Ursitoare

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Women who decree fate in Romanian folklore

title: "Ursitoare" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["romanian-mythology", "time-and-fate-goddesses", "triple-goddesses"] description: "Women who decree fate in Romanian folklore" topic_path: "general/romanian-mythology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursitoare" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Women who decree fate in Romanian folklore ::

The three Ursitoare, in Romanian mythology, are supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life. They are most similar to the Roman Parcae, the Latin equivalent of the Greek Fates or Moirai.

The Fates appearing to baptize children has been part of Romanian tradition for hundreds of years. In recent years there has been a "physical materialization" too of this tradition through the show presented during the name party.

Names

Their most common names are ursitori and ursitoare, but variations appear locally, like ursători, ursoaie, ursońi, urzoaie, ursite. Similarly, in the Oltenia region, they are dialectally known as ursătóri(le), ursitóri(le), ursătoáre(le). They are also euphemisticaly called albe, fecioare, babe, Albe Caşmete, and Hărăzite.

The great variety in their names, according to Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, attests the "ancient popularity" of the belief.

Etymology

According to , the term originates from the expression a ursi, from Latin ordior 'predeterminate, weave', also found in Modern Greek orizo and Bulgarian urisram.

Role

The Ursitoari equal three beings, but are variably described as three girls, three virgins, three sisters, three women, or three apparitions.

They come at night to the newborn's cradle, three nights after their birth, and weave their fate. During the same period, the child's mother and the midwife work to propitiate the Ursiotare in order to earn their goodwill. These beings also assign a fated partner to a person.

In Moldova, the ursitoare are good fairies clad in white and equal three: the ursitoarea, who holds a spindle and a loom; the soarta, who weaves the thread, and the moartea, who cuts the thread. Likewise, in Romanian popular belief, the Ursitoare are three beings that come to weave the child's fate, each of them having separate functions: Torcătoarea, who furnishes the life thread; Depănătoarea, who spins it into the spindle, and Curmătoarea, who cuts it with scissors, representing the allotted time for the person.

Parallels

Among Slavic peoples

Scholarship indicates that similar beings (a trio of women that allot men's fates) also exist in South Slavic folklore, among the Serbians, Macedonians, Slovenes, Croatians, Bulgarians and Montenegrinians.

In Bulgaria (also among Bulgarians in Moldova), there is the belief in орисници ("orisnitsi"), three women that come at night to bless the newborn child and decree their fate. They are sometimes described as elderly women wearing black, or three women of differing ages.

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

  1. Ilie, Emanuela. (2013). "Noaptea fantastică. Forme şi funcţii ale nocturnului în literatura supranaturalului". Editura Universității Aurel Vlaicu.
  2. {{harvnb. Brednich. 2016
  3. Ştiucă, Narcisa. (2017). "Zânele sorţii: cult, naraţiune şi spectacol". ASTRA Museum.
  4. LUNG (POPESCU), Cristina. (2008). "Roluri feminine în riturile asociate naşterii şi botezului în societatea tradiţională românească". Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei.
  5. {{harvnb. Golant. 2013
  6. LUNG (POPESCU), Cristina. (2008). "Roluri feminine în riturile asociate naşterii şi botezului în societatea tradiţională românească". Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei.
  7. Ştiucă, Narcisa. (2017). "Zânele sorţii: cult, naraţiune şi spectacol". Studii Şi Comunicări de Etnologie.
  8. {{harvnb. Brednich. 2016
  9. Vulcănescu, Romulus. (1985). "Mitologie română". Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
  10. LUNG (POPESCU), Cristina. (2008). "Roluri feminine în riturile asociate naşterii şi botezului în societatea tradiţională românească". Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei.
  11. Lazăr, Natalia. (2018). "Considerații privind obiceiurile la naștere în Țara Oașului". Editura U. T. Press.
  12. Ghinoiu, Ion. (2013). "Dictionar De Mitologie Romana". univers enciclopedic gold.
  13. Vulcănescu, Romulus. (1985). "Mitologie română". Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
  14. Schullerus, Pauline. (1977). "Rumänische Volksmärchen aus dem mittleren Harbachtal". Kriterion.
  15. Ilie, Emanuela. (2013). "Noaptea fantastică. Forme şi funcţii ale nocturnului în literatura supranaturalului". Editura Universității Aurel Vlaicu.
  16. Pavelescu, Amalia Ludmila. (2007). "Din folclorul Mărginimii Sibiului. Credinţe şi practici magice pre- şi postnatale". ASTRA Museum.
  17. Senn, Harry A.. (1982). "Werewolf and Vampire on Romania". Columbia University Press.
  18. Golopentia, S.. (2004). "Charms and Charming in Europe". Palgrave Macmillan.
  19. LUNG (POPESCU), Cristina. (2008). "Roluri feminine în riturile asociate naşterii şi botezului în societatea tradiţională românească". Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei.
  20. Golopentia, S.. (2004). "Charms and Charming in Europe". Palgrave Macmillan.
  21. Ghinoiu, Ion. (2013). "Dictionar De Mitologie Romana". univers enciclopedic gold.
  22. Bancova, Emilia. (2017). "Ritualul de naştere la bulgarii din Moldova". Institutul Patrimoniului Cultural al Academiei de Științe a Moldovei.
  23. LUNG (POPESCU), Cristina. (2008). "Roluri feminine în riturile asociate naşterii şi botezului în societatea tradiţională românească". Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei.
  24. Vulcănescu, Romulus. (1985). "Mitologie română". Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
  25. Petreska, Vesna. (2006). "Christian Demonology and Popular Mythology". Central European University Press.
  26. Senn, Harry A.. (1982). "Werewolf and Vampire on Romania". Columbia University Press.
  27. {{harvnb. Golant. 2013
  28. Pócs, Éva. (1998). "Between the Living and the Dead: A Perspective on Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age". Central European University Press.
  29. Bancova, Emilia. (2017). "Ritualul de naştere la bulgarii din Moldova". Institutul Patrimoniului Cultural al Academiei de Științe a Moldovei.

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romanian-mythologytime-and-fate-goddessestriple-goddesses