The Samodivi of the Bulgarian Mountains
On moonlit nights in Bulgaria's mountains, wood nymphs dance in rings in the clearings. Any man who sees them dancing is in danger.
What was reported
In Bulgarian folklore, the samodivi are beautiful wood and mountain spirits, young women in long white dresses with flowing hair, who live in remote forests, springs and mountains such as Pirin and Rila. On moonlit nights, they dance in rings, called horo, in the clearings.
Anyone who stumbles upon their dance may be forced to dance until they collapse, or be struck ill. Grass doesn't grow where they have danced. A man who steals a samodiva's dress can make her his wife, until she finds it and flies away.
Explanations offered
The samodivi are the Bulgarian form of the vila, a fairy figure known across the Slavic Balkans. Like the fairy rings of western Europe, their dancing grounds explain circles in the grass. They appear often in Bulgarian folk songs.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria
- Witnesses
- Bulgarian folklore
- Status
- Folklore
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from Bulgaria