Luceafăr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (August 2007)

Luceafăr in Romanian is the name of the morning star (the planet Venus) which in Romanian folklore is associated with demons but is also linked to the Greek Titan Hyperion. Mihai Eminescu wrote a poem named "Luceafărul" detailing some of the attributes that Romanian lore associated with the morning star.

The name Luceafăr is similar with the Latin Lucifer, "Light-bearer". In Romanian, it is related to the verb luci and the noun luciu, meaning shining.

Eminescu speaks about ochi lucii in Sus în curtea cea domnească (Up in that garden of lords/kings). He describes three types of eyes:

negru înfundat and mari: black, big and dark, a sunken, deep and nightly black, belonging to a person who is cruel and cold;
de foc: of fire, for young white (pal) beautiful girls with light coming out of their eyes;
lucii and multi: "lucious" and many, they love the light and stay on a white big table in a big room with many guests who speak kindly.

On the contrary, for the sun shining there is strălucire. Stră is from Latin, whereas extra is a composition element when something is ancient and far away.

There is also the verb a lumina which means iluminate or enlight (make the light come into a place, for example after opening a window when you can say that s-a luminat camera which means the room has been lit).

With this name:

Venus in the morning:
- Luceafărul-de-Dimineaţă
- Luceafărul-de-Ziuă
- Luceafărul-Porcilor
- Luceafărul-Boului
Venus late:
- Luceafărul-de-Seară
- Luceafărul-de-Noapte
- Luceafărul-Ciobanilor
Star Vega from Lira:
- Luceafărul-cel-Mare-de-Miezul-Nopţii
- Luceafărul-cel-Frumos
Star Aldebaran from Taureau:
- Luceafărul-Porcesc
- Luceafărul-Porcar
Star Sirius from Canis Major:
- Luceafărul-de-Ziuă
- Luceafărul-din-Zori
Star(?) Hyperion:
- Luceafărul-cel-Mare-de-Noapte