Treasure Spirits and Guardians: between Dream and Illusion
Treasure Spirits and Guardians: between Dream and Illusion

Summary/Abstract: The belief in the existence of treasures, guarded by spirits of many types such as dwarves, elves, giants, ghosts, snakes and dragons, forms a very important part of the folk European tradition. Hidden in ruins, chests, special containers, and graves, it establishes a connection between the living and the dead or the living and the supernatural. Examining the figure of the black man (μαύρος), who is the treasure guardian par excellence in Greek popular narrations, the articulation of a similar plexus of motifs is evident in the whole of European mythology; the human being has a dream where a saint or a supernatural being indicates the localisation of the treasure; the human being must then confess nothing about his dream, otherwise the treasure will vanish or be transformed into charcoal; the human being has to finally win the guardian, gaining the precious interior. Is this dream and the sequence of events simply the result of a deep sleep, or a vision reflecting on reality? Through the comparative approach of medieval literary or occult texts, and oral documents of the European folklore, we will try to cast light on this subject.

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