The Seven Samovilas beneath the Maple

Overview

In Strausz’s German song, Dona walks across open ground and a rocky height towards a maple. A young man beneath the tree calls to her to turn back, warning that she will die young if she approaches. He says that seven Samovilas sit there in a circle, braiding their hair and drawing her heart towards them. The poem gives them neither individual names nor separate speeches. Its counted group belongs to this particular song, rather than establishing that every Samovila company has seven members.

Dona turns home and asks her mother to come to her so that they may see and forgive one another. Her mother tries to reassure her by proposing that her father offer a young goat. Dona replies that the Judas do not want a goat but human beings, using another fairy designation within the same conversation. She asks for a bed and for her companions to visit, then requests a grave with nine doors so that the wind may scatter her ashes in nine directions. The song ends with that request; it does not narrate a completed sacrifice, burial or explicit moment of death.

The scene represents a supernatural threat within a historical song. It supplies no medical diagnosis or treatment and is not presented here as evidence that fairies cause illness or death. Hair-braiding, the circle, the maple and the number seven are explicit. Wings, dress, complexion, age and precise faces are not described and must not be imported from other songs. The printed contributor line names St.Vašov in Dobrič. It identifies a source credit in this edition, without proving a present-day jurisdiction or a direct collation of an earlier Bulgarian text.

Origins & earliest records

Koleda song XV Dona und die Samovila, printed 137–139; contributor attribution occurs before the XVI separator.

Records & interpretation

Complete songXV and contributor line read from retained OCR and actual nativePDF151–153/printed137–139. Koleda performance context and complete relevant notes read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Bulgarische Volksdichtungen

   Adolf Strausz, translator and editor · 1895

   Koleda song XV Dona und die Samovila, printed 137–139; contributor attribution occurs before the XVI separator.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical translated song collectionStrausz 1895 original German edition, complete Koleda songs XV–XVI and retained source framingResearch access: 2026-10-21

Image credits

AI interpretation of The Seven Samovilas beneath the Maple.

A single adult-looking hair-braiding figure may represent the seven-member company. Hair-braiding is sourced; adult form, clothes, face and hair colour are interpretation. No wings are assigned from the neighbouring Juda song.