Samodiva: A Bulgarian folktale¹

Once upon a time there lived a young beauty, whose name was Samodiva. She was a princess in a small kingdom, tucked away among the enchanted hills of mountain Emos. Her father was king Charismat. The king was wise and was much loved by the people, who had long lived in peace and prosperity under his rule. The mother of the princess, queen Delikacia, was as beautiful as the fertile valleys in the kingdom in spring. Delikacia was a woman kind and delicate and she died giving birth to her daughter. Charismat’s heart was full of sorrow but he poured out all his remaining love and kindness on the little princess.

When she grew up, stories of her incredible beauty travelled beyond the borders of her kingdom. And she was not only beautiful but clever too. So much so that others often seemed too stupid. King Charismat provided the princess with the best schooling. Besides, she proved an excellent huntress, was very skillful and talented in the arts too, especially in music.

No one could resist the beauty and charm of Samodiva. Princes and other noble men from near and far came to ask her hand in marriage but she showed little interest. With heavy hearts, the young men played the flute under the windows of the castle all night and during the day they sighed dreamily in taverns at the beauty of Samodiva. Their number swelled all the time and arguments broke out over who had the rightful claim to be the princess’ chosen one. Soon it came to blows and later battle tournaments. But without the blessing of Samodiva there was no way these fights could lead to a much-coveted wedding.

As a result of the spectacles organized by the candidates, gold kept piling up in the kingdom’s treasury because people flocked to watch and were eager to spend an unreasonable amount of coins in the accompanying trade. However, the huge number of suitors would soon cause serious trouble when they eventually lost patience and made their claims for the princess’ hand in marriage.

So, king Charismat had to convince his daughter to make a choice and soon, or at least make a condition to the candidates so they could prove their worth. As the tale has it, Samodiva was both wise and beautiful beyond measure so she accepted her loving father’s request with kindness, saying she would marry the one who was faster than her in a race, a better flute player and wrestler. At first, the suitors rejoiced at the news and drew up a schedule for the contests with the princess, according to the results of the battle tournaments.

But their joy was short-lived.

Samodiva defeated her opponents with ease and when she entered the wrestling bouts, she fought to the death. This dampened the suitors’ enthusiasm and some withdrew from the contests and left the kingdom under cover of darkness to avoid losing face. Only a single suitor remained who was neither strong nor agile, nor a skilled musician. He was very fat and his name was Obesey. Samodiva felt pity for him and gave him the opportunity to leave the contests with his dignity intact by postponing matches the following day. Blinded by love, Obesey was having none of it and wanted to try his luck, even though his chances appeared slim.

Samodiva killed him too.

As luck would have it, it turned out the boy was the only son of the mighty witch Granneevil. The old crone went mad with grief when she heard of the tragic death of her child and swore to have her revenge on Samodiva and her father. One day she disguised herself as an old woman and appeared before her king and princess with a basket full of exotic fruit as a gift. No one knew that Granneevil had woven a deadly spell in the basket aimed at Charismat and Samodiva. The father and his daughter had no reason to doubt the old woman’s goodwill in offering them such delicacies so they accepted with gratitude.

And they fell under her spell.

The spell of the sorceress was an extremely dangerous love spell.

The moment king Charismat and Samodiva tasted the fruit, they fell in love and in each other’s arms in a most depraved and shameless way². Naturally, word of this debauchery spread around and the king’s loyal subjects were shocked and indignant.

The wild rumor spread to kingdoms close and far and their nobles and princes felt deceived and betrayed. Those whose sons had lost their lives at the hands of Samodiva were most upset by the news. Armies were sent forth to seek vengeance for the princess and her father’s rotten ways.

And so, one day in late autumn, king Charismat tried to rally his army and stand against the enemy advancing on the borders of his kingdom. Even as he appeared on top of the grand staircase of the palace he was struck down by his subjects angered by his misconduct. Samodiva’s heart was broken by her father’s death but grief soon made way to wrath. Her rage fell over her shoulders and down her lithe body like the veil of a dark shadow. In her anger, she first turned on her own people and like a hurricane, she swept through the streets of the town, destroying everything in her path.

Then she rushed the enemy but she soon realized that however powerful her anger was, she stood no chance against an army this size.

So she fled to the mountains. The enemy gave chase in the gorge where the river Crazyrun ran. Samodiva hid in a cave, where she lived in exile³. Some time passed and shepherds saw her bathing in the river and sent word to some guards. The enemy army gathered once more and resumed the hunt with renewed passion. Long did Samodiva run but her strength was leaving her. Then she sent a prayer to the heavens and looked up.

And lo, the figure of the famous hero Trapokles shot through the clouds and dropped with a loud splash in the river Crazyrun. The hero sprang to his feet, cursed loudly and then broke into a run for the glorious city Pliskoba. In this wild unstoppable dash, Trapokles did not even notice that he thrashed a whole army. Samodiva gave a cry for help because more soldiers were advancing but the hero seemed not to have heard. The zmey Bellemushrumrok heard her though and swooped down from the sky to save her.

Then he took her to the end of the world. They set up home there which later grew into a village. They called it Zmeyovo.

There, Samodiva and Bellemushrumrok lived happily and well and still do to this day.

– Radoslav Radushev-Radus & George Petkov-Mareto

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¹Kind of a wood-fairy in Bulgarian mythology, „самодива“, in ancient Bulgarian.

²Since then, the attraction of young women and girls to older men has been known as “samodiva’s yearning”. The phenomena has been studied by modern psychology and is described as “samodiva’s complex”.

³Since then, lustful maidens banished to the woods have been called samodivas