„FETELE RELE” ALE MITOLOGIEI ROMÂNEȘTI. „SUPRAVIEȚUIREA” IELELOR (I) – O STRUCTURĂ MITOLOGICĂ RECURENTĂ
The 'mean young women' of the Romanian mythology. The 'survival' of the summer fairies (I) – a recurrent mythological structure

Summary/Abstract: A very beloved myth in Romania has as its central figure a group of women, called 'Iele', fairies who make their appearance during summer nights or even on the night of Saint John, in a forest clearing, and dance around the fire. Folklore portrays them as forest spirits who can bewitch those who surprise them by dancing, causing them to lose their judgment and / or modifying their physical appearance. The present study is the result of the common research interest of the two authors on this topic. In the first part of the study, the authors propose a detailed survey in the area of Romanian folklore and mythology interested in this topic with complex mythological and symbolic meanings. The article gathers important information from the relevant literature (L. Șăineanu, S. Fl. Marian, T. Pamfile, A. Gorovei, M. Olinescu, R. Vulcănescu etc.) and it also briefly analyzes the way in which the mythological elements and legends about the summer fairies called 'Iele' were capitalized in literary fiction and poetry signed by Romanian writers. A summary version of this article was presented at The Scientific conference 'Dialogue of cultures between tradition and modernity', XXI edition, organized by the Department of Philology and the Center for Philological Research and Multicultural Dialogue (CCFDM), "1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba Iulia, Romania.

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