Introduction
In the Bulgarian legends characters usually meet some challenges they need to overcome. It might be said that this trait of events is common among all European legends. European nations share a great deal for all intents and purpose as far as history and culture. A large portion of the legends show that a battle or a test is a common subject. Every one of the characters meets each other as representation of universal battle between good and evil. The events usually end in a tragic way for the main characters and this is a specific in Bulgarian legends, where even if good prevails, this is at a very high price – usually the life of the main character or his/her loved ones. In Bulgarian legends there is always a struggle between the good and the bad. This is one of the main motives. Very often, characters have to fight against mythical creatures like dragons, but even more often, characters have an encounter with the Devil. Another often recurring situation is the struggle for a loved one, forbidden love, and love lost through death. Very often, characters fight evil spirits, people with bad intentions. They must prove their courage, strength and love. ?
As one can understand by reading the various European legends, the representation of these two main powers (good and bad) has been done by different characters. And usually the good characters use their wit and physical strength to fight with evil, to keep their love or overcome a challenge.
Loss, treachery, jealousy and envy are also common topics in Bulgarian legends. These usually come from ordinary people, who envy the happiness of their fellow citizens (as for example in the legend of Belogradchik rocks – the Triplets. However other legends also show that these feelings are common also for Gods – like in the legend of Belintash for example. This is to show that in Bulgarian legends stories are not regarded as black and white – all feelings, situations, challenges and circumstances are possible for both “holy” and good characters and for bad characters too. For example in the legend of the Devil’s troat – Orpheus – the great Thracian singer lost his wife Eurydice and went down to the realm of Hades, the God of the underworld, to take her back risking his life and challenging the Gods to give him back the love of his life. However when they set a condition for this to happen, Orpheus couldn’t resist but to break their orders. This is to show that in all of us we have both good and bad and it is important to be careful how to balance these in ourselves and not allow our bad side to take over.