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{{Turkic mythology}}'''Pitsen''' <ref>also spelled biçen, pichan, pechan, pitsin, picen, picin, yen, yenpäri, Urman İäse&nbsp;– the Host of the Forest; [[Cyrillic]]: Пице́н.</ref> is a forest creature in the [[Siberian Tatars]]' mythology.
Pitsen's role is contradictory. It could bring luck, but also troubles, leading humans to the wilderness.
[[Shapeshifting]] is common for Pitsen: he may look like an elder with a staff and knapsack, but also like different animals, for example [[apes]]. Pitsen prefers to live in derelict lodges. He also likes to ride horses and to oil their mane with tar.<ref name="waliev">{{in lang|ru}} Валеев Ф. Т., О религиозных представлениях западносибирских татар, в сб.: Природа и человек в религиозных представлениях народов Сибири и Севера, Л., 1976, с. 320-29.</ref>
Pitsen, when transformed to a damsel, may have sexual intercourse or marry a human. One legend says that one hunter happened upon beautiful damsel in a forest and married her. Soon they become rich. Once he came home ahead of time and saw a tusky monster eating lizards. He cried, being horrified, and that moment his wife and his riches disappeared.<ref name="waliev"/>
Pitsen is a counterpart of [[Chuvash people|Chuvash]] [[Archura|Arçuri]] and Volga-Ural Tatar [[Şüräle]]. In the mythology of the Siberian Tatars, Tobol and Omsk Tatars had shaggy and stinking ''yysh-keshe''.<ref>{{IPA-tt|jɯʃ kʲeˈʃe|}}</ref> They carry away travelers and force them to marry. At night the spirit of yysh-keshe used to fly away from an armpit.<ref name="waliev"/>
==See also==
*[[Şüräle]]
*[[Yeti]]
*[[Shapeshifting]]
==References and footnotes==
<references/>
[[Category:Siberian Tatars]]
[[Category:Shapeshifting]]
[[Category:Turkic legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Forest spirits]]