Protectori zoomorfi ai casei. O perspectivă deschisă de documente inedite aflate în Arhiva de Folclor a Moldovei și Bucovinei (I)
Zoomorphic Protectors of the Home. A Perspective Suggested by Unpublished Documents from The Folklore Archive of Moldavia and Bucovina

Summary/Abstract: Belief in animal protectors from around the home managed to reach present times almost unchanged in Romania. In this respect, the paper publishes for the first time information gathered in The Folklore Archive of Moldavia and Bucovina, founded in 1970. The two sub-sections are based both on a bibliographic and field information perspective on swallows, storks, and on the snake of the house respectively. The close relationship with these animals is on one hand created by the conviction that birds bring good fortune to the house they nest in, and on the other hand by the belief that each house has a protecting serpent. None of these can be killed or even disturbed by people since great misfortune will follow. The swallows and the storks will set the house on fire if their nests are destroyed and the death of the snake will also end the life of the inhabitants, because they are presented as double egos. This later perspective can be supported both by personal stories and folk ballads on the lad who grew together with the serpent beneath the house. There are also many legends on swallows and storks backing up the mythological image of these migratory birds. The active beliefs also influenced architecture and crafts, since people felt the need to decorate their houses, gates and house objects mainly with the image of the snake, but also with representations of the swallow. The conviction is so strong that even animals who harm the birds are believed to suffer from their revenge. The portraits are obviously drawn in a humanizing manner in order to support the idea of special creatures coming to help the entire household. While the birds have a solar projection, since they come in Romania with the spring and leave when the day is getting shorter, the serpent keeps his sepulchral aura that has been documented ever since Roman Antiquity.

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