Romanian mythology is characterized by the great myth of Dracula, among many other creatures, especially of the demonic type
Romanian Mythology
Romania is a country that is filled with many mystical traditions and legends and stories of amazing creatures, however, there are very few records of its origins and population. The Romanian population was very mixed, consequently they have many languages throughout the region; such as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French.
It is located in the east of the European continent, and its great mystical recognition is due to its famous belief in vampires. Romania’s mythology is characterized by the great myth of Dracula, among many other creatures; especially of the demonic kind. Perhaps these legends have had so much worldwide attention that they have overshadowed other characteristics of Romania.
The beliefs of Romanian mythology have their origins in pre-Christian times. And with the arrival of Christianity they were rejected because they were considered of pagan origin.
Myths and legends of Romanian mythology
Vlad, the Impaler
In November 1431, “Vlad Draculea” was born in Sighigloara; also known as Vlad the Impaler. In the Romanian language this name means Vlad Tepes; he was the prince of the lands of Wallachia.
Located in the south of Romania, his reign was between 1456 and 1462. It is said that he was an excellent fighter with war skills that he used to fight the Ottomans who were threatening his region and all Europe.
He became famous for his ruthless ways of punishing his enemies and those who betrayed him. At first Vlad was orthodox, but in time he ended up adopting Catholicism.
Vlad died in Bucharest in December 1476; nowadays Vlad is considered a great hero in all Romania and was a source of inspiration in the creation of the myth of Count Dracula.
Vlad Tepes, defender of Europe
Prince Vlad had his greatest war in the year 1461, when he fell into a trap set for him by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II; the Sultan was called the conqueror of Constantinople. He sent a false ambassador named Catavolinos to summon Vlad to Giurgiu, a Danubian port near Bucharest.
The purpose of the summons was to deal with border problems between the nations; but in reality at the meeting place was a whole detachment under the command of General Hamza Beg to attack Vlad.
Discovering the deception, Vlad pretended to fall into the trap; he arrived at the meeting place with some agreed tributes and even presents to offer to the sultan. But he took with him a whole army of cavalry that faced the enemies and defeated them with great ease.
Catavolinos and the general Hamza Beg were caught, and they were taken with other prisoners of the battle to Targoviste; where they suffered a terrible death being impaled.
In other stories, it is said that General Hamza Beg was left alive at the site of the battle after his hands and feet were mutilated. The result of that battle made Mehmed II, desist from his invasion of Targoviste; and he returned to Constantinople full of horror and vomiting after having seen the forests of men impaled by Vlad.
In the lands of Targoviste was a wide forest that formed a valley, which had all its trees turned into stakes. Where Vlad impaled more than 23000 prisoners and their relatives of origin: Hungarians, Romans, Turks, German and Bulgarian settlers.
Vlad and the Arabian messengers
When the Sultan of Constantinople sent messengers to Vlad, they wore their traditional costumes, including their turbans.
Vlad believed that they were not showing him respect by wearing their heads covered with their turbans; for this reason he asked them to take them off. The Turkish messengers replied that they could not comply with such a request. Since that action was not the custom in Constantinople. Vlad was offended by this action.
Vlad ordered to send the messengers back to Constantinople, but with their turbans impaled in their brains, so they could never remove them as they said.
The honest merchant
One day, a foreign merchant was robbed of a bag of gold coins. He went to the palace to report the theft to Vlad, who told him to come the next day for answers. When the merchant arrived at the castle, he found the thieves and all their relatives impaled in the central courtyard. Vlad was on his throne waiting, and handed the bag of gold coins to the merchant.
Vlad asked the merchant to count them, to corroborate that he was not missing any; the frightened merchant obeyed the request and informed Vlad that he had one coin left over.
Because of the merchant’s honesty in not trying to keep the extra coin, Vlad spared his life and let him go.
Baba Dochia
It was also called “old Dochia”, in its pronunciation it is called “Doquia”. It has a holiday in each season; in the winter it is March 01, summer March 02 and in the harvest on March 03.
Baba Dochia in Romanian mythology, comes from the Byzantine schedule of March 01 where the martyr Evdokia is celebrated. It comes in the spring. The Baba Dochia is a representation of impatience reflected by human beings.
There are different legends of the Dochia, the most famous is the one that tells that the Dochia was the daughter of the king of the Dacians; Decebalus. When the Roman emperor Trajan began to conquer Dacia, Dochia knew that she had to marry him; for this reason she decided to flee and seek refuge in the Carpathian area.
There she disguised herself as a shepherdess with sheepskin clothes, but they were so heavy that she took them off. Dochia died of cold together with her flock. After her death Dochia was transformed into a stream full of flowers that tended the meadows in its path.
Strigoi
In Romanian mythology the Strigoi are souls of the dead, who come out at night to frighten everyone. There is also the “strogoaica” definition, they call this way the witches. Their name comes from “a striga”, in Romanian this phrase means “to shriek”. And it is related to the Latin word “strix”, which describes a small vampiric bird.
According to Romanian mythology, a striga is a kind of witch-vampire; it gets into the rooms of infants and absorbs all their life force.
In order to keep strigoi away from their victims, it is said that one must sprinkle seeds all over the room with nails hidden inside. Strigoi are obsessive creatures, and could not advance in the room without first counting the seeds; when they prick their fingers with the nails hidden inside the seeds they are forced to start over again and again.
Fat Frumos
They call this name to a figure that represents the “prince charming”. He has many valuable qualities and abilities such as bravery, physical strength, passion, purity, righteousness and unwavering love; among others. He even has the ability to grant some miracles.
Fat Frumos, usually represents the younger sons of kings. Within the Romanian folklore it is very common to have a situation where all the sons of a king try to destroy the Zmeu, and the eldest sons fail the mission while the youngest is successful.
The Fat Frumos overcomes obstacles and trials more easily than a normal man; he lives adventures where he defeats monsters and demons and travels through many lands.
The legend of Fat Frumos, is related to the history of the Romanian people; as they are always presented with the hard decision to take between two paths of their destiny.
Also Romania was always in a crusade, which was threatened by enemy powers. The Romanian population in its origins must have been forced to choose between allying itself with its enemies or fighting against them in a constant war.
Dragobete
This is an entity from Romanian mythology, very similar to “Cupid”. He is very different from the Catholic Saint Valentine; the Dragobete is described as a handsome and impetuous man. The Dragobete is the protector of all couples who meet on his day, and makes their love last throughout the year.
According to Romanian beliefs, by attending the celebration of Dragobete’s day, they were protected against diseases such as fever throughout the year. It also gave them wellbeing in their homes during the whole year. On Dragobete Day in southern Romania, young people would gather in front of the village church in their best costumes and go to the forest to pick spring flowers.
Then the girls would run back to the village being chased by the young lovers. The fastest boys would catch up with the girls and if they both liked each other they would kiss in front of all the people. This kiss represented their engagement for a whole year, some even lasted much longer; because this tradition generally announced the weddings.
The older people took care of the birds, so that there would not be any type of sacrifice that day; because it would ruin the love between the couples.
The master builder Manole
In Romania, especially in the Carpathian and Balkan area, the legend of Manole is well known. He was a famous craftsman and had to make a great sacrifice to reach his goal. One day the king hired Manole to build a new church, which was totally different from the existing ones. Manole gladly accepted the mission, but it turned out that every day he found the progress of his work in ruins.
In the village it was rumored that the place chosen by Manole for his construction was cursed. So Manole went to talk to the king, told him what had happened and begged him to change the construction site. But the king ignored Manole’s words and threatened to execute him and all his assistants if the work was not completed within the time limit he had given him.
Manole was distressed by the king’s threat. That day he had a dream that revealed the solution to his problem. He was to empower the first person who passed by his building; and that sacrifice would end the curse.
Manole’s assistants listened attentively when he told them his dream. It seemed to them a horrible act, but in desperation of being executed by the king, they all agreed to make the sacrifice.
Construction of the church
Unfortunately for Manole, the first person to go through its construction was his wife Anne. Immediately the 9 assistants of the master proceeded to bury her in a brick wall; Ana, thinking it was a joke, made no attempt to escape.
To everyone’s astonishment, when the wall was finished, the church began to build itself for three days. Only Ana’s screams and cries for help could be heard, but no one helped her. When the church was finished, the king went to see it being built. He was so amazed by the structure that he asked Manole and his assistants to make him another church more spectacular than this one; and without hesitation they said yes.
Because of the pride shown by Manole and his assistants, the king ordered them to be locked in the top of the church tower where they would die of hunger and thirst. They tried to escape, but fell from the heights and died; where Manole fell, a fountain was born in which water still gushes today.
Nowadays in the 1 Leu banknotes of Romania, the Basilica is located in the village Curtea of Arges; always haunted by this legend of tragedy.
Myth of Mioritza
This myth is essential in the Romanian mythology; it is also called “myth of transhumance“. The name Mioritza comes from the word “mioarä”, which means sheep. The legend tells that there were three shepherds, of flocks of sheep. They were from the areas of Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia.
As the Moldavian shepherd had more sheep than the other two, they decided to unite to kill him; but one of the Moldavian sheep warned him what they were planning against him and warned him that he had to be careful.
The Moldavian shepherd confessed to Mioritza his desire to keep his flock, and that he wanted it to be buried along with his three flutes in the sheepfold; so that these flutes would continue to sound in the wind.
The Moldavian shepherd
However, the Moldavian shepherd did not want the other sheep to know of his death, so he begged Mioritza to keep the secret. She would tell them that the shepherd married a queen and the guests at their wedding were trees and birds that sang to them. The target of the legend is the greed of the other two shepherds; even in some versions, they show that the motive for the death of the Moldavian shepherd was money.
The behavior of the shepherd Moldavian before the arrival of his death, shows us the attitude that humans have before the arrival of death. The shepherd accepts death, and even plans his funeral arrangements without showing any resentment towards the other two shepherds who planned his death.
Although the Moldavian shepherd shows resignation to his fate, in Romanian mythology there is a belief that it is inevitable to make a sacrifice of oneself or a loved one to the creator of all. And the acceptance of death is a sign of respect for the cycle of creation.
Romanian Mythology Beliefs
The strongest belief within the Romanian mythology, is the existence of vampires; in all the cities and villages of Romania since the most remote times it is the most widespread belief of the supernatural. Especially in the area of Transylvania.
The belief of vampires is so deeply rooted in the Romanian culture that nowadays there are different thermal indicators to recognize them. Among the recognized types of vampires are: strigoi, moroli, varcolaci and pricolici.
Romanians strongly believe that a man’s destiny was to be turned into a vampire and could do nothing to stop it from happening. There are many beliefs of how people could become a vampire.
However, they have many other beliefs and traditions. As it is that the afterlife exists and in much the same way as the earthly one; it is natural to believe in the undead in physical form roaming the earth because of little belief in the faith of the spirit world.
Festivities in Romanian mythology
- Anniversary of the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia: celebrated every January 24, in 1859 both territories decided to unite and choose a common political leader. The first of them was Alexandru loan Cuza.
- Dragobete: celebrated every February 24, it is a popular Romanian tradition, similar to the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day.
- Martisor: it is the spring welcoming festival held every year on March 1st.
- Baba Dochia: or also called the old Dochia, it is the day of the martyr Evdokia; it celebrates the beginning of spring and is held from March 1st to March 3rd.
- International festival of contemporary theater: it lasts three weeks and is held in April in Transylvania.
- Daffodil Festival: also called Poiana Narciselor, it celebrates Romanian music and traditions. It takes place in the second half of May and the main Romanian celebrating villages are; Negrileasa, de Sus, Vad, Zercesti and Vlahita.
- Spring Festival of Hoteni: also called Tangeaua de pe mama, it is held in Transylvania and they make demonstrations to admire the Romanian folklore.
- Fundata agricultural fair: it is held in June and is one of the most common festivities in Romania.
- Bucharest Autumn Fair: it is in honor of Saint Demetrio, patron saint of Romania; it is celebrated in October and there are exhibitions of Romanian gastronomy, culture, music and other Romanian history.
- St. Andrew: on November 30 throughout Romania pay tribute to the apostle St. Andrew, they consider him their protector and cause of its current name.
- National Day of Romania: it is the day that celebrates the signing of the union of all Romanian provinces in 1918 and is celebrated every December 1st.
Cults of the waters in the Romanian mythology
Water, earth and sky; within the Romanian mythology, they represent the fundamental matters for the creation of the world. There are two water cults of great importance:
Water, original source
In the beginning there was nothing, only a not very clear possibility of creation; that nothingness was transformed into an ocean of waters. Romanian mythology has stories where they explain that both God and the devil had the ability to walk on the surface of these waters. And they could also give the waters any shape they wanted.
Water represents the source of life and regeneration. For this reason, in all the rituals of this mythology, both familiar and social, water is an indispensable material.
The purifying water-blood, which transfigures the earth
In this type of rituals, the main function of water is purification. The union between earth and water became a cosmic fact. This happens when water springs from the earth either by a natural cause or by the intervention of man.
This fact is considered to water as blood emanating from the earth; for this reason water and its purification ability is likened to the blood of sacrifices.
Water intervenes as purification and restoration of man’s body to pass between the thresholds of other worlds. Such is the case of the first bath of a newborn, baptism and the dead bath before burials.
It is also present at a wedding, when the bride sprinkles a few drops on her guests. In Romanian mythology, water is an essentially purifying element of the soul and matter at the same time.
Mystical creatures and demons of Romanian mythology
Mystical creatures
The varcolac
In Romanian mythology, the Varcolac is a creature that feeds mainly on the sun and the moon. Thus creating eclipses and lunar phases. Its form is still a mystery; however, it has been described as a wolf, a dog and even in the form of a dragon. The Varcolac is a representation of evil; if in any part of the world there is a concentration of evil, it is very likely that a Varcolac will appear.
The Varcolac-man can only transform during the presence of an eclipse and his soul rises to devour the moon or the sun. If his transformation is interrupted during the elevation, his soul will be lost forever. Romanians believe that when the moon is tinged red, it is because a Varcolac is devouring the moon, and they drive it away by ringing bells or any metallic material.
The Solomonar
They called this name to a wizard who had the ability to control rain and clouds, he could make hail fall and even cure diseases. These magicians live in another kingdom far from humanity, but from time to time they travel and visit the Romanian villages begging so they don’t need anything; and when they are rejected they make rain and hail fall.
Their knowledge and traditions are passed on from master to apprentice, the apprentice being a person chosen by the magician from birth and raised by him in the cave of his world. In Romania there is no doubt about the existence of the solomonaris; even in areas such as Transylvania and Bukovina, they claim to have testimonies about them.
The Knight Fat Frumos
In Romanian mythology, the Fat Frumos knight is called the representation of “a charming prince”, who is the only one who has the skills to defeat a dragon. He is usually the youngest son of a king and thanks to his great cunning and skill with branches he can destroy dragons.
Demonic Figures
Strigois
They are called thus to the souls of the dead that wander at night; but not in spirit, but in physical form. They come out at night to horrify the people they meet in their path. The only way to kill strigois is to rip out their hearts in broad daylight, and then stake them in their own graves.
Shtriga
They are half-vampire witches, who are dedicated to extract the vital energy of children. They appear to children in their rooms at night without anyone seeing them.
The only way to destroy them is to shoot them when they are eating, as this is the only time they are distracted; only blessed bullets made of iron should be used.
Strix
They are birds that have great resemblance to a giant owl, they are mysterious and familiar to vampires. They feed on humans by extracting their life energy.
Pricolici
This is the term given to the combination of a werewolf and a vampire. They are the souls of all those considered “undead”; they are summoned to roam the world with the sole purpose of doing evil among the living.
The Balaur
It is the most fearsome dragon in Romanian mythology. He is described as a giant dragon possessing fins and several snake heads. In most Romanian legends, the balaur appears as a representation of evil; and the only one who can destroy it is Fat Frumos in order to rescue the princess.
Conclusion
Romanian mythology, has a very rich and varied culture. Full of myths and legends that have marked the history of Romania and its position in the world. Its strongest belief since ancient times and even to this day, is the existence of vampires and mystical creatures. Even worldwide it has made great renown until the famous Dracula the Vampire movie was released.
The most striking thing about Romanian culture is how its folklore has lasted until today. And this is thanks to the strong rural character of the Romanian community and creativity in their traditions.
