SIMION FLOREA MARIAN AND THE LEGENDS ABOUT THE BEGINNINGS OF MOLDAVIA

The works of Simion Florea Marian belong to the stage of a full assertion of the Romanian spirituality which found expression in Bukovina in the second half of the nineteenth century. His historical legends, traditions, and mythology written and published over the years have had a great impact on the Romanian culture, influencing the way in which people could value their spiritual heritage. His legacy is most complex, featuring various aspects; hence the historiography dedicated to the scholar Simion Florea Marian should be solid and extensive. In this study, we have aimed to highlight the historical legends of the 13th and 14th centuries and, if possible, to compare them with the Moldavian chronicles, the processes, and events from an important period of the Middle Ages, from the great Mongolian invasions until the completion of the second Romanian mediaeval state. The geographic locations, which are quite precise in the texts Simion Florea Marian put into circulation, have been of great help in our attempt; this is important considering that fragments of his legends intertwine with actual historical events.


INTRODUCTION
During the 19 th century and at the beginning of the 20 th , the Romanian spirituality in Bukovina expressed itself most powerfully through the valorisation of oral creations, passed on from one generation to another. Thus, perhaps not accidentally, northern Moldavia was to give the greatest ethnographer, Simion Florea Marian, and the greatest composer of music with folk influences, Ciprian Porumbescu. Since the beginning of the 19 th century, the Romanian nation began to seek its identity and the members of the Transylvanian School (Școala Ardeleană) wanted to demonstrate its continuity. To achieve this, they searched not only for historical testimonies but also for traditions, beliefs, and folk tales. 1 Following the same path, George Bariţiu made an appeal, in 1838, in the Paper for Mind, Heart and Literature (Foaie pentru minte, inimă și literatură) for the gathering of traditions and ballads from all over the Romanian territory. 2 These efforts passed over the mountains, and the interest for ethnography and folklore appears at Moldavian poets such as Vasile Alecsandri, who wrote in 1852 a volume of old ballads and songs. 3 Under the influence of Romanticism, folklore was seen as a force able to regenerate the Romanian people and give them strength. We are at the beginning of the ethnic-folklore researches, already underway in West-Central Europe, which would reach the Romanian space where Simion Florea Marian would play an important role.
Simion Florea Marian was born near Suceava, in 1847, at the dawn of the revolutionary momentum that had seized the Principalities. His coming into the world at such moment meant a guarantee of education in the spirit of national symbols, which were manifest under the Austrian administration. We can only imagine that the passion for folklore, for the values of this mythical space of Bukovina was instilled into his mind by his parents, the priest Lazăr Marian from Reuseni and Ruxandra Stanovici, the daughter of the teacher in Udești 4 .
It is certain that at the age of only 17 young Simion had gathered the first collections of Romanian folklore texts and folk tales. Most likely, his spontaneous preoccupation for tradition is the result of the love and solidarity towards those amongst whom he was brought up, of the love for his country, for the people toiling for this land.
We must point out that the history and folklore were the two passions that intersected in the writings of Simion Florea Marian, hence the interest in the Slavic language and old printings 5  Simion Florea Marian is an indisputable value of his nation, who belongs to the trend of the assertion of Romanian spirituality in the second half of the 19 th century. Therefore, we may state that Bukovina has lived and breathed through its historical legends, traditions, and mythology that he made known in the entire space stretching over this side of the Carpathians and eastward beyond the mountains.
The scholar's assiduous activity was more thoroughly analysed after his death, starting with the work of his son, Liviu F. Marian, entitled Schițe biografice 8 , in 1910. The last half-century, Paul Leu's studies included most of the aspects of the fields researched by Simion Florea Marian, from poet and prose writer to collector of folklore and historical ballads 9 .
His legacy is most complex, featuring various aspects; hence the historiography dedicated to the scholar Simion Florea Marian should be solid and extensive. Due to its diversity, it has been grouped into several important categories: biographical works, encyclopaedic articles, ethnographical works, manuscript patrimony research or monographic investigations 10 . It is perhaps

THE LEGENDS ABOUT THE BEGINNINGS OF MOLDAVIA
The period of pre-state Moldavia, after the Mongolian assault of 1241-1242, is perceived in terms of the legends about Romanians and Tatars. Simion Florea Marian presents an evolution which today, after more than a century of historical research, appears more evident than we might intuit. Simion F. Marian is aware, in the legend called The Romanians and Tartars, that the Romanians did not have rulers (voivodes) and lived in various areas, choosing leaders from among themselves for a period of three years. The latter would organise the affairs of the community and everyone else would obey and listen to their advice: "Cică la început Românii nu aveau domnitori şi stăpânitori, ca în ziua de azi, ci ei trăiau răsleţiţi prin deosebite ţinuturi şi se cârmuiau singuri de sine." 12 (which translates as "They say that in the beginning the Romanians did not have princes or rulers, like today, but lived scattered in various lands and governed themselves"). In a romantic view, we may say, in terms of the political and territorial organisation, that this is the phase of the knezates and voivodates attested, on 2 June 1247, in the "Diploma of the Joannites", south of the Carpathians and only intuited, by means of modern historiography, east of the Carpathian chain 13 . The establishment of the Mongolian rule over the Moldavian space, achieved in stages in the second part of the 13 th century, is accurately illustrated from a historical point of view, as the number of Tatars was overwhelming as compared to the local population that was unable to organise the defence. Most disobedient would retreat to safer places. But even there they were found with Tatars' hawk-dogs, as the legend calls them 14 . Therefore, they were constrained to withdraw into the mountains that the Tatars would reach with great difficulty and, as the legend tells us, this would often happen by means of subterfuge: "Într-o vară însă, văzând ei că numai de geabă se ascund prin stuhării, că şi-n aceste locuri sunt descoperiţi, se adunară iarăşi cu toţii la un loc şi se sfătuiră ca să facă şi ei odată tătarilor o moară de vânt, adică, dacă nu-i pot învinge şi fugări din ţară, cel puţin să-şi bată joc de dânşii." 15 ("One summer, though, realising that it was useless to hide in the reeds for they were discovered even in these places, they gathered and agreed that, if they could not beat and chase the Tatars out of the country, they might at least mock them").
So, they looked for the large ponds where they knew the Tatars would come and placed caps on top of reeds in hidden spots in order to mislead the hawks. Hearing the birds' cry, the Tatars rushed to those ponds and when they found only 13 Of the extensive bibliography dedicated to this subject, we have selected a few titles: the hats, they realised that they had been fooled, but it was much too late, for the Romanians had managed to withdraw into the mountains.
Simion Florea Marian does not forget to mention where this legend starts from because he truly believes in the humour of the Romanian people, manifested in the most difficult moments: "Căci aşa-i Românul, uneori şi la cea mai mare nevoie îi place să facă câte-o şagă, doră-i mai trece din cel necaz..." 16 ("For that is how the Romanian is like: sometimes, even when he is in the greatest need, he likes to play a trick or joke to make the sorrow go away").
The geographic locations are quite precise in the legends of Simion Florea Marian. For example, Vama village, in the north of present-day Suceava County, is often mentioned in the legends about Romanians and Tatars. Its existence has got lost in the mists of time and it may be a rural settlement of the 13 th century. However, the first clear attestation related to this community is a document of Alexander the Good 17 , which mentions a vama ('customs point') located where the Moldovița River flows into the Moldova River. The village that came into existence in this area has a definite connection with the customs point. Located at an altitude of about 800 metres, it also served as an observation point.
The legend tells us that here a woman with a baby in her arms once noticed the Tatars approach. She left the baby wrapped in a cloth, hanging from the branches of a fir-tree and fled to let the Romanians know about the coming of the pagans. Seeing the baby hanging in the tree, the Tatars thought it is a bad sign and did not go any further despite the khan's orders and threats. This hesitancy allowed the locals to group and to succeed in banishing the Tatars 18 .
Although Simion Florea Marian speaks about impressive numbers of horsemen, 40,000-80,000 Tatars, historical reality makes us think there were only a few hundred penetrating to plunder. The Tatar rule over the Northern part of Moldavia is not confirmed at the peak of the Horde's domination east of the Carpathians either 19 when the payment of some financial contributions was 16  probably agreed on. Instead, the fast unification and organisation of an efficient resistance, as in the legend above, points to the existence of a local formation that was powerful enough. The legends made known by Simion Florea Marian concern two figures that were essential to the emergence of Moldavia as a state: Dragoș and Sas.
In the case of Dragoș, the first founder of Moldavia, the legend of the hunt has certain nuances which are not found in mediaeval chronicles 20 . For example, from the very beginning, Dragoș has to choose among a twelve-antler deer going westward, a wild boar moving north and a wisent setting off east 21 . The will to chase the wisent is divine, for Dragoș is led by a hermit to the place where he saw the beasts and the latter advises the voivode not to follow the path westward or northward. The wisent throws into the clear water of Moldova River and reappears when Dragoș least expects it at the north end of Câmpulung 22 .
Just as in the legends about Romanians and Tatars, this story abounds in geographic locations and explanations of certain toponyms and hydronyms. Pârăul Boului ('The Wisent's Brook') is a current tributary of the Moldovița River which got its name from the place where the wisent wounded by Dragoș's arrow stopped to drink water. Most of the toponyms related to Dragoș's hunt are to be encountered at Vatra Moldoviței: Valea Boului, Gura Boului, Runcul Boului, Gura Dragoșei 23 .
But we should not believe that the legend fragments do not intertwine with historical deeds proper. Dragoș Vodă is a ruler in Maramureș but he is compared with Bogdan I, the future voivode of Moldavia, for it is mentioned that he had to face many inconveniences, shortcomings, and harms caused by the Hungarians who intended to change the law and steal his properties 24 . Dragoș was unaware that Moldavia was trodden by barbarians; realising that he could not rule them he first sought to inspect them and settle down in a safer place: "Dar fiind că el a venit de

iscodit-o de ajuns, s-a întors înderept în ţara sa, în Maramureş, şi a prins a îndemna
pre supuşii sei şi pre alţi Români ca să vie şi ei cu dânsul." 25 ("This time he came only to survey and had only a few men with him, but once he had finished, he returned to his country, in Maramureş, and urged his subjects and other Romanians to come with him in order to take it and rule it "). The similarities with the oldest chronicles are obvious. Here is a short fragment from the "Moldo-Russian Chronicle": "Şi între ei era un bărbat înţelept şi viteaz, anume Dragoş şi a pornit cu drujina lui la vânătoare de fiare şi au aflat supt munţii înalţi urma unui bour... şi au prins din urmă călări pe bour la un râu... şi l-au omorât... Şi le-a venit de la Dumnezeu în inimă gândul să-şi caute loc de trai şi s-au aşezat aici... Şi s-au întors înapoi şi au spus tuturor a lor săi despre frumuseţea ţării." 26 ("Among them was a wise and brave man called Dragoș who set out with his companions to hunt beasts and all found the trace of a wisent at the feet of the high mountains… and they rode and caught the wisent at a river and killed it. And God gave them the idea that they should find a place to live and they settled here. And they came back and told their people about the beauty of that land").
Dragoş returned from Maramureș with "boyars and people" and settled in the same place he named Moldavia. Here he raised a fortress to which he could retreat and defend himself from enemies. The spot where the fortification was built was: "cu cinci şanţuri în sus de satul de astăzi, Volovăţ...ale cărei urme de ziduri se mai pot vedea şi astăzi." 27 ("five ditches up the current village Volovăţ… and traces of walls are still visible today"). The only structure in the area traditionally attributed to Dragoș is the wooden church of Volovăț that Prince Stephen the Great brought to Putna, which is confirmed by the chronicler Nicolae Costin who stated: "Înţeles-am şi noi den oameni bătrâni .  29 . This is only one example of tradition not being confirmed by modern techniques of investigation.
In the legend named Dragoș Vodă, Simion Florea Marian points to two other centres of power in the Moldavian territory, by mentioning how envoys from Siret and Suceava came to Dragoş to ask for military support against the Tatars and the Poles who were making plundering raids. As he granted them help and drove the Tatars away, he was chosen to be the ruler of the entire Moldavia 30 .
Following his counselors' advice, he established his power at Siret. The legend also provides an explanation of this decision, namely that there were only three cities in Moldavia: Suceava, Siret, and Cotoveţ (which no longer exists). The population was also scattered all over the country in several hundreds of villages 31 , an allusion to the demographic void presented in the Moldavian chroniclers' works as well 32 .
The discovery of Dragoş's grave from Volovăț, a fragment included in the legend Dragoș Vodă, is also interesting, especially because it was taken over, with minor alterations, by the modern historiography 33  church he founded -the church that more than a century later Stephen the Great would dismantle, raising a stone church instead. Over time, it fell into ruin and was discovered, at a moment which is hard to specify, by a shepherd who was looking for his sheep in the holy place. He told the inhabitants of the nearby village, who brought it to light from the depths of the woods and restored it. They also found a secret door to a cellar that sheltered a large stone grave on which the words Dragoș Vodă were written. The restoration of the church led to the emergence of a new village, not on the spot of the former one but slightly westward, named Volovăț instead of Olovăț 34 .
With such a beautiful legend, as the historian Ștefan S. Gorovei would describe it, we can only appeal to logic: "...în fond, Dragoş Vodă a murit în Moldova. Ce poate fi mai firesc decât ca mormântul lui să se afle tot în Moldova?!" 35 ("…after all, Voivode Dragoș died in Moldavia. What can be more natural but to have the grave in Moldavia as well?!").
Sas Vodă is another legendary figure, but his existence is attested by documents as well 36 . Simion Florea Marian points out that Siret, though serving as the capital, did not have a fortified residence. Moreover, because the land was not favourable to building a fortress, Sas ordered his men to make a mound on which they should raise a citadel capable of withstanding any danger. Moldavian chroniclers even claim that a fortification was raised during the rule of Dragoş. in his work "O samă de cuvinte", Ion Neculce states: "Dragoș-vodă, așa povestesc oamenii cum că, dacă au descălecat Țara Moldovii, au descălecat târgul Siretiului. Și i-au fost scaonul domnii sale acolo. Și au făcut zamcă, cetate de pământ, și în zamcă case domnești și lângă zamcă biserică de piiatră. Și hramul bisericii este Sfânta Troițe, care și până astăzi iaște și să slujaște sfânta liturghie." 37 ("People say that Dragoș-vodă settled in Moldavia at Siret. He set up his residence there and had an earthen fortress built, with princely houses inside and a stone church close by. The church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and holy liturgy have been held to this day"). In the early 20 th century, Simeon Reli, a professor from Chernivtsi, noted that at Siret, on Sasca hill, the brave men of Sas-vodă built a fortress that could shelter up to 100 soldiers, with a bulwark, the ruins of which had been visible until not long before 38 .
The only thing confirmed in the legend collected by Florea Marian and entitled Again about Sas Vodă is the building of the stone church, "Holy Trinity Church". The archaeological data, which are rather poor, point to the erection of the edifice in the age of the Mușatins, therefore towards the end of the 14 th century. The first surveys carried out at Siret more than five decades ago revealed only household objects, grey pottery and a sword typologically included in the Mușatins' age 39 . Not even the most recent excavations made within the perimeter of the much-disputed Sasca hill have managed to reveal the existence of traces, of vestiges that should lead to the idea that this area was, in the mid-14 th century, the residence of the first voivodes of Moldavia, subjects of the Kingdom of Hungary 40 .
The legend also provides some explanations about the departure of Sas from Siret. The voivode had a son whom his wife baptized, without his approval, in the Catholic faith. Enraged, Sas ordered that the house where the baptism had taken place and where his wife and baby still were should be torn down. After this horrible event, the voivode is said to have left Siret for good 41 .
The last legend about the beginnings of Moldavia as a state is entitled "The son of Sas Vodă". There is a mysterious character here, a son of Sas, whose residence was in the city of Siret. Without mentioning his name, legend presents him as a pious, peace-loving ruler. Unfortunately, three brothers of 'foreign origins' ("seminţie venetică") tried to murder him and assume power over Moldavia. Realising they would fail, they decided to dig a tunnel under the ground to reach his residence up on a hill, east of the city of Siret. The voivode found out about the plot and moved with all his courtiers in the area of the current hearth of the city where he built a new fortress 42 . Documents have no reference to a son of Sas ruling in Siret. Furthermore, the act of 2 February 1365 issued by the Hungarian Chancellery mentions the passage of Balc and of the other children of Sas to Transylvania, after the battles lost against the Maramureş-born Bogdan who became the voivode of Moldavia 43 .

CONCLUSION
The explanation of all the inadequacies presented above comes somehow naturally. The Bukovinian scholar collected legends related to historical events that had occurred more than five generations before. It is obvious that Simion Florea Marian is concerned with the age of his legends. The research related to the village of Vama is only a proof because that can be found in many of his stories. Here, he tries to figure out the old manuscripts, but he does not fall prey to the temptation of dating them erroneously 44 .
Nevertheless, the historical characters presented do not have many connections with the documentary evolution, even if, for instance, Sas is seen, through this legends, as a voivode who had his power focused on the Siret area, which is actually confirmed by the chronicles. However, the information about his sons, about Balc, is lacking, even if the documents speak about the political structure controlled by them, under the protection of the Hungarian Kingdom, in Moldavian territories.
It should be added that the legends gathered by Simion Florea Marian provide no information about voivode Bogdan and his contribution to the achievement of the Romanian statehood. The aspect is even stranger as we know that Bogdan, in his short reign (1363-1367), concentrated his power in the northern part of the territory, where many of the analyzed legends are located. Therefore, in the 19 th century -a century that had been, for quite a while, in search 42 Ibid., p. 88-89. 43  of a national consciousness -the information he got must have been much distorted. His extensive work and the main source of information, Tradiţii poporane din Bucovina/ Folk Traditions in Bukovina, is groundbreaking, opening the path to everything that the legends about pre-state Moldavia meant, precisely because we find a grain of truth in each geographic or historical description. It is the merit of Simion Florea Marian to have related everything to the present, as he was aware that the passage of time may wipe out traces but cannot completely discard the evolution of this land.