Serbian SMiLeS: Slavic Dragons
[caption id=”” align=”alignleft” width=”450"]
A statue on Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Credit: slovenia.info[/caption]
Fantasy literature has developed mythical creatures of the sublime and interwoven them into our everyday lives. The fantasy genre has only become more and more relevant in the literary world, and the creatures this genre glorifies have become extremely common. While we have now know creatures such as witches, vampires, and werewolves to be unbelievable myths, this has not always been so. The Salem Witch Trials are a testament to these mythical creatures actualized into society, the lore creating fear in society against what they do not know.
In Serbian myths and fairytales, dragons too were once part of history rather than children’s tales. Serbians did not have a fear of the Slavic dragon, as in other cultural myths dragons were often regarded as Satan’s pawns, but rather believed these dragons to be benevolent creatures willing to defend Slavic villages. Dragons even became integral parts in the protection against Ottoman conquests during the Kosovo War of 1389, at least in the case of its oral traditions and cultural retellings. The history of dragons in Serbian culture seems like a chapter straight out of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.
The Serbians called Slavic dragons ‘zmaj.’ The zmaj protected villages from a creature called the Ala, a malevolent force that destroyed crops and brought about storms. The zmaj was described as a creature with a ram’s head with the body of a snake.
When these creatures weren’t ensuring their regions’ safety, they were known for their pursuit of human women. While this pursuit may seem scandalous and almost bestial, the people considered these relationships to be beneficial to society. The villagers’ only complaints were that mortal women distracted the zmaj from their duties as guardians. So when crops failed or bad weather arrived, the people would perform dragon rituals to expel dragons from women’s homes so they could continue to fend for their people.
Human-dragon hybrids, the children of these romantic relationships, were often the central characters of Slavic heroic myths. Many Serbian rulers such as Stefan Lazarević and Stojan Čupić (a pinnacle figure in the First Serbian Uprising in the nineteenth century) even claimed to be descendants of the dragon, because the dragon represented power, good reputation, and wisdom. The myth of the zmaj was believed to have been nourished by Stefan Lazarevic, the son of Prince Lazar. He was a unique personality with an interest for the psychology of people. His father, the Prince, was also a central character in many epic stories. Stefan joined the chivalric code called the ‘Order of the Dragon.’ This association further propelled Stefan’s role as a dragon and his victories against the Ottomans would become immortalized in these urban legends.
Serbia’s cultural belief system involving the zmaj, or dragon, has become a paramount influence in dragon lore itself. Dragons are integrated into Slavic culture through their legends, tales, coat of arms, and tourist attractions. The “Path of Dragons through Serbia” is a route from Fruska Gora that extends through Belgrade, all the way to the citadel of Markovo Kale. This trail highlights various landmarks, castles, statues, and places of legend that the zmaj were said to have visited. The zmaj is a creature reveled by the Slavic people, and such wonder for this creature still exists in our literary and artistic world today.
