"Mystery Unsolved-5"

"Muma Pădurii"

Muma Padurii

In Romanian folklore, Muma Padurii is an ugly and mean old woman living in the forest.She lives in a dark, dreadful, hidden little house.She is the opposite of fairies such as a "Fairy" Zâna. She is also the protector of the animals and plants, brewing potions and helping injured animals. She cures the forest if it's dying, and she keeps the unwanted trespassers away driving them mad and scaring them to flee.

Muma Padurii

Muma, whose name translates to “Mother of the Forrest” appears in many stories as a guardian of the trees. She is a shape-shifter, appearing as a beautiful woman- then an old woman with skin made of tree bark. She steals children, torments mothers who gave birth out of wedlock, and if you steal her magic twig for kindling- your house will burn down.

Muma Pădurii 

Muma Padurii is a spirit of the forest in a very ugly and old woman's body. Sometimes she has the ability to change her shape. She lives in a dark, dreadful, hidden little house. This (step-) mother of the forest kidnaps little children and enslaves them. In one of the popular stories, at some point, she tries to boil a little girl, alive, in a soup. However the little girl's brother outsmarts Muma Padurii and pushes the woman-monster in the oven instead, similar to the story of Hansel and Gretel. The story ends on a happy note when all kids are free to go back to their parents. Instead of saying "she's ugly", Romanians sometimes say "she looks like muma padurii".She is thought to attack children, and because of this, a large variety of spells (descântece in Romanian) are used against her.

Muma Padurii

She can be associated with witches (like the witch from the story of "Hansel and Gretel"), but she's a neutral "creature", harming only those who harm the forest.She kills by ripping, and hanging guts on walls, or taking their children.Baba Yaga, who’s story is very similar, is a deformed old woman who flies around the forrest in a mortar wielding a pestle (wouldn’t a broom be easier?). She is a “fearsome witch with iron teeth and bony legs.” But unlike Muma- Baba is not harmful to the pure of heart.