Saint Legends Told in North Macedonia-Kanatlar Village

Kanatlar is a Turkish village connected to Prilep in Northern Macedonia. The population of the village is approximately 1700 and it is expressed as 500 households. Bektashi belief is dominant in the village. Dikmen Baba tomb, believed to be the founder of the village in Kanatlar, also serves as a dervish lodge. For this reason, various legends about Dikmen Baba are described in the village. In addition, legends are told about saints such as Kurt Dede Koca, Eyat Baba, Ali Baba and Hasan Baba, who have tombs both in the Kanatlar and in the surrounding area. The saint legends discussed in this article are legends around saints, which are widely told in Kanatlar village and only have tombs. These legends are obteined from four different field surveys conducted in Kanatlar in 2015 and 2019. In the article, legends about these saints, who have tombs in Kanatlar village and its surroundings, are given first. Later, these legends were evaluated in terms of “founding” and “protection” duties  saints and motifs of legends. "Comparative method" and "functional method" were used in the evaluation. As a result, it has been determined that these legends, which are told both in daily life and within religious ceremonies, are integrated with beliefs and practices within the framework of the Bektashi tradition in Kanatlar. Beliefs and practices around legends and legends revealed that saints, whose lives were told in legends, were the protectors of the Turkish presence in the Balkan geography. Considering its place in the Turkish legend tradition in general, it was emphasized that the legends told in Kanatlar are important in terms of showing the place and traces of Turkish culture and Turkish presence in the Balkan geography.
Key Words: Northern Macedonia, Kanatlar, legend, miracle, saint, Dikmen Baba.