Ala, the hail demoness of the Balkans

The Ala is a demoness of South Slavic tradition.

The hail cloud that destroys harvests and devours the sun and moon. The entry situates Ala within the broader demonology of the Balkans. Ala is feared among the South Slavs as a demon bringing storms and hail.

DemonSlavic

Ala

The Ala, Bulgarian Hala, is a storm and hail demoness in South Slavic folk belief. She drives hail and thunder clouds over the fields, destroys the harvest and devours the sun and moon, which tradition uses to explain eclipses.

Her adversary is the good dragon, the zmaj, protector of the harvest; his battle against the Ala explains thunder and lightning. In the Christianised version, Saint Elijah takes on the role of the dragon. The figure is widespread in Serbia, Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

At a glance: Ala

Type: Storm and hail demoness, weather and devouring demon
Origin: South Slavic folk belief
Texts: Ethnographic collections by Zečević, Radenković and Georgieva
Period: ethnographically documented in the 19th and 20th centuries
Appearance: black whirlwind or many-headed serpent being

Origin and sources

Period of the Texts

The Ala belongs to South Slavic folk belief; the authoritative documentation comes from 19th and 20th century ethnography.

Area of Diffusion

Serbia, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The Ala is not pan-Slavic, but limited to this South Slavic region.

Sources

Well documented: the works of Slobodan Zečević, Ljubinko Radenković and Ivanichka Georgieva form the foundation of research.

Name and variants

South Slavic: ala, Bulgarian hala. The etymology is disputed: the widespread Turkish derivation from ala, snake, has been disproved, since the original form began with an h. Preferred are Greek chálaza, hail, or Proto-Slavic xala, the raging of the elements.

Form and effect

Appearance

The Ala is vague and highly variable by region: as a black whirlwind, a huge many-headed serpent being, a dragoness, a serpent body with a horse’s head, or as a raven; in Bulgaria winged with a sword-like tail. This diversity is regarded as evidence of her syncretic origin.

Effect

The Ala drives hail and thunder clouds over the fields, destroys and drinks the harvest and carries it to other villages. She is extremely voracious, eats children and devours the sun and moon, causing eclipses; if she succeeded completely, it would be the end of the world. She can also possess people.

Profile: Ala

The key aspects of the hail demoness at a glance.

Tradition

South Slavic weather demon, according to Zečević a synthesis of a Slavic bad-weather demon with a pre-Slavic Balkan demon.

Object of Influence

Fields, harvest and celestial phenomena: the Ala destroys the grain and threatens the sun and moon, whose eclipses are attributed to her.

Depiction

Black whirlwind, many-headed serpent being, dragoness, serpent body with horse’s head, or raven; in Bulgaria winged with a sword-like tail.

Sphere of Influence

Hail and storms, destruction of the harvest, eclipses; along with the ability to possess people.

Forms of Warding

Warding table with bread, salt, a black-handled knife and axe; defensive spells against the cloud; gunshots and bell-ringing during an eclipse.

Parallels

The good dragon zmaj as arch-enemy; related are the aždaja, the Lamia and the Romanian vlva; on the Polish side, the Wietrzyca.

A synthesis of two demonic worlds

Even the name leads into the research debate: the long-popular Turkish derivation of ala, snake, has been disproved, because the original form had an initial h. Preferred today are Greek chálaza, hail, or Proto-Slavic xala, the raging of the elements. The Ala is documented in the works of Slobodan Zečević, Ljubinko Radenković and Ivanichka Georgieva.

Zečević interprets the figure as a synthesis of a Slavic bad-weather demon with a pre-Slavic Balkan demon; the striking diversity of her forms of appearance is regarded as evidence of this syncretic origin. Her role in the weather battle, however, is firmly established: the good dragon zmaj defends the harvest against her, and his struggle with the Ala explains thunder and lightning. In the Christianised version, Saint Elijah takes the dragon’s place; alongside him, the dragon-people, the aloviti or zmajeviti ljudi, wage the fight.

Linguistic afterlife and interpretation

The idioms strong as an Ala and voracious, alav, live on in everyday language. The Ala is present in Slavic-inspired fantasy and in folklore blogs; a relief at Visoki Dečani Monastery shows an eagle seizing an Ala.

In religious studies, the Ala is a textbook example of a destructive weather demon that threatens harvest, sun and moon. Three clarifications: the Turkish etymology has been disproved. The Ala is the malevolent weather demon, with the dragon as its benevolent counterpart. And it is not pan-Slavic, but confined to Serbian, Bulgarian and Macedonian tradition.

The defensive table against the hail cloud

When hail clouds approached, a table was set outside the house with bread, salt, a black-handled knife and an axe with the blade pointing skywards. Warding spells were spoken directly against the cloud by a woman skilled in magic. If the Ala devoured the sun or moon, it was driven off with gunshots, bell-ringing and incantations: the noise of the whole village stood against the devourer in the sky.

The dragon, aždaja and weather-people

The arch-enemy of the Ala is the good dragon zmaj, protector of the harvest; once Christianised, Saint Elias takes on the dragon’s role. Related figures include the aždaja, the Lamia and the Romanian vlva. The battle against the Ala also plays out through dragon-people, the aloviti or zmajeviti ljudi, in which they resemble the Zduhać. The Polish Wietrzyca is closely related as a damaging storm wind; among the Greek winds, Kaikias is considered a kindred figure.

Frequently asked questions about the Ala

What is the Ala?

A South Slavic storm and hail demon that destroys harvests and devours the sun and moon, which explains eclipses.

Who fights it?

The good dragon zmaj and, once Christianised, Saint Elias, along with the dragon-people, the aloviti or zmajeviti ljudi.

Is the Turkish etymology correct?

No. The derivation from Turkish ala, snake, has been disproved because of the original initial h; chálaza, hail, or Proto-Slavic xala are preferred instead.

Further links

Literature (selection)

Further standard works in the bibliography.

As a South Slavic weather demon, the Ala unites two terrifying roles in a single figure, hail-bringer and darkness: it takes the harvest from the village’s fields and the light from the sky, and it was against precisely this dual threat that the traditional defences were directed.