Zgripțuroaica
The saviour bird
This is part of a yearlong series on the second edition of Colière, the Euclidian Non-Isochronous Rhythms card deck. Each card is a pretext to gloss over one item of Romanian mythology, anthropomorphize it, all aimed at easier visualizing and audiating one particular rhythm.
Today it’s about “Zgripțuroaica”.
We have some things here that some people consider masculine and some say they’re feminine. There is no consensus. This is one of them. (Strawberries are another.) It’s some kind of Big Bird. Colossal. Some call it Zgripțor, others Zgripțuroaica. Imagine a name like “She-Hulk” if it rolled of the tongue better and it was not cringe. To prove it is not cringe I went with the feminine version, maybe because “bird” is also feminine here so it feels appropriate.
She usually helps our hero escape after the big battle with the dragon. Because he previously saved her babies so she owes him one. She might embody a rescue ship taking our wondering heroes home. She swoops in and saves the day.
That’s her bright side you find on Wikipedia. But she also has a dark one. In other news, she gnaws at the pillars of our beloved table-top Earth when we feel those pesky earthquakes. A little bit demonic. This earthly version is older and she is pictured as a serpent. She eats what people throw away after sieving maize or other such small gifts. She needs frequent offerings. Otherwise she chews on the roots of the World-Tree instead. Not ideal.
She might be the same as Scorpia or Gheonoaia, other “birds” that start off as snakes, and with time and some Platonic and Abrahamic thought they turn into killers of snakes.
Sindbad had to deal with the somewhat less fantastic version of this big bird when he saw the Roc. This was just a savage creature, a wild bird that happened to be gigantic. Does not help him willingly. If he gets to be carried by this beast is unbeknownst to her. He tricks her because he is a trickster and that’s what those people do.
In Ethiopian traditions, Ruk brings some blessed wood that will complete Solomon’s temple, and will get to be decorated with silver rings. Then the same piece of wood is to become Jesus’s cross. The silver rings end up as payment for Judas for doing the deed. To come full circle, some peasants here say that Judas took the place of Zgripțuroaica.
In the previous version of Coliere as seen up here on the right side, this card is labled Luceafăr. We discussed a bit about it here when talking about Zburătorul.
As a sparse rhythm I think it is better suited with this name. Let Zburătorul be the masculine turned receiving one, and Zgripțuroaica the feminine one endowed with clear, simple masculine attributes.
We have E(3,14). One in five two times and one in four one time. Let’s leave it at that. As with all these sparse weird beats, it is easier to audiate it by feeling its negative, in this case E(11,14). But we will get to that one later during autumn, so for now meditate on this one. It’s a blurry one. Squint a bit. You might see a T-rex instead of a chicken.