Mourir pour renaître dans les contes de fées roumains
Dying as Rebirth in Romanian Fairy Tales

Summary/Abstract: The Santu Nicolai (Saint Nicholas) fairy-tale, collected by Simion Florea Marian, is the story of a princess cursed by her mother “to dance with the devil”. During her voyage of self-discovery, the princess will become the priestess of the demon of fertility and nature, also identified with the god Sabazios. She will therefore follow complete the initiation rite, starting with severing the link to the community and passing to the unknown environment, thus becoming one with Sabazios. Like the god of the creation, she will descend into the grave and demand a tribute for the kingdom’s wellness. The descent into the grave is actually the prelude to her rebirth. One can assume that this fairy-tale is a reminiscence of the rite dedicated to the God Sabazios, well known in the Romanian territory as Jupiter-Sabazios or Dionysos-Sabazios.

• Details
• Contents