Mu shuvuu (harmful bird) is a mythological bird in Turkic mythology, Mongol mythology and Tengrism. They would look like young girls but have a sharp beak, which they try to cover either in a veil or with their hands. With their beaks, they would try to suck out the blood of the bodies of their victims.[1] They were especially dangerous to travellers or lonely hunters. Mu shuvuu is believed to be usually created when a girl dies young or by violent death. The girl's soul would turn into a mu shuvuu then. When a father hides a flint in his deceased daughters hand, however, he would turn her soul into one as well.[2]

Citations

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  1. ^ Gregory Delaplace, P. Chuluunbat. (2022) When the Picture Comes in. Inner Asia 24:1, pages 103-130: CrossrefBirtalan, “Die Mythologie der mongolischen Volksreligion,” 1007–8; Okladnikov, Petroglify Baykala, 49
  2. ^ Christian Demonology and Popular Mythology. (2006). Ungarn: Central European University Press. p. 257