In Bulgarian lore, the
zmei is sometimes described as a scale-covered serpent-like creature with four legs and bat's wings, at other times as half-man, half-snake, with wings and a fish-like tail. In Bulgaria, this
zmei tends to be regarded as a benevolent guardian creature, while the
lamya and
hala were seen as detrimental towards humans.
Zmei lovers A flying
zmei may appear as a "mythological lover", i.e., a mythical creature behaving as a suitor and lover of human females.
Zmey of Macedonian fairy tales In most Macedonian tales and folk songs they are described as extremely intelligent, having hypnotizing eyes. However, sometimes Zmey's could be men who would astrally project into the sky when there is a storm to battle the Lamia, a female evil version that wants to destroy the wheat. They were also known as guardians of the territory, and would even protect the people in it. Hostile behaviour was shown if another zmey comes into his territory. They could change their appearance in the form of a smoke, strong spark, fire bird, snake, cloud but almost afterwards he would gain the form of a handsome man and enter the chambers of a young maiden. They fell in love with women who were conceived on the same night as them, or born in the same day as them. He usually guards the girl from a small age and his love lasts forever. Some girls get sick by loving a zmey, and symptoms include paleness, shyness, antisocial behaviour, watery eyes, quietness and hallucinations. They didn't live a long life, because it resulted in suicide. Zmeys would kidnap girls and lead them into their mountain caves where she would serve him.
Benevolent zmei of the Balkans There is a pan-Balkan notion that the
zmei (known by various cognates) is a sort of "guardian-spirit dragon" against the "evil" types of dragon, given below. One explanation is that the Balkan
zmej symbolized the
patriotic dragon fighting the Turkish dragon, a way to vent the local population's frustration at not being able to overthrow the long-time
Turkish rule.
Zmaj of Serbian fairy tales The zmaj dragon in Serbian fairy tales nevertheless have sinister roles in a number of instances. In the well-known tale In "
Baš Čelik" the hero must contend with a dragon-king.
Lamia The or
lamya (), derived from the Greek
lamia, is also seen as a dragon-like creature in Bulgarian ethnic population, currently inhabiting Bulgaria, with equivalents in Macedonia (
lamja,
lamna; ), and South-East Serbian areas ( ). The Bulgarian lamia is described as reptile- or lizard-like and covered with scales, with 3–9 heads which are like dog's heads with sharp teeth. It may also have sharp claws,
webbed wings, and the scales may be yellow color. The Bulgarian lamia dwells in the bottoms of the seas and lakes, or sometimes mountainous caverns, or tree holes and can stop the supply of water to the human population, demanding
sacrificial offerings to undo its deed. The lamia, bringer of drought, was considered the adversary of St. Ilya (
Elijah) or a benevolent zmei. In the Bulgarian version of
Saint George and the Dragon, the dragon was a
lamia. Bulgarian legends tell of how a hero (actually a double of St. George, denoted as "George of the Flowers",
Cveten Gǝorgi, This song about St. George's fight with the lamia occurs in ritual spiritual verse supposed to be sung around
St. George's day. One of the versions collected by ethnologist begins: " (George of the Flowers fared out / Going around his congregation /On the road he met the
fallow lamia..)". and the
hala or
ala takes its place in Western Bulgaria. This motif of hero against the evil dragon (lamia, ala/hala, or aždaja) is found more generally throughout the
Balkan Slavic region. Sometimes this hero is a saint (usually St. George). In Western Bulgarian tradition, the
halla itself was regarded as the whirlwind, which guarded clouds and contained the rain, but was also regarded as a type of dragon, alongside the folklore that the
smok (roughly equated with "grass snake" but actually the
Aesculapian snake and has its origins in the
Indo-Iranian mythology surrounding the dragon
azidahā.
Pozoj A
pozoj is a dragon of legends in Croatia. In
Međimurje County, the
Čakovec pozoj was said to dwell beneath the city, with its head under the church and tail under the town square, or vice versa, and it could only be gotten rid of by a
grabancijaš (a "wandering scholar", glossed as a "
black [magic] student"). The
pozoj is also known in
Slovenia, and according to legend there is one living underneath
Zagreb, causing an earthquake whenever it shrugs. Poet (1866) has published some tales concerning the pozoj in the
Slovenski glasnik magazine, which also connected the creature to the
črne škole dijak ("black school student"), which other Slovene sources call
črnošolec ("sorcerer's apprentice"), and which some equate with a
grabancijaš dijak Dragons in Slovenia are generally negative in nature, and usually appear in relation with
St. George. The Slovene god-hero
Kresnik is known as a
dragonslayer. ==Representations==