Sarah Mäkelä: Transylvania - Score a Kindle and Gift Card

Monday, March 5

Transylvania - Score a Kindle and Gift Card

Today we're going Transylvania-themed in celebration of the huge event Barbara Vey is having today on her blog! I helped donate a Kindle and an Amazon Gift Certificate with seven other authors. For the chance to win the KINDLE and $50 Gift Certificate to Amazon, visit Barbara Vey's blog at http://BeyondHerBook.com for more information!

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Since Barbara's theme is Transylvania, I decided to share some Romanian folklore today.

A Zmeu is of Romanian folklore and mythology. It's basically a slavic dragon with anthropomorphic features, namely its humanoid legs, arms, and ability to use and make possession such as weapons. His magical powers include the ability to shapeshift, fly, and spit fire. He has supernatural strength.

In Romanian mythology, the zmeu is seen as the embodiment of selfishness and greed. He typically steals something that's very important, and Făt-Frumos, the Romanian version of "Prince Charming," has to gain it back through his selfless bravery. Even though the zmeu has amazing abilities, it's no match for Făt-Frumos.

In Moldavia, a zmeu is sometimes pictured as a vampire-like creature that takes the shape of a flame then goes in the room of a young girl or widow. Once inside, he becomes a man and seduces her.

Interesting Tidbits:

The name zmeu most likely comes from the Slavic word Zmey, which is a Slavic dragon with three heads. The plural form is zmei, and the feminine forms are zmeoaică and (fem. plural) zmeoaice.
Some English translations refer to a zmeu as a variation of an ogre or giant from western European mythologies. Like ogres, a zmeu kidnaps a maiden to be his wife in his otherworldly realm.
The word zmeu also refers to the kites that children fly. It's also the word for dragon in German, Russian, Norwegian, Swedish and Scottish English.