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{{Short description|Serpent or dragon of Romanian folklore}}
In ] a '''balaur''' is a creature similar to a ], although distinct: dragons as such also exist in Romanian mythology. A balaur is quite large, has fins, feet, and multiple serpent heads (usually three, sometimes seven, or even twelve).
{{For|the dinosaur|Balaur bondoc}}
]


A '''balaur''' (] '''''balauri''''') in ] is a type of ] ] 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.
As a traditional character which is found in most Romanian fairy tales, it represents Evil and must be defeated by ] in order to release the Princess (see also ]).


The balaur in folktale is typically evil, demanding or abducting young maidens or the princess, and defeated by the hero such as ] or the fair youth ].
The etymology seems to be ] "*bal-", meaning "strong".


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 ] or ''ala'', being ] with the pan-Slavic air and water demon. The balaur (instead of the ]) is the vehicle of the weather-controlling ] 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 ], balauri are "monstrous serpents" or dragons. Alternatively, the word balaur can be used to describe any monster like creature.<ref name=nandris/> They are ] like the Greek hell-hound ] or the ]<ref name=nandris/><ref name=sainean/> and are winged and golden, according to ].<ref name=sainean/>

As reported by journalist ], in Romanian folklore the ''balaur'' or ''balaurul'' is a serpentine being who guards treasures and princesses, coming to blows against heroic Fêt-Frumos.<ref>Murray, Eustace Clare Grenville. ''''. Smith, Elder. 1854. p. 137.</ref>

The balaur recurs in Romanian folktales as a ravenous dragon that preys upon maidens only to be defeated by the hero ] ("Handsome Lad").<ref name=sainean/> The balaur may also be the abductor of the princess ],<ref name=feraru/> although according to ] the kidnapper of this princess is a '']'' in the form of giant with pebbly tails<ref name=sainean/> (or scaly tails).<ref name=prut/> It is noted that the balaur and the zmeu are often confounded with each other.<ref name=sainean/><ref name=prut/>

According to folklorist ], there are three types of balauri in folk tradition: water-, land-, and air-dwelling.<ref name=pamfile/> A type of balaur of the first type is a seven-headed monster that dwells in the ] of a village, demanding maidens as sacrifice until defeated by either the hero named Busuioc or by ].<ref name=pamfile/>

The second type of balaur, according to Pamfile, is said to dwell in the "Armenian land" ({{langx|ro|{{linktext|ţara |armenească}}}}) where they produce precious stones.<ref name=pamfile/> In ], it is also believed that the saliva of a balaur can form precious stones, according to American writer ].<ref morrrison&stevens>{{cite book|last1=Daniels |first1=Cora Linn Morrison |author-link=Cora Linn Daniels |last2=Stevens |first2=Charles McClellan |author-link2=<!--Charles McClellan Stevens--> |title=Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World: A Comprehensive Library of Human Belief and Practice in the Mysteries of Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ns0gK0efOvYC&pg=PA1419 |year=1903 |publisher=J. H. Yewdale & sons Company |pages=1419–1420}}</ref> Romanian scholar ] noted that the notion a precious stones are formed from a snake's spittle is widespread, from England to China.{{Efn|Eliade refers to his paper on the snake stone (]) "Piatra Sarpelui", ''Mesterului Manole, ''Bucharest, 1939, pp. 1–12.}}<ref name=eliade/>

The balaur is often associated with the weather and is alternatively called ] or ''ala'',<ref name=pamfile/> which is usually a Slavic term for a weather demon. This is the type Pamfile calls the "third type" that is air-dwelling.<ref name=pamfile/> When two balauri meet and fight in the air, there ensues various ] damages such as uprooting of trees, or objects being tossed about.<ref name=pamfile/> Another tradition is that the balaur uses the rainbow as its path and sucks moisture from any spot in order to cause rain.<ref name=pamfile/> There is also lore about the balaur which is said to be quite similar to the ] lore about the ] (locally called ''lam'a''), which states that the ''lam'a'' draw water from the sea to fill the cloud.<ref name=plotnikova/>{{Efn|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 ]).}}

Although the dragons ridden by the ] are often said to be ''zmei'' (] ''zmeu''),<ref name=florescu/> they were ''balauri'' according to some sources. A balaur was controlled by these weather-controlling sorcerers using "a golden rein"<!--this is Ljiljana's rendering --> (or golden bridle; {{langx|ro|{{linktext|un |frâu |de |aur}}}}).{{Efn|{{langx|de|ein goldene Zaum}}.}} The dragons were usually kept hidden in the depths of a lake, until summoned by their riders.<ref name=marian-balauri/><ref name=marian-balauri-germ/><ref name=ljiljana/>

== Name ==
=== In Eastern Romance ===

The word is attested in ] and ].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mihailascarlatoiu |first=Elena |date=1972 |title=Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate |journal=Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=95-113 |lang=FR}}</ref> In ] the word appears with variations: ''balaoană'',<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mihailascarlatoiu |first=Elena |date=1972 |title=Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate |journal=Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=95-113 |lang=FR}}</ref> ''bălăuraş'', ''bălăurel'', ''balaurel'', ''bălăuroaică'', ''bălăuaua'', and possibly in the shorter form ''bală''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Radu |first=Voica |title=Consideraţii etimologice privitoare la cuvântul balaur |trans-title=Some etymological considerations regarding the word "Dragon" |journal=Philologica Banatica |volume=II |date=2010 |pages=20–25 |lang=RO}}</ref> Similar words are attested in ], e.g., ''bular'' 'a type of large snake' and ''bălăura'' 'large (about plums)', and in Aromanian ''bularu'' 'red snake'.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Radu |first=Voica |title=Consideraţii etimologice privitoare la cuvântul balaur |trans-title=Some etymological considerations regarding the word "Dragon" |journal=Philologica Banatica |volume=II |date=2010 |pages=20–25 |lang=RO}}</ref>

=== Slavic comparanda ===
According to ], the word appears along the eastern coast of the ].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |title=Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije |trans-title=Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies |pages=89–101 |journal=Folia onomastica Croatica |date=1995 |issue=4 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/158643| lang=Croatian}}</ref> In this regard, Croatian linguist Peter Skok located the following variations of the lexeme:<ref>{{cite journal |last=Skok |first=Peter |author-link=Petar Skok |title=Zum Balkanlatein III |journal=Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie |volume=50 |issue=4 |date=1930 |pages=484-532 |lang=DE |doi=10.1515/zrph.1930.50.4.484}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last=Skok| first=Petar| author-link=Petar Skok| year=1988| orig-year=1971| title=Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika| volume=1| publisher=Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti| place=Zagreb| language=Croatian| isbn=86-407-0064-8| page=169 }}</ref>

* ''blavor'' (Montenegro and Dalmatia);<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bidwell |first=Charles E. |title=Some remarks on the reflexes of Vulgar Latin ''au'' in South Slavic |journal=Romance Notes |volume=4 |issue=2 |date=1963 |pages=178–82 |jstor=43800157 |quote=... ''Blavor'' is attested in Montenegro and neighbouring areas ...}}</ref> ''blavorak'' (diminutive, attested in a 16th century writer from Ragusa); ''blavūr'' (Ragusa); ''blavòruša'' (aumentative; Montenegro)
* ''bläor'' (Imotski, Podlug in Cattaro, Benkovac, Jagodnja, Sibenik - all in Dalmatia); ''blőr''; ''blőruša'' (Montenegro)
* ''blaur'' (Dalmatia), ''blavorina'' (aumentative, Koprivno in Sinj, Dalm.), ''blaorina'' (Ervenik, Dalm.)
* ''blahor'' (Nevesinje in Herzegovina)
* ''blabor'' (Tribanj, Dalm.), ''blaborina'' (aumentative)

The ] ''blavor''/''blaor''/''blavur'' ("]") is cognate with ''balaur'',<ref>{{cite journal |last=Orel |first=Vladimir |author-link=Vladimir Orel |title=К этимологии серб. блӑвор, рум. balaur, алб. bullar |journal=ВМГУ |date=1981 |issue=2 |pages=72-6 |lang=RU |quote=В списки балканизмов это слово обычно включается как славянское соответствие алб. bullar ... , рум. balaur ... |trans-quote=In the list of Balkanisms, the word is usually included as the Slavic correspondence to Albanian ''bullar'' ... , Romanian ''balaur'' ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|author-link=Marjeta Šašel Kos|title=Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria|journal=Arheološki Vestnik|volume=44|year=1993|pages=113–136 |url=https://www.academia.edu/489633}}</ref><ref>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. {{ISSN|2247-7330}}</ref> and is regarded as one of the few ] relict words in Serbo-Croatian.<ref name=skok/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|author-link=Marjeta Šašel Kos|title=Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria|journal=Arheološki Vestnik|volume=44|year=1993|pages=113–136 |url=https://www.academia.edu/489633 |quote=The word ''blavor'' ... is a pre-Slavic Balkanism.}}</ref> The word is, however, unattested in ], per Skok and Matasovic.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |title=Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije |trans-title=Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies |pages=89–101 |journal=Folia onomastica Croatica |date=1995 |issue=4 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/158643| lang=Croatian}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Skok |first=Peter |author-link=Petar Skok |title=Zum Balkanlatein III |journal=Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie |volume=50 |issue=4 |date=1930 |pages=484-532 |lang=DE |doi=10.1515/zrph.1930.50.4.484}}</ref>{{efn|However, Romanian Elena Mihaila-Scarlatoiu indicated that the Romanian word ''passed into'' the languages of the nearby regions, like Bulgarian, Albanian and Serbian.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mihailascarlatoiu |first=Elena |date=1972 |title=Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate |journal=Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=95-113 |lang=FR |quote=Terme rencontré en dr., ar. d'oü il a passé dans le ngr., l'alb., le bg., le ser. |trans-quote=Word found in Daco-Romanian and Aromanian, from where it passed into Neo-Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian and Serbian.}}</ref>}}

=== Etymology ===
The term ''Balaur'' (] ''bul'ar'') is of unknown etymology. It has been linked with ] ''boljë''/''bollë'' ("snake") and ''buljar'' ("water snake").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rosetti |first=Alexandru |author-link=Alexandru Rosetti |chapter=La situation du romain parmi les langues balkaniques|title=Linguistica |pages=216-225 |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |date=1965 |doi=10.1515/9783111349039-037 |quote=Voici l'énumération du fonds de vocabulaire que le roumain et l'albanais possèdent en commun: ... ''balaur'' s. m. "dragon, hydre; monstre": alb. ''bollë'' "grosse Schlange", g. ''bullar'' "Wasserschlange"... |trans-quote=The following is a list of shared words between Romanian and Albanian: ... ''balaur'' s. m. "dragon, hydra; monster": alb. ''bollë'' "large snake", g. ''bullar'' "water-snake"... |lang=FR}}</ref><ref name=nandris/> The ] ''balaur'' "dragon", and ''balaura'', an insult term in Serbia, are borrowed from Romanian.<ref name="cioranescu"/><ref name="skok"/>

The Albanian and Romanian terms possibly stem from the same ] root, ''*bell-'' or ''*ber-'' "beast, monster",<ref>"... elementelor grevate de incertitudinea si confuzia divergentelor de opinii: (I) face parte din fondul prelatin, autohton a) din substratul comun român-albanez ... descinde, probabil, dintr-un radical tracic ''*bell-'' sau ''*ber'' - 'fiara'...". Rusnac, George. "Balaur (etimologii)". In: ''Analele ştiinţifice ale Universităţii «Alexandru Ioan Cuza» din Iaşi'' (Serie nouă, Secţiunea III, e. Lingvistică) vol. XXXVII-XXXVIII, 1991-1992, Omul şi limbajul său. Studia linguistica in honorem Eugenio Coseriu. Iasi: Editura Universitatii Al. I Cuza, 1992. pp. 351-360 .</ref> the traces of which can also be found in the name of the Greek mythological hero ] ("the beast killer").<ref name=corominas/><ref name="cioranescu"/> Skok traces its appearance in Slavic to a possible "]" word ''*bolauras'' > ''blavor''.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Skok| first=Petar| author-link=Petar Skok| year=1988| orig-year=1971| title=Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika| volume=3| publisher=Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti| place=Zagreb| language=Croatian| isbn=86-407-0064-8| page=538 }}</ref> However, Matasovic discards a Thracian source and considers the word to be ultimately of ] origin, with the form ''*bulauras'', leading to an ancient ] borrowing with the form ''*bъla(v)ur''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |title=Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije |trans-title=Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies |pages=89–101 |journal=Folia onomastica Croatica |date=1995 |issue=4 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/158643| lang=Croatian}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
=== Sciences ===
The ] ] '']'' is named after this creature.

=== Popular culture ===
==== Video games ====
* In the ] '']'', the Dragons that once ruled the world and are the enemy are called the Balaur.
* In the ] '']'' the largest class of Gorn warship is the Balaur Dreadnought.<ref> Retrieved 2011-06-19.</ref>
* In '']'', there is a gigantic ] weapon named the Balaur.

==== Television series ====
In the 2020 TV series '']'', the Count uses the alias "Mr. Balaur".

==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="cioranescu">{{citation|last=Ciorănescu |first=Alexandru |author-link=:ro:Alexandru Ciorănescu |title=balaur |work=Dicționarul etimologic român |publisher=Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife |year=1958–1966|url=https://www.webdex.ro/online/dictionarul_etimologic_roman/balaur
}}</ref>

<ref name=corominas>The dictionary of Juan de Corominas, cited in: {{citation|last=Gáldi |first=L. |author-link=:ro:László Gáldi |title=(Review) Diccionario Etimológico Rumano, Biblioteca Filológica. Colección publicada por la Universidad de La Laguna by Alejandro Cioranescu |journal=Acta Linguistica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=11 |number=1/2 |year=1961 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_BWAAAAIAAJ&q=Bellerophon |pages=197–198}} {{JSTOR|44309193}}</ref>

<ref name=eliade>{{cite book|last=Eliade |first=Mircea |author-link=Mircea Eliade |translator=Rosemary Sheed |chapter=167. The Degradation of Symbols |title=Patterns in Comparative Religion |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |orig-year=1958 |year=1996 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxliotWdzXIC&pg=PA207 |page=207|isbn=0803267339 }}; (originally in Romanian) ""</ref>

<ref name=feraru>{{cite book|last=Feraru |first=Leon |author-link=Leon Feraru |title=The Development of Rumanian Poetry
|publisher=Columbia University |year=1929 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBIAAAAMAAJ |page=14}}</ref>

<ref name=florescu>{{cite book|last1=Florescu |first1=Radu |author-link=Radu Florescu |last2=McNally |first2=Raymond T. |title=Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times |publisher=Little, Brown |year=2009|isbn=9780316092265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zot08bJa3FAC&pg=PT217
|quote=''Ismeju'' }} {{isbn|9-780-3160-9226-5}}</ref>

<ref name=ljiljana>{{citation|last=Ljiljana |first=Marks |title=Legends about the ''Grabancijaš Dijak'' in the 19th Century and in Contemporary Writings |journal=Acta Ethnographica Hungarica |volume=54 |number=2 |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SkwqAQAAIAAJ&q=%22solomonar%22 |page=327<!--319–336-->}}</ref>

<ref name=marian-balauri>] (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., ''{{plain link|name=Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAN_9QPRU1gC&q=balaurii}}'' '''3''', p. 438.</ref>
<ref name=marian-balauri-germ>] (1879), pp. 54–56, German (tr.), ] (1884), "", ''Archiv für slavische Philologie'' '''VII''', p. 285: "''Mit diesem Zaum zäumen die Solomonari die ihnen anstatt Pferde dienenden Drachen'' (''Balauri'')" or, "With these reins, the Solomonari rein their dragons (''balauri'') that they use instead of horses".</ref>

<ref name=nandris>{{citation|last=Nandris |first=Grigore |author-link=Grigore Nandriș |title=The Historical Dracula: The Theme of His Legend in the Western and in the Eastern Literatures of Europe |journal=Comparative Literature Studies |volume=3 |number=4 |year=1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SkwqAQAAIAAJ&q=%22solomonar%22 |page=377<!--367–396-->}}; Reprinted in: {{cite book|editor-last=Aldridge |editor-first=Alfred Owen |editor-link=Alfred Owen Aldridge |title=Comparative literature: matter and method |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1969 |url=https://archive.org/details/comparativeliter00aldr |url-access=registration |page=|isbn=9780252000164 }}</ref>

<ref name=pamfile>{{cite book|last=Pamfile |first=Tudor |author-link=Tudor Pamfile |chapter=bălaurii |title=Văzduhul după credințile poporului român |place=București |publisher=Socec & comp. |year=1916 |series=Academia română. Din vieața poporului român, culegeri și studii, XXV |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHMkAQAAIAAJ&q=%22b%C4%83laurii |pages=313–316 }} </ref>

<ref name=plotnikova>{{citation|last=Plotnikova |first=Anna |title=Ethnolinguistic phenomena in Boundary Balkan Slavic areas |journal=Славянская диалектная лексика и лингвогеография |volume=7 |year=2001 |url=http://inslav.ru/images/stories/pdf/ISD-07-2001.pdf |page=306<!--301–308-->}}<!-- --></ref>

<ref name=prut>{{citation|last=Prut|first=Constantin |author-link=:ro:Constantin Prut |translator=Sergiu Marcus |title=The World of Fabulous Creatures |journal=Romanian Review |volume=37 |number=2–3 |year=1983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E-csAAAAIAAJ&q=zmeu+giant |page=170<!--–-->}}</ref>

<ref name=sainean>{{citation|last=Sainéan |first=Lazare |author-link=Lazăr Șăineanu |title=Terminologie folklorique en roumain |journal=La Tradition |volume=11 |year=1901 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeM5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA227 |page=227<!--225–229-->}}</ref>

<ref name="skok">{{Citation| last=Skok| first=Petar| author-link=Petar Skok| year=1988| orig-year=1971| title=Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika| volume=1| publisher=Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti| place=Zagreb| language=sh| isbn=86-407-0064-8| page=170| mode=cs1}}</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mihailascarlatoiu |first=Elena |date=1972 |title=Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate |journal=Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=95-113 |lang=FR}}
* {{cite journal |last=Orel |first=Vladimir |author-link=Vladimir Orel |title=К этимологии серб. блӑвор, рум. balaur, алб. bullar |journal=ВМГУ |date=1981 |issue=2 |pages=72-6 |lang=RU}}
* Rusnac, George. "Balaur (etimologii)". In: ''Analele ştiinţifice ale Universităţii «Alexandru Ioan Cuza» din Iaşi'' (Serie nouă, Secţiunea III, e. Lingvistică) vol. XXXVII-XXXVIII, 1991-1992, Omul şi limbajul său. Studia linguistica in honorem Eugenio Coseriu. Iasi: Editura Universitatii Al. I Cuza, 1992. pp. 351-360.
* {{cite journal |last=Radu |first=Voica |title=Consideraţii etimologice privitoare la cuvântul balaur |trans-title=Some etymological considerations regarding the word "Dragon" |journal=Philologica Banatica |volume=II |date=2010 |pages=20–25 |lang=RO}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last=Drăgulescu |first=Radu |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=746103 |title=ANALYSIS OF THE CONNOTATIVE AND DENOTATIVE MEANINGS OF THE TERM ”DRAGON” (BALAUR) AS IT APPEARS IN THE ROMANIAN PHYTONYMY |journal=Journal of Romanian Literary Studies |volume=10 |date=2007 |pages=104-110}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ligorio |first=Orsat |title=Сх. блавор. (Из балканског латинитета XI.) |trans-title=Serbo-Croatian blavor. On Balkan Latin XI |journal=Зборник Матице српске за филологију и лингвистику |volume=60 |issue=1 |date=2017 |pages=13–37 |lang=SR |url=https://www.academia.edu/31196644/Serbo_Croatian_blavor}}

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Latest revision as of 16:23, 1 November 2024

Serpent or dragon of Romanian folklore For the dinosaur, see Balaur bondoc.
A dragon sculpture in Romania.

A balaur (pl. balauri) in Romanian folklore is a type of many-headed dragon 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. They are many-headed like the Greek hell-hound Cerberus or the hydra and are winged and golden, according to Lazăr Șăineanu.

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.

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"). The balaur may also be the abductor of the princess Ileana Cosânzeana, although according to Șăineanu the kidnapper of this princess is a zmeu in the form of giant with pebbly tails (or scaly tails). It is noted that the balaur and the zmeu are often confounded with each other.

According to folklorist Tudor Pamfile, there are three types of balauri in folk tradition: water-, land-, and air-dwelling. 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.

The second type of balaur, according to Pamfile, is said to dwell in the "Armenian land" (Romanian: ţara armenească) where they produce precious stones. In Wallachia, it is also believed that the saliva of a balaur can form precious stones, according to American writer Cora Linn Daniels. Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade noted that the notion a precious stones are formed from a snake's spittle is widespread, from England to China.

The balaur is often associated with the weather and is alternatively called hala or ala, which is usually a Slavic term for a weather demon. This is the type Pamfile calls the "third type" that is air-dwelling. When two balauri meet and fight in the air, there ensues various meteorological damages such as uprooting of trees, or objects being tossed about. Another tradition is that the balaur uses the rainbow as its path and sucks moisture from any spot in order to cause rain. 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.

Although the dragons ridden by the Solomonari are often said to be zmei (sing. zmeu), 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). The dragons were usually kept hidden in the depths of a lake, until summoned by their riders.

Name

In Eastern Romance

The word is attested in Daco-Romanian and Aromanian. In Romanian language the word appears with variations: balaoană, bălăuraş, bălăurel, balaurel, bălăuroaică, bălăuaua, and possibly in the shorter form bală. Similar words are attested in Megleno-Romanian, e.g., bular 'a type of large snake' and bălăura 'large (about plums)', and in Aromanian bularu 'red snake'.

Slavic comparanda

According to Ranko Matasovic, the word appears along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. In this regard, Croatian linguist Peter Skok located the following variations of the lexeme:

  • blavor (Montenegro and Dalmatia); blavorak (diminutive, attested in a 16th century writer from Ragusa); blavūr (Ragusa); blavòruša (aumentative; Montenegro)
  • bläor (Imotski, Podlug in Cattaro, Benkovac, Jagodnja, Sibenik - all in Dalmatia); blőr; blőruša (Montenegro)
  • blaur (Dalmatia), blavorina (aumentative, Koprivno in Sinj, Dalm.), blaorina (Ervenik, Dalm.)
  • blahor (Nevesinje in Herzegovina)
  • blabor (Tribanj, Dalm.), blaborina (aumentative)

The Serbo-Croatian blavor/blaor/blavur ("European legless lizard") is cognate with balaur, and is regarded as one of the few pre-Slavic Balkan relict words in Serbo-Croatian. The word is, however, unattested in Bulgarian, per Skok and Matasovic.

Etymology

The term Balaur (Aromanian bul'ar) is of unknown etymology. It has been linked with Albanian boljë/bollë ("snake") and buljar ("water snake"). The Transylvanian Saxon balaur "dragon", and balaura, an insult term in Serbia, are borrowed from Romanian.

The Albanian and Romanian terms possibly stem 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"). Skok traces its appearance in Slavic to a possible "Illyrio-Thracian" word *bolauras > blavor. However, Matasovic discards a Thracian source and considers the word to be ultimately of Illyrian origin, with the form *bulauras, leading to an ancient Slavic borrowing with the form *bъla(v)ur.

Legacy

Sciences

The maniraptor theropod Balaur bondoc is named after this creature.

Popular culture

Video games

Television series

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

See also

Explanatory notes

  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., the hala).
  3. German: ein goldene Zaum.
  4. However, Romanian Elena Mihaila-Scarlatoiu indicated that the Romanian word passed into the languages of the nearby regions, like Bulgarian, Albanian and Serbian.

References

Citations
  1. ^ Nandris, 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. ISBN 9780252000164.
  2. ^ Sainéan, 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. ^ Prut, Constantin (1983), "The World of Fabulous Creatures", Romanian Review, 37 (2–3), translated by Sergiu Marcus: 170
  6. ^ Pamfile, 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) . "167. The Degradation of Symbols". Patterns in Comparative Religion. Translated by Rosemary Sheed. U of Nebraska Press. p. 207. ISBN 0803267339.; (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. ISBN 9780316092265. Ismeju ISBN 9-780-3160-9226-5
  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 Romaniae 3, 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 Philologie VII, p. 285: "Mit diesem Zaum zäumen die Solomonari die ihnen anstatt Pferde dienenden Drachen (Balauri)" or, "With these reins, the Solomonari rein their dragons (balauri) that they use instead of horses".
  13. Ljiljana, Marks (1990), "Legends about the Grabancijaš Dijak in the 19th Century and in Contemporary Writings", Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 54 (2): 327
  14. Mihailascarlatoiu , Elena (1972). "Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate". Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes (in French). 10 (1): 95-113 .
  15. Mihailascarlatoiu , Elena (1972). "Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate". Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes (in French). 10 (1): 95-113 .
  16. Radu, Voica (2010). "Consideraţii etimologice privitoare la cuvântul balaur" [Some etymological considerations regarding the word "Dragon"]. Philologica Banatica (in Romanian). II: 20–25 .
  17. Radu, Voica (2010). "Consideraţii etimologice privitoare la cuvântul balaur" [Some etymological considerations regarding the word "Dragon"]. Philologica Banatica (in Romanian). II: 20–25 .
  18. Matasović, Ranko (1995). "Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije" [Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies]. Folia onomastica Croatica (in Croatian) (4): 89–101 .
  19. Skok, Peter (1930). "Zum Balkanlatein III". Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie (in German). 50 (4): 484-532 . doi:10.1515/zrph.1930.50.4.484.
  20. Skok, Petar (1988) . Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Croatian). Vol. 1. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti. p. 169. ISBN 86-407-0064-8.
  21. Bidwell, Charles E. (1963). "Some remarks on the reflexes of Vulgar Latin au in South Slavic". Romance Notes. 4 (2): 178–82 . JSTOR 43800157. ... Blavor is attested in Montenegro and neighbouring areas ...
  22. Orel, Vladimir (1981). "К этимологии серб. блӑвор, рум. balaur, алб. bullar". ВМГУ (in Russian) (2): 72-6 . В списки балканизмов это слово обычно включается как славянское соответствие алб. bullar ... , рум. balaur ... [In the list of Balkanisms, the word is usually included as the Slavic correspondence to Albanian bullar ... , Romanian balaur ...]
  23. Šašel Kos, Marjeta (1993). "Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria". Arheološki Vestnik. 44: 113–136 .
  24. 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. ISSN 2247-7330
  25. ^ Skok, Petar (1988) . Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Serbo-Croatian). Vol. 1. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti. p. 170. ISBN 86-407-0064-8.
  26. Šašel Kos, Marjeta (1993). "Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria". Arheološki Vestnik. 44: 113–136 . The word blavor ... is a pre-Slavic Balkanism.
  27. Matasović, Ranko (1995). "Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije" [Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies]. Folia onomastica Croatica (in Croatian) (4): 89–101 .
  28. Skok, Peter (1930). "Zum Balkanlatein III". Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie (in German). 50 (4): 484-532 . doi:10.1515/zrph.1930.50.4.484.
  29. Mihailascarlatoiu , Elena (1972). "Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate". Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes (in French). 10 (1): 95-113 . Terme rencontré en dr., ar. d'oü il a passé dans le ngr., l'alb., le bg., le ser. [Word found in Daco-Romanian and Aromanian, from where it passed into Neo-Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian and Serbian.]
  30. Rosetti, Alexandru (1965). "La situation du romain parmi les langues balkaniques". Linguistica (in French). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 216-225 . doi:10.1515/9783111349039-037. Voici l'énumération du fonds de vocabulaire que le roumain et l'albanais possèdent en commun: ... balaur s. m. "dragon, hydre; monstre": alb. bollë "grosse Schlange", g. bullar "Wasserschlange"... [The following is a list of shared words between Romanian and Albanian: ... balaur s. m. "dragon, hydra; monster": alb. bollë "large snake", g. bullar "water-snake"...]
  31. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), "balaur", Dicționarul etimologic român, Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife
  32. "... elementelor grevate de incertitudinea si confuzia divergentelor de opinii: (I) face parte din fondul prelatin, autohton a) din substratul comun român-albanez ... descinde, probabil, dintr-un radical tracic *bell- sau *ber - 'fiara'...". Rusnac, George. "Balaur (etimologii)". In: Analele ştiinţifice ale Universităţii «Alexandru Ioan Cuza» din Iaşi (Serie nouă, Secţiunea III, e. Lingvistică) vol. XXXVII-XXXVIII, 1991-1992, Omul şi limbajul său. Studia linguistica in honorem Eugenio Coseriu. Iasi: Editura Universitatii Al. I Cuza, 1992. pp. 351-360 .
  33. The dictionary of Juan de Corominas, cited in: Gáldi, L. (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): 197–198 JSTOR 44309193
  34. Skok, Petar (1988) . Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Croatian). Vol. 3. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti. p. 538. ISBN 86-407-0064-8.
  35. Matasović, Ranko (1995). "Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije" [Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies]. Folia onomastica Croatica (in Croatian) (4): 89–101 .
  36. "Balaur Dreadnought" at STOWiki.org Retrieved 2011-06-19.

Bibliography

  • Mihailascarlatoiu , Elena (1972). "Emprunts Roumains dans le Lexique Serbo-Croate". Revue des Etudes Sud-Est Europeennes (in French). 10 (1): 95-113 .
  • Orel, Vladimir (1981). "К этимологии серб. блӑвор, рум. balaur, алб. bullar". ВМГУ (in Russian) (2): 72–6.
  • Rusnac, George. "Balaur (etimologii)". In: Analele ştiinţifice ale Universităţii «Alexandru Ioan Cuza» din Iaşi (Serie nouă, Secţiunea III, e. Lingvistică) vol. XXXVII-XXXVIII, 1991-1992, Omul şi limbajul său. Studia linguistica in honorem Eugenio Coseriu. Iasi: Editura Universitatii Al. I Cuza, 1992. pp. 351-360.
  • Radu, Voica (2010). "Consideraţii etimologice privitoare la cuvântul balaur" [Some etymological considerations regarding the word "Dragon"]. Philologica Banatica (in Romanian). II: 20–25.

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