Women who decree fate in Romanian folklore
The three Ursitoare, in Romanian mythology, are supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life. They are most similar to the Roman Parcae, the Latin equivalent of the Greek Fates or Moirai.
The Fates appearing to baptize children has been part of Romanian tradition for hundreds of years. In recent years there has been a "physical materialization" too of this tradition through the show presented during the name party.
Names.
Their most common names are "ursitori" and "ursitoare", but variations appear locally, like "ursători", "ursoaie", "ursońi", "urzoaie". Similarly, in the Oltenia region, they are dialectally known as "ursătóri(le)", "ursitóri(le)", "ursătoáre(le)". The great variety in their names, according to Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, attests the "ancient popularity" of the belief.
Role.
The Ursitoari come at night to the newborn's cradle, three nights after their birth, and weave their fate. They equal three beings, but are variably described as three girls, three virgins, three sisters, three women, or three apparitions.
In Moldova, the "ursitoare" are good fairies clad in white and equal three: the "ursitoarea", who holds a spindle and a loom; the "soarta", who weaves the thread, and the "moartea", who cuts the thread.
Parallels.
Among Slavic peoples.
Scholarship indicates that similar beings (a trio of women that allot men's fates) also exist in South Slavic folklore, among the Serbians, Macedonians, Slovenes, Croatians, Bulgarians and Montenegrinians.
In Bulgaria (also among Bulgarians in Moldova), there is the belief in орисници ("orisnitsi"), three women that come at night to bless the newborn child and decree their fate. They are sometimes described as elderly women wearing black, or three women of differing ages.
References.
Notes.
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Bibliography.
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