Ala or hala (plural Bulgarian: хали (hali); Serbian: ale, hale) is a mythological creature recorded in folklore and beliefs of Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians. A name ala is used in the eastern and southern Serbia, on the mountain Kopaonik, and partly in Bulgaria. A name hala is recorded in the western Serbia and is predominant in Bulgaria. According to the most of the dictionaries, the word ala comes from a Turkish word ‘ala’, meaning ‘snake’. Some folk representations of ala depicting her as a snakelike monster apparently support this view, but then it is hard to linguistically explain the initial ‘h’ in her name. Also a proto-indo-european origin of the word is proposed.^[1] Serbian (српски језик; srpski jezik) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. ... Languages Serbian Religions Predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian Related ethnic groups Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs See Cognate peoples below Serbs (Serbian: Срби or Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia. ... Anthem Serbia() on the European continent() Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian language 1 Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn 2 Albanian 3 Government Semi-presidential republic  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Establishment  -  Formation 8th century   -  First unified state c. ... Tourist Center Kopaonik Is The Most Popular Ski Resort in Serbia Visit website: www. ... The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. ...

In folk spells, ale moreover have their personal names - in the eastern Serbia: Smiljana, Ogršćana, Kalina, Magdalena; in the Leskovac region: Dobrica, Bugarka (i.e. Bulgarian female), Jevrosija Ruskinja (i.e. Jevrosija the Russian), Dragija, Zagorka. In this region, in the act of spelling, they are addressed with an expression Maate paletinke, the meaning of which is not quite clear. The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ... Leskovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац) is a city located in southern Serbia at 43. ... Look up Region in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Appearance

There is no clear and unique representation of ala’s appearance. She is most often connected with the wind, storm and hail-bearing clouds: This does not cite any references or sources. ...

• “Ala is some black and horrible creature in the form of wind” – a description recorded in the Boljevac region.

• “The people imagine ala like a black wind moving on the land. Wherever she goes a whirlwind blows, turning like a drill. Those who get exposed to the whirlwind go mad” – a description recorded in the Homolje region.

• In Bulgaria too hala is the violent wind that sweeps all that gets in its way and brings the havoc:^[2]

• The ale that charge to the Moon have two heads and six fingers, and can transform into various shapes – now they turn into humans with six fingers and iron pitchforks, and then into some animals: black young bulls, big boars, black wolves.

• According to a belief from the Leskovac region, a man kept an ala in his barn – she had an enormous mouth and held a big wooden spoon in her hand; she drank thirty liters of milk every day.

• In a spell from the eastern Serbia, ala is described as a three-headed snake:^[3]

• An ala can “sneak” into a human and then she has a human form but retains the ala’s properties. A tradition has it that an ala sneaked into St. Simeon, which made him voracious^[4], but St. Sava took her out of him. In another story, an ala gets into a deceased daughter of a king and devours soldiers on the watch.

• A tradition from the Leskovac region has it that ale in a form of twelve ravens used to take away the crop from vineyards.

When she leads the hail-bearing clouds, ala shows herself also in the form of an eagle, though that bird is usually considered a companion of ala’s adversary – the Thunder god. That could be explained by her capability to transform into various shapes, choosing the one that enables her to realize her goals as easily as possible. She is often represented in stories as gullible and stupid (which connects her with the devil). A pitchfork next to a compost bin Pitching hay A pitchfork is a tool with a long handle and long, thin, widely separated pointed tines (also called prongs) used to lift and throw loose material, such as hay, leaves, grapes, or other agricultural products. ... Stefan Nemanja (Стефан Немања) (Stefan I) (ca 1132-February 13, 1199 or 1200) was the Grand Župan of Raška (Rascia), located in the central west region of the Balkans from 1166 or 1168 to 1196. ... Saint Sava (1175 or 1176 - January 12, 1235 or 1236), originally the prince Rastko Nemanjic (son of the Serbian king Stefan Nemanja and brother of Stefan Prvovencani, founder of the Serbian medieval state), is the first Serb archbishop (1219-1233) and the most important saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church. ... Species See text. ... Polytheistic peoples of many cultures have postulated a thunder god, a personification of the seemingly magical forces of thunder and lightning. ... Satan frozen at the center of Cocytus, the ninth circle of Hell in Dantes Inferno. ...

Relations with humans

When people encounter an ala on a road or in a field, they get dangerous diseases from her. A human’s going into an ala’s house, which is far away and in a forest, can have different consequences: if he or she approach her with an appeal and don’t mention the differences between her and the humans, they will be rewarded – otherwise, they will be cruelly punished. So a stepdaughter, driven away from home by her stepmother, after coming into an ala’s house, addresses her with the word ‘mother’, louses her hair full of worms, feeds her “livestock” consisting of wild animals, and gets rewarded by the ala with a chest filled with gold; the stepmother’s daughter does the opposite and the ala punishes her and her mother sending them a chest with poisonous snakes in it. In another example, when a prince asks an ala for her daughter’s hand, the ala saves him from some other ale, and helps him get married. But then again, an ala eats a woman and her daughter, to whom she is the stepmother, after the woman, coming to visit her, tells her about all the strange things that she has seen in her house. It has been suggested that Treatment of human head lice be merged into this article or section. ... Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ...

The people of the Kopaonik mountain believed that ala defended the fortune of the area where she lived from other ale. If hail destroyed the crops, it was considered that an ala from another area defeated the local ala and ‘took away the fortune’.

It is considered that the places on a field where a plough turns around during ploughing, and the levees, are unclean because they are visited by ale. At these places, in the Pomoravlje region, the so called ala’s herbs are picked, which are used in magic. The traditional way: a German farmer works the land with a horse and plough. ... A levee, levée (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall, usually earthen and often parallels the course of a river. ... Pomoravlje (Поморавље) is the name for the Morava river basin in Serbia. ... Herbs: basil Herbs (IPA: hÉ™()b, or É™b; see pronunciation differences) are plants grown for any purpose other than food, wood or beauty. ...

Ale take away the crops, or as it is said “drink the fortune” – wheat, grapes, etc. They can drink milk from the sheep, especially when it thunders. They bring diseases to the people. There is a belief in the Homolje region that ale charge to the Moon in order to destroy it, which would also make the Sun die from sorrow, and consequently the darkness would overwhelm the world. Ale eat human flesh, and they can find a human by smell. Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ... It has been suggested that Veraison be merged into this article or section. ... Species See text. ...

Adversaries

Ale have adversaries: the zmey, St. Elijah, St. Archangel, St George, St John, St Sava, and the zduhać. The lightning is the main weapon used by ale’s adversaries against them. Because of this it is believed that a thunder represents a fight between ale and zmeys. When it thunders, ale hide from zmeys in tall trees. If ala finds that a zmey is in a hollow tree, she can destroy him by burning the tree. Zmey is a mythical opponent of Slavic gods. ... Elijah (אֱלִיָּהוּ Whose/my God is the Lord, Standard Hebrew Eliyyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔliyyāhû), also Elias (NT Greek Ἠλίας), is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. ... Archangels are superior or higher-ranking angels. ... For alternate uses, see Saint George (disambiguation) Saint George on horseback rides alongside a wounded dragon being led by a princess, late 19th century engraving. ... For the hip-hop producer with the same name, see John the Baptist (producer). ... Zduhać (plural: zduhaći; pronounce: zdoo-hach /s. ...

It is believed in Banat that zduhaći fight ale in the clouds. There is a story from that region that, before WWI, an exhausted ala in the form of a giant snake fell from the clouds on a road, and people gave her milk to help her recover. Location of Banat in Europe Map of the Banat region with largest cities shown The Banat (Romanian: Banat, Serbian: Банат or Banat, Hungarian: Bánát or Bánság, German: Banat, Slovak: Banát, Bulgarian: Банат) is a geographical and historical region of Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the...

Ala and Baba Yaga

Comparing folk tales, we can observe similarities between ala and the Russian baba yaga. The aforementioned motif of a stepdaughter coming to ala’s house in a forest, is recorded among Russians too – there a stepdaughter comes to baba yaga’s house and feeds her “livestock”. Similar are also the motifs of ala’s (by Serbs) and baba yaga’s (by Russians) becoming stepmothers to children whom they later eat because they discover their secret. In the Serbian example, the mother of ala’s godchild dialogues with ala, and in the Russian – the godchild itself dialogues with baba yaga. Yaga can refer to: Yajna (Hindu mythology) Baba Yaga (Russian mythology) Yaga (clothing company) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... In literature, a motif is a recurring element or theme that has symbolic significance in the story. ...

• Serbian tale:

(…) Tomorrow, the woman went to ala’s house with her child, ala’s godchild. Having entered one room, she saw a poker and a broom fighting in it; having entered the second room, saw human legs in it; in the fourth room – human flesh; in the fifth room – blood; in the sixth room – she saw that ala had taken off her head and was lousing it, having taken instead a horse’s head on herself . After that, ala brought a lunch and told her, “Eat, kuma^[5].” “How can I eat after I saw a poker and a broom fighting in the first room?” “Eat, kuma, eat. Those are my maids: they fight about which one should take the broom and sweep.” “How can I eat after I saw human arms and legs in the second and third rooms?” And ala told her, “Eat, kuma, eat. That is my food.” “How can I eat, kuma, after I saw the sixth room full of blood?” “Eat, kuma, eat. That is the wine that I drink.” “How can I eat after I saw that you had taken your head off and was lousing it, having fixed a horse’s head on yourself?” Ala, having heard that, ate both her and her child.

• Russian tale:

(…) On her name day, the girl went to her godmother’s house with cakes to treat her. She comes to the gate – the gate closed with a human leg; she goes into the yard – there a barrel full of blood; she goes up the stairs – there dead children; the porch closed with an arm; on the floor – arms, legs; the door closed with a finger. Baba yaga comes to meet her at the door and asks her, “Have you seen anything, my dear, on your way to my house?” “I saw,” the girl answers, “the gate closed with a leg.” “That is my iron latch.” “I saw a barrel in the yard full of blood.” “That is my wine, my darling.” “I saw children lying on the stairs.” “Those are my pigs.” “The porch is closed with an arm.” “That is my latch, my golden one.” “I saw in the house a hairy head.” “That is my broom, my curly one,” said baba yaga, got angry with her prying goddaughter and ate her.

The both examples witness the chthonic nature of these mythological creatures. Namely, a hero can enter the chthonic space and discover the secret of that world – but he is not allowed to relate that secret to other humans. Freshly forged iron fireplace pokers. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Chthon (disambiguation). ...

Both the ala and the baba yaga can be traced back to an older concept of a female demonic divinity – the snakelike mistress of the underworld. // In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go. ...

Notes

1. ^ Олег Николаевич Трубачёв (editor-in-chief), Этимологический словарь славянских языков: Праславянский лексический фонд, Volume 8, Moscow 1981, pages 12-13.
2. ^ Димитьр Маринов, Народна вяра и религиозни народни обичаи, Sofia 1994, page 70.
3. ^ Љубинко Раденковић, Народне басме и бајања, Niš – Priština – Kragujevac 1982, page 97.
4. ^ The word alav, an adjective in Serbian language, is derived from ala, and means gluttonous - literally: who has an ala in himself.
5. ^ Kuma is the godmother, or one’s child’s godmother, or one’s godchild’s mother.

Oleg Nikolayevich Trubachyov (Russian: ; 22 October 1930, Volgograd - 9 March 2002, Moscow) was a Russian doctor in philology. ... Editing may also refer to audio or film editing. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: , Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ... Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Coordinates: Country Bulgaria Province Sofia-City Government  - Mayor Boyko Borisov Area  - City 1,349 km²  (520. ... NiÅ¡ or Nish (Serbian: Ниш / NiÅ¡,  , Latin: Naissus, Greek: Ναισσός Naissos) is a city in Serbia situated at 43. ... UNMIK Head Quarters - PriÅ¡tina. ... Location of Kragujevac within Serbia Coordinates: Country Serbia District Å umadija Municipalities 5 Founded 1476 Government  - Mayor Veroljub Stevanović (SDPO)  - Ruling parties SDPO Area  - City 835 km²  (322. ...

References

Radenković, dr. Ljubinko. Mitska bića srpskog naroda.