Wood used to be the main construction material, and heavily ornamented wooden objects were common in old houses. His eldest daughter said I love you like honey, father, and he was very pleased. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. [1]:55, The origin of mountains is explained in a number of ways by the cultures of the different regions of Romania. One account is that mountains formed as a response to God demanding the Earth to nurture all life, to which the earth shuddered and brought forth mountains. "Its a legend about a lady going around door to door selling keropok. Enjoyed this? anything that can shape shift scares me! While the name Draco comes from the Greek term Drakon, which signifies to guard with a sharp eye, it also means serpent or dragon. Romania's rich folk traditions have been nourished by many sources, some of which predate the Roman occupation. Like the Strigoi, Pricolici are undead monsters (violent criminals returned from the grave) looking like a giant wolf. Jidovi and uria (giants) Repulsive, savage and present in many stories, the uria are often depicted with menacing size equal to the one of mountains. However, they are all very small bovids. In turn, Radu Florescu, a Romanian-born history professor, was the one to establish the connection between Dracula and Vlad epe, in his 1972 book In Search of Dracula. Also, the poet Vasile Alecsandri published the most successful version of the ballad Mioria (The Little Ewe), a sad, philosophical poem, centered on a simple action: the plot by two shepherds to kill a third shepherd because they envied his wealth. Were Glenn and Katja! Told from one generation to the next with the aim to explain, elucidate, aid the daily harshness of life or simply subdue; these stories snowballed, like any captivating story does, becoming myths (explaining creation), legends (inspiring through heroic figures), and folklore (explaining everyday life). Or be a werewolf that died, and came back as a vampire . Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. He told Nefrtatul to go to the bottom of the ocean and, in his holy name, bring up a handful of clay. Some believe they still live there, guarding treasures and living peacefully, silently in the safe mountains. Not surprisingly, one Romanian business even adopted it in the shape of its logo. Likewise, the wolf is still present as a symbol in Romanian culture. MAJESTIC TURKEY BY CULTURE TRIP [3] According to Christian calendar, Romanians from Banat, Transylvania, Bucovina and Maramure counties celebrate Easter of Blajini on first Monday after St. Thomas Sunday. Despite this, many consider Ielele the protectresses of the forest. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The "chupacabra hysteria" was frequently associated with deep economic and political crises, particularly during the mid-1990s. Vlads cruel and brutal acts led to many widespread tales about him, eventually leading to the bloody legend of Count Dracula, which also pulls from Hungarian vampiric myths and other European folklore, like the Polish Wpierz. In: Lefter, Lucian-Valeriu. The Transylvanian Folklore has a lot of legends, myths and haunting creatures: from the well-known vampires to werewolves, Moroi, Strigoi, iele, and all kinds of monsters! This is a welcome development, on the whole, as the American public's . Not at all delightful. Strong folk traditions have survived to this day due to the rural character of the Romanian communities, which has resulted in an exceptionally vital and creative traditional culture. If people refuse to help them while they are in disguise, they bring hail and strong storms to ruin the crops. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Or a love story would be better, to melt your other half's heart? Some similar creatures drain their victims of psychic or sexual energy, health, or qi, also known as life essence. Michael, Ah, how wonderful too see you here, Michael. Which is much creepier. He is called Zburatorul, meaning The One Who Flies, a handsome airman tormenting the sleep of young girls and young wives. The folklore of Romania is the collection of traditions of the Romanians. There, he studies the languages of all the beings from Earth, all the magic spells ever created, and then, after many hard tests, he is left alone, to a rock table, to write down all of his knowledge in his own book. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". It is essential to preserve these creations together with the act of telling stories and fables. The Romanian creation myth According to the tale of creation, God and the Devil are master and servant, the devil (Nefrtatul) being God's foolish brother. In Maramure, wood was used to create impressive structures such as churches or gates; in Dobruja, windmills were made of wood, and in mountainous regions hardwood was used even for covering the roof. Cultures worldwide have passed down tales. It represents evil, as do its counterparts Zmeu and the Balaur. Glad WP is sorted. There are many stories of men being mutilated or losing their ability to talk after discovering these beautiful but cruel creatures. Its even capable of moving invisibly. Moroii and their legends are as old as Dacian times -especially in Orastie area and thus it is believed that they used charms to steal the cattles milk, rendering the cows dry. I write the history content. The sky and the earth will be set alight and the earth will be purged, so that its Creator may descend upon it. A legend in his home country, Vlad was incredibly impressive in inspiring fear and horror into his Turkish enemies, demoralising their troops. Vampire movies fans should know that stories about dead people, who haunt the live ones and suck their blood, were part of the Romanian folklore long before Bram Stokers Dracula became famous. Moreover, Strigoii can cause many illnesses and eve shape-shift into were-wolfs. Ielele bathe in glacial lakes, and dance on mountain cliffs and in meadows. The balaur appears in most love stories as an evil character. Richly marked with medieval castles, cities, and ruins, Transylvania is home to 8 Myths of Romania | Popular Folklore, Legends and Tales From hauntings, vampires, nymphs and treasures, these myths of Romania will mystify you and have you adding these fantastic places to your itinerary. A not-so-widespread belief is that of a definitive destruction of the earth, whereupon God and the Devil shall divide the souls of the dead among themselves and retire to the moon, who is considered to have been made in the image of the earth to serve a place of retreat after the destruction of the earth. Somewhere in 1882, a book regarding the Romanian folklore regarding burials was published . is the Slavonian blan meaning 'kind, well-minding person'. Other rare natural phenomena such as Eclipses or Comets were seen as a sign of impending doom. They are considered to fast the year through, and thus doing humans a great service. The princess stood up, and said that since he did not like salt, she had cooked his food with only sugar and honey. It is for this reason that Romanians eat dyed eggs and let the shells flow downstream, from there they believe they will get to the Apa Smbetei, and from there to the Blajini. The Romanian Giants known as Jidovi, are probably one of the most beloved folklore creatures. Their fate was even crueler with the girls recently married. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Gugalanna (Sumerian Mythology) Also, there is a story which repeats regardless of region, when giants seeing people plowing the land, took them in their hands as little toys, smiled at them and then put them back carefully. The fey creatures that lived here quickly took a liking to him and invited him to stay. Strigoi also include ghosts, wights, banshees, wraiths, ghouls, zombies and other shades of undeath and all forms of lycanthropy. And with that, he slapped the old man, and Ft-Frumos fell down dead, crumbling into dust. As a matter of fact, the author of this incredibly popular novel never traveled to Romania in his life. The content of this website is under copyright Patricia Furstenberg (unless specified otherwise). They were left to live in the mountains only if they promised to guard with their life the great Dacian gold treasures. Thus explaining the many names the Bible used for God, the Oltenians believed the first God was called Sabaoth, followed by Amon, Apollo, the Creator God of the Bible and, finally, Jesus Christ. Luckily, there were certain chosen people, known as good sorcerers, that with the permission of the possessed girls and with a bit of magic succeeded in healing them. They met and consume their love in the world of dreams but everything is so intense, almost real that the young woman becomes exhausted and obsessively in love. With Halloween coming up this year, the Cpcun seems to be an unconventional choice for an impersonation. With stories being passed down from one generation to another, the Romanian folklore was always rich with magical or scary tales. [1]:1112[2] In the majority of versions, before the earth existed, a boundless ocean called Apa Smbetei was the abode of God and the Devil, seen as master and servant rather than equals. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. And so he came to live with them for uncounted years, enjoying unearthly delights. Manananggal (Image credit: Oronoz/Alamy) These terrifying flyers from Filipino folklore gain their name from the Tagalog word "tanggal," which means "to split." Generally depicted as female, the. While Ft-Frumos doesnt sound like the sexiest name in English, this classic Romanian fairy tale figure is the local equivalent of Prince Charming. I do remember being scared of this mosnter, for he was supposed to eat naughty children (which I was not!). Monsters from Romanian Myths Frtat, Nefrtat and Apa Smbetei (The Wasted Water, Long Gone and Wasted) One of the creation stories in Romanian folklore explains the Genesis. These are mythic creatures related almost wholly to the nature.When the humans draw them nearer, they are presented either as friendly or as ill meaning. With mountains as sky-high as the Carpathians is easy to understand why Giants were the first people evercreated on the Romanian land. "Din senin de ap: Facerea Lumii" [Out of Infinite Clear Waters: The Genesis]. Many of these creatures can be both cruel and kind, depending on their whims. But as he pushed, the earths expansion kept God from ever falling off. Blajin also means a dead child who did not receive the benediction of Holy Spirit. B Balaur C Cpcun D Dhampir I Iele M Marolea Moroi Muma Pdurii Muroni P Pricolici R Rahmans S Sntoaderi Snzian Spiridu Strigoi U Uria V Vlv [1]:37 Blajini are invisible connectors between Inner and Hollow Earth. Answer (1 of 3): The name strigoi comes from the Latin strix and striga, which in ancient times were associated with witches or nocturnal flying creatures. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Adventures of Kiara Yew 2019 All rights reserved | Designed by One Graphic Street, The Adventures of Kiara Yew 2019 All rights reservedDesigned by One Graphic Street, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), The Adventures of Kiara Yew 2019 All rights reserved | Designed by, the most beautiful fairy tales and legends, Transylvania Vampires | Historic Mysteries, Romanian Folklore | Fascinating Stories and Rituals. Oftentimes people claim to see them at night, dancing Horas naked in the moonlight, with bells on their ankles and candles in their hands. Have a lovely weekend, Pat. The king loved his daughters very much, and when his wife died, he made sure they had every luxury and educational advantage. The original story came from Ancient Greek and Roman legend of Strix creature, a bird of ill omen which fed on human blood and flesh. This is just one of them! Ethnologists, poets, writers and historians have tried in recent centuries to collect and to preserve tales, poems, ballads and have tried to describe as well as possible the customs and habits related to different events and times of year. Romanian myths part of international culture. [1]:6971. Such imagery as a darkened sun, a bleeding moon and falling stars are associated with the beginning of the End Times. In others, they are living beasts (not the undead), and happen as a result of a curse. One of the best answers for the question "how were these legends created" is, obviously, the Romanian folklore itself. Strigoi is a character from Romanian mythology. It is good to note, as well, that the nomadic Roma people and the Romanian people are two different cultural and ethnic groups, and this post discusses the mythology of the Romanians. Rozalinda agreed to be turned into a human and so the two lived happily ever after. The king begged him to join them in the world, but no matter what he offered him love, riches, kingdoms the baby refused to be born. In Romanian strigoi means to scream. Sometimes it is described wearing a shiny magical stone on its head, making it more difficult for Ft-Frumos, the Romanian Prince Charming, to crush it. Want to find out more about Romanian mythical monsters, besides the ever-present Dracula? They are centered on popular characters like the prince Ft-Frumos (the Romanian "Prince Charming"), the princess Ileana Cosnzeana, the villain or monster Zmeu or Cpcun, the dragon Balaur or fantastic superbeings like the good Zn and the evil Muma Pdurii. Finally, he came to a fairie palace, the palace of Youth without Age and Life without Death. This article is about to introduce you to the heroes and villains of Romanian folklore! Even now, in some remote villages, there are few people remembering such women who were at the edge of losing their minds or their marriages forever. Even if they did or did not exist, they left us beautiful stories about their way of living. Pricolici, along with the vampiric Strigoi and shapeshifting Moroi, gather on the Night of the Wolf the eve of Saint Andrews. His solution was to flood the entire earth, leaving only Noah and his Ark (you can see here how old myths have been intermingled with Christianity, rather than being simply replaced by it). Patricia Furstenberg writes historical fiction, contemporary and children's book. The Romanian mythology is quite impressive. Reading about Romanian Monsters of Myth and Folklore is a fun way of learning about a civilization strengthened by historical battles, enriched by its insight into the forces of nature, enchanting through its narratives. The Devious Dragon of Romanian Folklore Posted by Magical Europe BY HANNAH HORN In the books of mythology, the Romanian Balaur is an enticing creature. But fartat also means prieten. And this is my "build" which is inspired by Slavic mythological folk tale creatures such as Baba Yaga or maybe Swamp Kikimora. Some old books even tell stories about young girls haunted by this mysterious man, becoming so desperately in love that they started acting like lunatics, walking down the village streets almost undressed and untidy, obviously exhausted and sometimes semi-conscious. In the Carpathians, Jidovii are often named Blajini, which means the Kind Ones, or Novaci, which means the Powerful Ones as they could snatch a tree without any effort.