A dapple grey or a dark bay with a white blaze is the classic tulpar look. For grey, base coat in mid-grey, apply a dark wash, then drybrush progressively lighter greys and add dapples with a fine sponge. The wings can be painted as natural raptor feathers, brown and cream with dark bars, or in white and gold for a heraldic version.

For the base, short steppe grass tufts on an ochre ground with a few feather-grass stalks tell the story instantly. A small blue accent, such as a saddle blanket in Kazakh blue and gold, ties the figure to its origin. A tiny amber LED in the base hinting at glowing eyes suits a night version.

Related creatures

The Greek Pegasus is the obvious counterpart, and the Hippogriff and Unicorn are the other legendary steeds of Europe. In Kazakh tales the tulpar shares the sky with the great bird Samruk.

Sources

• Wikipedia, Tulpar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpar
• Kure Encyclopedia, Tulpar, https://test.kureansiklopedi.com/en/detay/tulpar-0a393
• Wikipedia, Emblem of Kazakhstan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblem_of_Kazakhstan

Want a tulpar in a pose of your choice? Ask Fantasy Lab 3D for a custom print.