Tradition / Region: Romanian Mythology
Alternate Names: –
Category: Dragon
The Myth
A shepherd from Minarken once told how his companion Simon proved himself against the dreaded Smo.
In those days, the young men of the village often kept watch over their masters’ flocks at night. They would gather around their fire in the hills, laughing, boasting, and telling stories to pass the long hours.
One night Simon suddenly said, half in jest, “Do you think I could summon the Smo if I saw him flying past?”
The others laughed, but wagers were quickly made. Bottles of brandy were promised if he could do it, and Simon agreed.
Not long afterward, a flash of lightning appeared in the western sky. Soon the men saw what they feared most — the fiery Smo drawing nearer. Sparks streamed from it as it flew high through the darkness.
Simon sprang up. From his belt he drew the small iron fork he carried beside his knife. He swung it three times above his head and hurled it into the ground before him. Then he shouted across the mountains:
“When I call you, you must follow me and come to this place!”
Far away, the blazing dragon suddenly turned and came snarling toward them. At Simon’s command it halted before him.
“Where are you going?” Simon demanded.
With a dull voice and fire pouring from its mouth and eyes, the Smo answered, “I go to my sweetheart in the village below.”
“She is mine, not yours,” Simon declared. “You will stay here as long as I wish.”
And the spirit obeyed him.
For a long time Simon held the fiery dragon there beside the fire while the others watched in fear and amazement. Only toward morning did he lift the fork again, cast it once more into the ground, and command:
“Go back where you came from — but you shall not go to my village.”
At once the Smo rose into the air and drifted westward, slowly vanishing toward the dark horizon. By then the roosters were already crowing and the sky over the mountains was turning pale.
For when dawn comes, the spirits of the night must withdraw, and the world belongs again to humankind.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Stephan und der Drachen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/rumaenien/siebenbuergen/stephan.html
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Berufung des Smo. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/rumaenien/siebenbuergen/berufungdessmo.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive