The Cursed Queen

“The prisoner has both blessed and doomed us. On this island, nothing grows, so our wombs are barren. We live in a realm of eternal youth and immortal life, yet it is a childless one.” — Hailbringer: A Romanian Folktale, pg. 217 (Paperback Edition, Revised)

In Romanian folktales, there are several mentions of a being called the ‘Zgripsor’ or ‘Zgripțuroaică’, which bears a strong resemblance to the harpy of other cultures. This creature is often depicted as a female humanoid with sharp talons and large, bat-like wings.

Some folklore accounts portray the Zgripțuroaică not only as an anthropophagous (flesh-eating) being, but also as a giant, legendary bird capable of traveling between worlds or dimensions, such as the ‘Otherworld’ (‘Tărâmul Celălalt’).

Perhaps the most famous depiction of this creature comes from the tales of Romanian folklorist and author Petre Ispirescu. In ‘Youth Without Aging and Life Without Death’ (1872), the protagonist battles two sisters referred to as Zgripsor: the ‘Scorpie’ and the ‘Gheonoaie’. These names are often synonymous with the Zgripsor itself.

In a different story, ‘Prâslea the Brave and the Golden Apples’, the Zgripțuroaică appears in a more benevolent role, assisting the protagonist in exchange for pieces of his flesh. The Zgripțuroaică is often depicted as an ally of the reptilian Zmeu, making her overlap with the Zmeu’s matriarchal counterpart, the ‘Zmeoaică’.

In ‘Hailbringer’, I aimed to create a character that stays true to the traditional lore, emphasizing the Zgripțuroaică’s flesh-eating habits and cursed existence in a darker, more raw form.