The three Ursitoare, in Romanian mythology, are supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life. They are similar to the Greek Fates or Moirai.[1]

The Fates appearing to baptize children has been part of Romanian tradition for hundreds of years. In recent years there has been a "physical materialization" too of this tradition through the show presented during the name party.

Names

Fieldwork in the Oltenia region found dialectal variations of their names: ursătóri(le), ursitóri(le), ursătoáre(le).[2]

Role

According to ethnologist Pauline Schullerus (fr), the Ursitoari comes at night to the newborn's cradle and weaves their fate.[3]

Parallels

Scholarship indicates that similar beings (a trio of women that allot men's fates) also exist in South Slavic folklore, among the Serbians, Macedonians, Croatians, Bulgarians and Montenegrinians.[4]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Ristic 2008, pp. 44.
  2. ↑ Golant, Natalia. "Reprezentări mitologice ale românilor din Oltenia (pe baza cercetărilor de teren efectuate în judeţele Vâlcea, Gorj şi Mehedinţi)" [Mythological Representations of Romanians of Oltenia (Based on Field Researches Undertaken in the Counties of Vâlcea, Gorj and Mehedinţi)]. In: Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei [The Yearly Review of the Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia]. p. 97.
  3. ↑ Schullerus, Pauline. Rumänische Volksmärchen aus dem mittleren Harbachtal. Bukarest: Kriterion, 1977. pp. 357-362.
  4. ↑ Golant, Natalia. "Reprezentări mitologice ale românilor din Oltenia (pe baza cercetărilor de teren efectuate în judeţele Vâlcea, Gorj şi Mehedinţi)" [Mythological Representations of Romanians of Oltenia (Based on Field Researches Undertaken in the Counties of Vâlcea, Gorj and Mehedinţi)]. In: Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei [The Yearly Review of the Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia]. p. 97.

Bibliography

Ristic, Radomir (2008), "The great spirits of fate", The Crooked Path, Pendraig Publishing (2), ISBN 9780979616891

Further reading

  • Hulubaş, Adina. "Ipostaze ale divinităţilor destinului în credinţe arhaice şi în literatura populară" [Hypostases of the Destiny Gods in Secular Beliefs and Folk Literature)]. In: Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei [The Yearly Review of the Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia] 12/2012, pp. 173-188.

See also

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