Q'ursha
Q'ursha ({{lang-ka|ყურშა}}; also Qursha or Kursha) is a legendary dog from Georgian mythology. Although he appears in a number of different stories, he is best known as the loyal companion of the culture hero Amirani.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QhJmAAAAMAAJ&q=q'ursha|title=Proceedings of the Ninth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, Los Angeles, May 23,24, 1997|last=Jones-Bley|first=Karlene|date=1998|publisher=Institute for the Study of Man|isbn=9780941694650|language=en}} His name means "black-ear", a common Georgian name for dogs.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4yUiM_pG2dUC&q=q%27ursha+dog&pg=PA226|title=When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth|last1=Barber|first1=Elizabeth Wayland|last2=Barber|first2=Paul T.|date=2012-01-02|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1400842865|pages=226|language=en}} He was said to be born of either a raven or an eagle and is sometimes depicted as having eagle{{'}}s wings as a result. Apart from his wings, Q'ursha was sometimes described with other special features: colossal paws, "lips of gold, and eyes as big as sieves".{{Cite book|last=Charachidzé|first=Georges|title=American, African, and Old European Mythologies|date=1993-05-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-06457-4|editor-last=Bonnefoy|editor-first=Yves|location=Chicago|pages=261|language=en|translator-last1=Leavitt|translator-first1=John|chapter=The Religion and Myths of the Georgians of the Mountains|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/americanafricano00bonn/page/260}}{{Cite book|url=http://science.org.ge/books/2017/virsaladze.pdf|title=Georgian hunting myths and poetry|last=Virsaladze|first=E.B.|publisher=Georgian National Academy of Sciences|year=2017|editor-last=Khukhunaishvili-Tsiklauri|editor-first=Mary|page=44|translator-last=Hunt|translator-first=D.G.|orig-year=Originally published in Georgian in 1976|editor-last2=Abashidze|editor-first2=Elene|access-date=2018-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162118/http://science.org.ge/books/2017/virsaladze.pdf|archive-date=2018-06-12|url-status=dead}} He was attributed supernatural abilities such as a thunderous bark, a leap "as big as a great field" and an infallible ability to track prey.
Q'ursha was the subject of the popular Georgian folk song "O my Kursha!", which dates back to at least the 18th century. The Georgian poet Davit Guramishvili, born in 1705, wrote of a desire to hear it again, in a poem describing his youth.{{Cite book|url=http://science.org.ge/books/2017/virsaladze.pdf|title=Georgian hunting myths and poetry|last=Virsaladze|first=E.B.|publisher=Georgian National Academy of Sciences|year=2017|editor-last=Khukhunaishvili-Tsiklauri|editor-first=Mary|pages=43|translator-last=Hunt|translator-first=D.G.|orig-year=Originally published in Georgian in 1976|editor-last2=Abashidze|editor-first2=Elene|access-date=2018-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162118/http://science.org.ge/books/2017/virsaladze.pdf|archive-date=2018-06-12|url-status=dead}} There are at least twenty-seven documented versions of the song.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20EhBQAAQBAJ&q=kursha+appears&pg=PT127|title=Legends of the Caucasus|last=Hunt|first=David|date=2012-05-28|publisher=Saqi|isbn=9780863568237|language=en|chapter=36. Kvartsikheli Tebru Ivane}}
Companions
Amirani, as a national Georgian hero, is the most prominent mythological figure associated with Q'ursha.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfrWCQAAQBAJ&q=amirani+georgia+national+hero&pg=PA405|title=The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems [2 volumes]|last=Minahan|first=James B.|date=2009-12-23|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313344978|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTMUAQAAMAAJ&q=q'ursha+georgian|title=Classica Et Mediaevalia|last=Norvin|first=William|date=2007|publisher=Librairie Gyldendal|isbn=9788763507554|language=en}} As the son of the mountain goddess Dali and a mortal hunter, he was a demigod of enormous strength.{{Cite book|url=http://www.mapageweb.umontreal.ca/tuitekj/publications/Tuite-2000-Dali.pdf|title=Language, Culture and the Individual. A Tribute to Paul Friedrich|last=Tuite|first=Kevin|date=2006-02-20|website=University of Montreal|editor-last1=O’Neil|editor-first1=Catherine|pages=4–5|chapter=The meaning of Dæl. Symbolic and spatial associations of the south Caucasian goddess of game animals.|access-date=2017-12-09|editor-last2=Scoggin|editor-first2=Mary|editor-last3=Tuite|editor-first3=Kevin}} He traveled the earth challenging "demons and dragons alike," until he decides that there are no worthy opponents left for him and issues a challenge to God himself. God chains him to a pole inside a mountain for his defiance, and his faithful hound Q'ursha is trapped along with him. Q'ursha licks Amirani's chains constantly, weakening them more and more until Amirani is almost able to escape.{{Cite book|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297513997|title=Georgia through its legends, folklore and people|last1=Berman|first1=M|last2=Kalandadze|first2=K|last3=Kuparadze|first3=George|last4=Rusieshvili|first4=Manana|date=2011-01-01|pages=92}} However, every year they would be renewed just before Q'ursha could free Amirani.
The hunter Betkil was another man said to be accompanied by Q'ursha. Unlike Amirani, Betkil was merely a mortal. The goddess Dali took him as her lover, but when he betrayed her trust by sleeping with a mortal woman, she lured him to the top of a mountain in revenge.{{Cite book|url=http://www.mapageweb.umontreal.ca/tuitekj/publications/Tuite-2000-Dali.pdf|title=Language, Culture and the Individual. A Tribute to Paul Friedrich|last=Tuite|first=Kevin|date=2006-02-20|website=University of Montreal|editor-last1=O’Neil|editor-first1=Catherine|pages=3|chapter=The meaning of Dæl. Symbolic and spatial associations of the south Caucasian goddess of game animals.|access-date=2017-12-09|editor-last2=Scoggin|editor-first2=Mary|editor-last3=Tuite|editor-first3=Kevin}} He becomes trapped there with Q'ursha. In some versions of the story, Betkil sends Q'ursha for help, and Q'ursha returns with villagers.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oBiEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|title=The Concept of the Goddess|last1=Chaudhri|first1=Anna|date=2002-09-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134641512|editor-last1=Billington|editor-first1=Sandra|pages=171|language=en|chapter=The Caucasian Hunting-Divinity, Male and Female: Traces of the Hunting Goddess in Ossestic Folklore|editor-last2=Green|editor-first2=Miranda}} The villagers throw ropes, but the mountain grows taller and Bektil falls to his death. In other versions of the Betkil story, Q'ursha insists that the starving Betkil kill and eat him. Betkil kills Q'ursha and prepares a fire with his bow and arrows, but in the end, cannot bring himself to eat the dog.
Some sources refer to Q'ursha as a companion of Dali, but he is more commonly associated with hunters.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iLS9CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA178|title=Studies on Iran and The Caucasus: In Honour of Garnik Asatrian|last1=Bläsing|first1=Uwe|last2=Arakelova|first2=Victoria|last3=Weinreich|first3=Matthias|date=2015-06-25|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004302068|language=en}}