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Paper short abstract

Revisiting ritual syntax theory (Knight et al. 1995) and wondertale symbolism (Cardigos 1996; Vaz da Silva 2023), this paper explores how silver Moon and golden Sun attributes in Slovak fairy tales signal kinship reconfigurations aligned with cosmic rhythms.

Paper long abstract

This paper investigates the role of lunar and solar attributes in Jiří Polívka’s Inventory of Slovak Fairy Tales (1923). Particular attention is given to motifs of moon-silver and sun-gold garments and radiant hair, which operate as transformative bodily devices. This symbolic language mediates transitions in kinship relations, justified through life-giving cosmic cycles.

Employing the concept of the time-resistant syntax of ritual and myth (Knight, Power & Watts 1995), together with the interpretive work of Isabel Cardigos (1991, 1996) and Francisco Vaz da Silva (2023), the analysis explores how silver and golden qualities function within narrative metamorphoses. Rather than representing decorative or static signs, these attributes act as ritual markers, defining thresholds where kinship bonds are disrupted, concealed, or reconstituted. The Moon and the Sun thus appear not merely as celestial beings but as organizing principles of transformation and alignment.

The author proposes that the silver Moon and the golden Sun embody ritualized kinship transitions that reconfigure blood relations in correspondence with cosmic rhythms. Finally, by situating these tales within a comparative framework, the paper highlights the Moon – Sun dynamic as a symbolic pendulum of enchantment and disenchantment in the broader repertoire of European wondertales.