Nucul și nucile în mentalitatea tradițională românească
The walnut tree and the walnuts in the traditional Romanian mentality

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to highlight the impact of the dendromorphic symbol – the walnut tree – on the traditional Romanian mentality. Synchronic analysis and interdisciplinary perspective (ethnology, linguistics, religion, mythology) underlines the malign connotation of the walnut tree (in its burrow dwells the devil, over the tree are dancing the pixies, those mythological creatures that can cripple the human being with a single glance) and the beneficial connotation of walnuts (fertility and fecundity functions in various contexts: at wedding, winter holidays, etc.). The walnut tree and the walnuts are analyzed on several levels: on a symbolic level, in interaction with ritual praxis, in relation with certain folkloric categories - proverbs, riddles, fairy tales. The walnut tree and the walnuts reveal the complexity, the impact of these symbols on the peasants living in the ontological universe of the Romanian village.

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