The Solomonar or Șolomonar (German phonetization: Scholomonar) is a wizard believed in Romanian folklore to ride a dragon and control the weather, causing rain, thunder, or hailstorm.
Solomonar is the singular form and the variant Șolomonar is also listed. The German phonetization is Scholomonar. The modern-day dictionary plural form in Romanian is Solomonari, and "Solomonars" in the plural has been used in English translation.
The default explanation for its etymology is that the word is connected to King Solomon, known for his great wisdom and knowledge. He was said to have a ring (the Seal of Solomon) which gave him the power to command the supernatural and also the ability to speak with animals.
The Solomonars are said to be tall, red-haired, wearing long white robes of peasants, sometimes woolen or clad in ragged attire made from patches, a small version of a Semantron, which serves to summon the Vântoase (alternatively the winds are contained in a little wooden jar). They are most often seen around begging for alms, and the collected coins are then thrown into rivers, as offerings to the water spirits. The contents of their magic bag are instruments such as an iron axe used as lightning rod (also as a wand to summon them or his mount), birchbark reins or a golden bridle, and a book of wisdom which contained all their knowledge, and is the source of their power. Once they are in the guise of beggars (often crippled or blindfolded beggars), they blend in with the populace so they cannot be distinguished as wizards. However, they apparently have the knowledge and memory of which peasant's farm deserves his retribution when he acts as a dragon-rider sending down his hailstorm.
The Solomonari, by some accounts, are recruited from the people, but it is not clear on which basis. Some accounts say they are chosen among children born with a sign on their body, or with a “leather shirt”, which probably means the placenta. However, since they are red-haired, maybe this sign is the red hair? Otherwise, we have to assume the Solomonari “acquire” their red hair only after being recruited.
Enrollment could be 7, 10, or 13 pupils of the age of 7. In a special school, they are taught the language of all living things, the speech of beasts, the secrets of nature, how to cast magic spells, ride flying dragons, and control the rain. Tradition says they became the devil's students, either being instructed by him, or becoming a servant to his commands. The school’s name is Solomonărie or Şolomanţă (German phonetization: Scholomance). It is situated underground and the students avoid the rays of the sun for the seven-year duration of their study.
At the end of the course, the devil would choose one of the graduates to be the Weathermaker and tasked him with riding a dragon to control the weather, while all the others were free to come back home. The dragon was stabled underwater in a small mountaintop lake south of Hermannstadt in eastern Kingdom of Hungary (modern Sibiu, Romania, called Nagyszeben in Hungarian).
"Scholomance" and "Scholomonariu" appeared in print in the Austrian journal Österreichische Revue in 1865, written by Wilhelm Schmidt. The piece is discussed as a belief present in the Central Romanian Fogarasch district and beyond, with additional lore from Hermannstadt.
The Scottish author Emily Gerard later wrote on the topic of "Scholomance" in her essay Transylvanian Superstitions (1885), although she only referred to its attendees as "scholars", and did not specifically employ the term Solomanari or the equivalent.
As I am on the subject of thunderstorms, I may as well here mention the Scholomance, or school supposed to exist somewhere in the heart of the mountains, and where all the secrets of nature, the language of animals, and all imaginable magic spells and charms are taught by the devil in person. Only ten scholars are admitted at a time, and when the course of learning has expired and nine of them are released to return to their homes, the tenth scholar is detained by the devil as payment, and mounted upon an Ismeju (dragon) he becomes henceforward the devil’s aide-de-camp, and assists him in ’making the weather,’ that is to say, preparing the thunderbolts.
And here’s the link with Count Dracula. Bram Stoker, in his research, came across this article and extrapolated whole passages. In his novel, he mentions twice the Scholomance. Once in chapter 18:
The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due.
And then in chapter 23:
He dared even to attend the Scholomance, and there was no branch of knowledge of his time that he did not essay.
(Stoker's reference to "Lake Hermanstadt" is probably a misinterpretation of Gerard's passage, as there is no body of water by that name.)
So, basically, Stoker is implying that Dracula was the tenth scholar detained by the devil as payment. Now, since we have seen that the Solomonari had red hair, does this mean that Dracula too had red hair? We know that, in the novel, Dracula is not described as having red hair (he is actually described as a rather ugly being), but who knows, maybe before becoming a vampire, when he was a Solomonar, he had red hair.
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