Tradition: Romanian Mythology
Alternative Names: Marț-sara, Marți Seara
Category: Demon, Sheep
The Myth
Marțolea is a demonic being that lives in the mountains and descends on Tuesday nights. Its gender is uncertain because it can change its form. It usually appears as a goat with a human-like head, horns, and hooves, but it can also take the form of an ugly old woman dressed entirely in white, a soldier, or a handsome young man.
Marțolea comes at night to punish women who work on Tuesday, a day that is considered semi-holy and must be respected. It forbids four particular household tasks: spinning wool, sowing, boiling laundry, and baking bread. It can lure women with its singing before punishing those who have continued working.
Its punishments are terrible. Unmarried women may be killed, with their guts ripped out and hung from nails on the walls or around the dishes. Married women may be killed, or Marțolea may possess their baby or their husband when he is away from home.
Marțolea appears differently depending on whom it encounters. To married women it appears as an old woman, to married men as a virgin, and to unmarried women as a handsome young man.
Those who respect Tuesday and refrain from the forbidden work are rewarded instead. Marțolea may leave eggs on their doorstep or bring them flowers from the highest mountains of Bucovina. On the first night of March, women wearing Mărțișor charms may also receive a silver coin from Marțolea, which they must keep throughout the year.
Sources
“Marțolea.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C8%9Bolea