| 翻訳と辞書 |
Ala (demon)
An ala or hala (plural: ''ale'' or ''hali'') is a female mythological creature recorded in the folklore of Bulgarians, Macedonians, and Serbs. Ale are considered demons of bad weather whose main purpose is to lead hail-producing thunderclouds in the direction of fields, vineyards, or orchards to destroy the crops, or loot and take them away. Extremely voracious, ale particularly like to eat children, though their gluttony is not limited to Earth. It is believed they sometimes try devouring the Sun or the Moon, causing eclipses, and that it would mean the end of the world should they succeed. When people encounter an ala, their mental or physical health, or even life, are in peril; however, her favor can be gained by approaching her with respect and trust. Being in a good relationship with an ala is very beneficial, because she makes her favorites rich and saves their lives in times of trouble.
The appearance of an ala is diversely and often vaguely described in folklore. A given ala may look like a black wind, a gigantic creature of indistinct form, a huge-mouthed, humanlike, or snakelike monster, a female dragon, or a raven. An ala may also assume various human or animal shapes, and can even possess a person's body. It is believed that the diversity of appearances described is due to the ala's being a synthesis of a Slavic demon of bad weather and a similar demon of the central Balkans pre-Slavic population. In folk tales with a humanlike ala, her personality is similar to that of the Russian Baba Yaga. Ale are said to live in the clouds, or in a lake, spring, hidden remote place, forest, inhospitable mountain, cave, or gigantic tree. While ale are usually hostile towards humans, they do have other powerful enemies that can defeat them, like dragons. In Christianized tales, St. Elijah takes the dragons' role, but in some cases the saint and the dragons fight ale together. Eagles are also regarded as defenders against ale, chasing them away from fields and thus preventing them from bringing hail clouds overhead.
== Origin ==
While some mythological beings are common to all Slavic ethnic groups, ale seem to be exclusive to Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serb folklore. Even so, other Slavic groups also had demons of bad weather. Among East Slavs, this witch was called Baba Yaga, and was imagined as a woman of gigantic stature with a big nose, iron teeth, and protruding chin; it was believed that she ate children, and her presence brought thunderstorms and cold weather. The term ''baba'' is present in customs, beliefs, and toponyms of all Slavic groups, usually as a personification of wind, darkness, and rain. This leads some scholars to believe there was a proto-Slavic divinity or demon called ''Baba'', associated with bad weather.〔
Traces of beliefs in that demon are preserved among South Slavs in expressions for the bad weather common in early spring (''baba'' Marta, ''bab''ini jarci, ''bab''ine huke, etc.). Brought to the Balkans from the ancient homeland, these beliefs combined with those of the native populations, eventually developing into the personage of the ala. The pre-Slavic Balkan source of the ala is related to the ''vlva'', female demons of bad weather of the Vlachs of Serbia, who, like ale, led hail clouds over crops to ruin them, and uprooted trees. A Greek female demon Lamia might also have contributed in the development of the ala. Just like ale, she eats children, and is called gluttonous. In southern Serbia and Macedonia, ''lamnja'', a word derived from ''lamia'', is also a synonym for ''ala''.〔 The Bulgarian ''lamya'' has remained a creature distinct from the ala, but shares many similarities with her.〔 The numerous variations in form of ale, ranging from the animal and half-animal to the humanlike concepts, tell us that beliefs in these demons were not uniform.〔
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Ala (demon)」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|