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Paper short abstract

With this paper, I aim to analyse the charged relationship between Christian religious moral and pagan cosmogony in the Romanian-Moldovan folkloric portrayal of the Sun and the Moon in relation to the incest taboo, Adam and Eve, and symbolic bridges built through the godly manipulation of nature.

Paper long abstract

Romanian and Moldovan folk narratives very often rely on the dichotomy of Christian good and heathen evil in order to offer a moralising punchline. The folk ballad “Soarele și luna” tells the story of the prince Sun, who wants to wed his sister Ileana Simziana. Despite being absolutely indignant by the prospects of marrying her brother, Ileana seems to be willing, but only after the Sun builds two bridges across the Black Sea. In doing so, he meets the 'original' parents Adam and Eve who warn him against the incestual relationship. When the copper bridge gets built and Ileana goes across it, it trembles so fiercely, that she falls into the water. She then gets rebirthed as Moon, positioned as far away from the Sun so that she never meets him again.

The specific impossibility of love from Sun-Moon narratives is here owed to the incestual relationship of two sibling Gods. I intend to examine the depiction of ‘norm-defying’ sexuality and its role in creating an enchanting cosmogenesis, while disenchanting its sexual libertine nature: What is the ballad communicating about gender norms and forbidden desire? The symbolic function of Adam and Eve as unforgiving parents ready to civilise the wilderness of their children will also be given thought: How do they mould the social imaginary of Romanian-Moldovan culture? At last, I would like to examine the ekphrasis, the symbolic materiality and the uniting/dividing trait of the two bridges in this narrative: How do astral agents control nature through their magic?