A balaur (pl.balauri) in Romanian folklore is a type of many-headeddragon or 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 as Saint George or the fair youth Făt-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 called hala or ala, being confounded with the pan-Slavic air and water demon. The balaur (instead of the zmeu) is the vehicle of the weather-controlling Solomonari according 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
In the Romanian language, balauri are "monstrous serpents" or dragons. Alternatively, the word balaur can be used to describe any monster like creature. [1] They are many-headed like the Greek hell-hound Cerberus or the hydra[1][2] and are winged and golden, according to Lazăr Șăineanu.[2]
As reported by journalist Eustace Clare Grenville Murray, in Romanian folklore the balaur or balaurul is 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 hero Făt-Frumos ("Handsome Lad").[2] The balaur may also be the abductor of the princess Ileana Cosânzeana,[4] although according to Șăineanu the kidnapper of this princess is a zmeu in 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 folklorist Tudor 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 the well of a village, demanding maidens as sacrifice until defeated by either the hero named Busuioc or by Saint George.[6]
The second type of balaur, according to Pamfile, is said to dwell in the "Armenian land" (Romanian: ţara armenească) where they produce precious stones.[6] In Wallachia, it is also believed that the saliva of a balaur can form precious stones, according to American writer Cora Linn Daniels.[7] Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade noted 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 called hala or ala,[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 various meteorological damages 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 the Bulgarian Banat lore about the lamia (locally called lam'a), which states that the lam'a draw water from the sea to fill the cloud.[9][b]
Although the dragons ridden by the Solomonari are often said to be zmei (sing.zmeu),[10] they were balauri according to some sources. A balaur was controlled by these weather-controlling sorcerers using "a golden rein" (or golden bridle; Romanian: un frâu de aur).[c] The dragons were usually kept hidden in the depths of a lake, until summoned by their riders.[11][12][13]
Etymology
The term Balaur (Aromanianbul'ar) is of unknown etymology. It has been linked with Albanianboljë/bollë ("snake") and buljar ("water snake"),[1] terms possibly stemming from the same Thracian root, *bell- or *ber- "beast, monster", the traces of which can also be found in the name of the Greek mythological hero Bellerophon ("the beast killer").[14][15]
^Eliade refers to his paper on the snake stone (adder stone) "Piatra Sarpelui", Mesterului Manole, Bucharest, 1939, pp. 1–12.
^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., the hala).
^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.
^ abCiorănescu, Alexandru[in Romanian] (1958–1966), "balaur", Dicționarul etimologic român, Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife
^ 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.
^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
