The Son of the White Mare

Based on the work of László Arany and ancient Hunnic and Avaric legends, Fehérlófia is a tribute to the old steppe peoples. There are slightly differences between Arany’s work and the movie – for example, in the movie, Fehérlófia (Son of the White Mare, main protagonist) and Fanyűvő (Treetearer) are the same person. There are also references to ancient origin legends: Ősanya (Progenitrix), Ősapa (Forefather), and the Világfa (World Tree).

The story’s main character is Fehérlófia (Son of the White Mare), who is a man with superhuman power. He is born as the third son of a horse, and he’s gained his power by suckling the horse’s milk. He listened to old tales, mostly about the Forefather and the end of his reign, caused by evil dragons. After the horse’s death, Fehérlófia decided to search and destroy the dragons, who seized power over the world. He met his two brothers, Kőmorzsoló (Stonecrumbler) and Vasgyúró (Ironkneader), who are also have superhuman abilities. In search of the Underworld’s entrance (home of the dragons), they accommodated themselves in a tree hollow. One of them stayed there every day, in order to cook mush and make rope while the other two searched for the entrance. An ancient and mischievous creature, Hétszűnyű Kapanyányi Monyók always asked them to give him some mush. Kőmorzsoló and Vasgyúró refused to give him food, so Hétszűnyű attacked them and ate the mush from their belly. But Fehérlófia stopped him by trapping his beard in the tree hollow. Trying to escape, Hétszűnyű felled the tree, and the heroes found the entrance of the Underworld under its roots.

Only Fehérlófia dared to go down there, where he found the three dragons and three princesses. After the victory, Kőmorzsoló and Vasgyúró rescued the princesses but left Fehérlófia down in the Underworld. The desperate Fehérlófia found a griffin nest. A snake tried to eat the griffin chicks, but Fehérlófia stopped it. To show his gratitude, the Griffin Father took Fehérlófia to the upper world. The trip was very long so the griffin had to get some food in order to survive. Finally, Fehérlófia had to cut off his own legs to give something to the griffin to eat.

After the arrival, the griffin chicks restored Fehérlófia’s legs, which gave him more power. He was very angry at his brothers, but finally he forgave them. All three married with one of the princesses, and the Forefather restore his power which has lost by the dragon’s arrival. —Wikipedia