The Zmeu
In Romanian fairy tales, a giant who flies as a ball of fire carries off princesses to his palace in another world, until a hero comes for them.
What was reported
The zmeu is one of the great villains of Romanian folk tales: a huge, man-shaped being with a tail, sometimes with scales, who can change shape and fly through the air, often as a fiery shape crossing the sky.
He kidnaps young women, often princesses, and carries them off to his palace in a hidden world. The hero, Făt-Frumos, must defeat him through cunning and strength. In village belief, the zmeu also visited lonely women at night as a flying flame.
Explanations offered
The zmeu belongs to the folk tales and beliefs of Romania and neighbouring countries, related to the Slavic zmey, a dragon. The fiery flying form may have been inspired by meteors and ball lightning.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Transylvania, Romania
- Witnesses
- Romanian folklore
- Status
- Legend
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 Cluj