eTwinning ILARGIA
NIGHT CREATURES IN ROMANIAN FOLK TRADITION
by Carmen TRASCA
FROM "HOREA" Gymnasial school in Cluj-Napoca
English translation by Codruṭa Popovici - illustrated by Mirela Pete
One of the most beautiful Romanian myths refers to the (wicked) fairies or pixies, which are seducing supernatural beings,
endowed with magical powers. Greatly resembling the sirens or the nymphs, these wicked fairies are nocturnal apparitions which take revenge on the ordinary mortals who made the unpardonable mistake of looking at them. Graceful ghosts dancing in the moonlight, they are generally speaking positive characters which turn into wicked fairies at night time, when they can become visible.
According to our folk tradition, the wicked fairies only appear in remote places, where they dance naked or wearing vaporous silk or linen clothes, under which their breasts are barely hidden, and sometimes they put on dresses made from links of chains, having bells hanging around their ankles.
People can never see a solitary fairy, since they travel in groups of 3, 5, 7 or in an unlimited number of creatures. The stories built around them tell that they are Alexander the Great’s daughters, who were turned into wicked, immortal girls because they drank all their father’s life-giving water bottle that he had purposefully sealed in order to drink from it when he grew older. The third fairy, which is also a Gypsy, is the worst of them all. In some parts of Romania, these creatures are additionally called “Sandru’s Girls”( the name being a short version of “Alexandru”).
The pixies are gifted dancers and singers. But if someone catches just a glimpse of them during their dancing ritual, they take revenge on that poor person by singing to him until he falls asleep or by disfiguring him. The one who hears their song becomes deaf and the man who answers their calling becomes dumb. Therefore, when a mortal feels their presence he needs to throw himself on the ground and cover his head in order not to see or hear them sing. That person shouldn’t answer their calling either unless it is done three times, or else the wicked fairies can lead him on the verge of craziness. The spot where they danced resemble a fire-burnt place; and though the grass will eventually start growing back, the cattle will refuse to graze it. There are other legends that tell us that people can find glass pearls or hair strings on the soil where the pixies have danced, yet those who touch them will have to suffer a great deal.
Very often the wicked fairies are depicted wearing wings, but it is people’s belief that they can fly very fast through levitation, thus being able to cross over 9 seas and 9 countries only in one night. Sometimes they travel by coaches pulled by fire horses, making stops to feed themselves with flowers and to drink fresh water from springs or wells. But the next person to drink after them will be and stay disfigured. Consequently, if a mortal drinks water from a well in the morning, he has to turn a glass upside down and leave it on its margins. At home, it would be wise to cover the wells and the water buckets in order to prevent the pixies from bathing in them and then change your appearance into a disgusting one.
The pixies’ victims are solely men. They can protect themselves by having on them some garlic, basil, wormwood, walnut or lime leaves. Even lovage can be a good antidote, when put in a pot on the windowsill. There are various remedies to cure those persons who find themselves under the spell of the wicked fairies. One can utter some magic charms, or make the sign of the cross with his tongue in his mouth; on the other hand, it is said that the presence of a horse skull put on a fence has the gift of driving the bad fairies away.
Analyzing the origin of the term “wicked fairies/pixies” (in Romanian the word “iele”, pronounced /’jele/ ), the researchers state that it may have come from the Cumanian “yel”, which means wind or from the Sanskrit “vel”, which sends us towards the notion of wind, movement or death. It may also be possible to have the term coined after the pronunciation of the Romanian personal pronoun “ele”( /jele/), which is used for the third person feminine plural.
This name should not be uttered by people because it brings bad luck; thus, the wicked fairies are attributed various other names, such as Rudeana, Ruja, Ana, Trandafira, Lemnica, Todosia etc. Irrespective of their names, the wicked fairies are sometimes considered to be the souls of some bewitched women who couldn’t find their peace after death, or they are seen as the daughters of the Sun and Moon, sent on Earth to separate the young couples in love, as a punishment for their parents’ incestuous love.
The bad, wicked fairies are especially active during the Pentecost night, when they punish those who do not practice this religious holiday by leading them on the brinks of insanity or by disfiguring those unfortunate men. The folk tradition says that the people who venture to sleep outside during the Pentecost night or go to fetch some water from an uncovered well are likely to fall under the spell of the wicked fairies.