Zmeu

dragon · Romania · Balkan

Zmeu is the dragon of Romanian folklore, a fearsome flying serpent, often multi-headed, that abducts maidens and menaces villages from mountain fastnesses and castles. In the folk ballads a hero must defeat the zmeu, sometimes with the aid of his captive's cunning; the dragon may also appear as a handsome youth. It personifies the dangerous forces overcome by heroic virtue.

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