Jump to content

Balaur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the dinosaur, seeBalaur bondoc.
A dragon sculpture in Romania.

Abalaur(pl.balauri) inRomanian folkloreis a type ofmany-headeddragonor monstrous serpent, sometimes said to be equipped with wings. The number of heads is usually around three, but they can also have seven heads or even twelve heads according to some legends.

The balaur in folktale is typically evil, demanding or abducting young maidens or the princess, and defeated by the hero such asSaint Georgeor the fair youthFăt-Frumos.

There is some lore in which the balaur is considered weather-making, and living in an airborne state, but these types of balaur are sometimes interchangeably calledhalaorala,beingconfoundedwith the pan-Slavic air and water demon. The balaur (instead of thezmeu) is the vehicle of the weather-controllingSolomonariaccording to some sources.

There are also legends about the balaur in which they can produce precious stones from their saliva. Also, it is said that whoever manages to slay it will be forgiven a sin.

General description

[edit]

In theRomanian language,balauri are "monstrous serpents" or dragons. Alternatively, the word balaur can be used to describe any monster like creature.[1]They aremany-headedlike the Greek hell-houndCerberusor thehydra[1][2]and are winged and golden, according toLazăr Șăineanu.[2]

As reported by journalistEustace Clare Grenville Murray,in Romanian folklore thebalaurorbalaurulis a serpentine being who guards treasures and princesses, coming to blows against heroic Fêt-Frumos.[3]

The balaur recurs in Romanian folktales as a ravenous dragon that preys upon maidens only to be defeated by the heroFăt-Frumos( "Handsome Lad" ).[2]The balaur may also be the abductor of the princessIleana Cosânzeana,[4]although according toȘăineanuthe kidnapper of this princess is azmeuin the form of giant with pebbly tails[2](or scaly tails).[5]It is noted that the balaur and the zmeu are often confounded with each other.[2][5]

According to folkloristTudor Pamfile,there are three types of balauri in folk tradition: water-, land-, and air-dwelling.[6]A type of balaur of the first type is a seven-headed monster that dwells in thewellof a village, demanding maidens as sacrifice until defeated by either the hero named Busuioc or bySaint George.[6]

The second type of balaur, according to Pamfile, is said to dwell in the "Armenian land" (Romanian:ţaraarmenească) where they produce precious stones.[6]InWallachia,it is also believed that the saliva of a balaur can form precious stones, according to American writerCora Linn Daniels.[7]Romanian scholarMircea Eliadenoted that the notion a precious stones are formed from a snake's spittle is widespread, from England to China.[a][8]

The balaur is often associated with the weather and is alternatively calledhalaorala,[6]which is usually a Slavic term for a weather demon. This is the type Pamfile calls the "third type" that is air-dwelling.[6]When two balauri meet and fight in the air, there ensues variousmeteorologicaldamages such as uprooting of trees, or objects being tossed about.[6]Another tradition is that the balaur uses the rainbow as its path and sucks moisture from any spot in order to cause rain.[6]There is also lore about the balaur which is said to be quite similar to theBulgarian Banatlore about thelamia(locally calledlam'a), which states that thelam'adraw water from the sea to fill the cloud.[9][b]

Although the dragons ridden by theSolomonariare often said to bezmei(sing.zmeu),[10]they werebalauriaccording to some sources. A balaur was controlled by these weather-controlling sorcerers using "a golden rein" (or golden bridle;Romanian:unfrâudeaur).[c]The dragons were usually kept hidden in the depths of a lake, until summoned by their riders.[11][12][13]

Etymology

[edit]

The termBalaur(Aromanianbul'ar) is of unknown etymology. It has been linked withAlbanianboljë/bollë( "snake" ) andbuljar( "water snake" ),[1]terms possibly stemming from the sameThracianroot,*bell-or*ber-"beast, monster", the traces of which can also be found in the name of the Greek mythological heroBellerophon( "the beast killer" ).[14][15]

TheTransylvanian Saxonbalaur"dragon", andbalaura,an insult term in Serbia, are borrowed from Romanian.[15][16]TheSerbo-Croatianblavor/blaor/blavur( "European legless lizard") is cognate withbalaur,[17]and is regarded as one of the fewpre-Slavic Balkanrelict words in Serbo-Croatian.[16]

Legacy

[edit]

Sciences

[edit]

ThemaniraptortheropodBalaur bondocis named after this creature.

[edit]

Video games

[edit]

Television series

[edit]

In the 2020 TV seriesDracula,the Count uses the alias "Mr. Balaur".

See also

[edit]

Explanatory notes

[edit]
  1. ^Eliade refers to his paper on the snake stone (adder stone) "Piatra Sarpelui",Mesterului Manole,Bucharest, 1939, pp. 1–12.
  2. ^The scholar, Anna Plotnikova, concludes that this lamia lore has been "contaminated" with aspects of the lore about the water and air demon (i.e., thehala).
  3. ^German:ein goldene Zaum.

References

[edit]
Citations
  1. ^abcNandris, Grigore(1966),"The Historical Dracula: The Theme of His Legend in the Western and in the Eastern Literatures of Europe",Comparative Literature Studies,3(4): 377;Reprinted in:Aldridge, Alfred Owen,ed. (1969).Comparative literature: matter and method.University of Illinois Press. p.124.ISBN9780252000164.
  2. ^abcdeSainéan, Lazare(1901),"Terminologie folklorique en roumain",La Tradition,11:227
  3. ^Murray, Eustace Clare Grenville.Doĭne: Or, the National Songs and Legends of Roumania.Smith, Elder. 1854. p. 137.
  4. ^Feraru, Leon(1929).The Development of Rumanian Poetry.Columbia University. p. 14.
  5. ^abPrut, Constantin[in Romanian](1983),"The World of Fabulous Creatures",Romanian Review,37(2–3), translated by Sergiu Marcus: 170
  6. ^abcdefgPamfile, Tudor(1916). "bălaurii".Văzduhul după credințile poporului român.Academia română. Din vieața poporului român, culegeri și studii, XXV. București: Socec & comp. pp. 313–316.Alt URL
  7. ^Daniels, Cora Linn Morrison;Stevens, Charles McClellan (1903).Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World: A Comprehensive Library of Human Belief and Practice in the Mysteries of Life.J. H. Yewdale & sons Company. pp. 1419–1420.
  8. ^Eliade, Mircea(1996) [1958]."167. The Degradation of Symbols".Patterns in Comparative Religion.Translated by Rosemary Sheed. U of Nebraska Press. p. 207.ISBN0803267339.;(originally in Romanian) "Tratat De Istorie A Religiilor"
  9. ^Plotnikova, Anna (2001),"Ethnolinguistic phenomena in Boundary Balkan Slavic areas"(PDF),Славянская диалектная лексика и лингвогеография,7:306
  10. ^Florescu, Radu;McNally, Raymond T. (2009).Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times.Little, Brown.ISBN9780316092265.Ismeju[the correct Romanian spelling isZmeu,another word for dragon]ISBN9-780-3160-9226-5
  11. ^Marian, S. F.(1879): "Cînd voiesc Solomonarii să se suie în nori, iau friul cel de aur şi se duc la un lac fără de fund sau la o altă apă mare, unde ştiu ei că locuiesc balaurii", quoted in: Hasdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu; Brâncuș, Grigore (1976) edd.,Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae3,p. 438.
  12. ^Marian, S. F.(1879), pp. 54–56, German (tr.),Gaster, Moses(1884), "Scholomonar, d. i. er Grabancijaš dijak nach der Voksüberlieferung er Rumänen",Archiv für slavische PhilologieVII,p. 285: "Mit diesem Zaum zäumen die Solomonari die ihnen anstatt Pferde dienenden Drachen(Balauri) "or," With these [golden] reins, the Solomonari rein their dragons (balauri) that they use instead of horses ".
  13. ^Ljiljana, Marks (1990),"Legends about theGrabancijaš Dijakin the 19th Century and in Contemporary Writings ",Acta Ethnographica Hungarica,54(2): 327
  14. ^The dictionary of Juan de Corominas, cited in:Gáldi, L.[in Romanian](1961),"(Review) Diccionario Etimológico Rumano, Biblioteca Filológica. Colección publicada por la Universidad de La Laguna by Alejandro Cioranescu",Acta Linguistica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae,11(1/2): 197–198JSTOR44309193
  15. ^abCiorănescu, Alexandru[in Romanian](1958–1966),"balaur",Dicționarul etimologic român,Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife
  16. ^abSkok, Petar(1988) [1971].Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika(in Serbo-Croatian). Vol. 1. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti. p. 170.ISBN86-407-0064-8.
  17. ^Draucean, Adela Ileana (2008). "The Names of Romanian Fairy-Tale Characters in the Works of the Junimist Classics". In:Studii și cercetări de onomastică și lexicologie,II (1-2), p. 28.ISSN2247-7330
  18. ^"Balaur Dreadnought" at STOWiki.orgRetrieved 2011-06-19.

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balaur&oldid=1235276388"