On April 29, 2022, the Moldavian Post issued 2 stamps on the theme of "Stories and Myths" as part of the traditional "Europe" series.
The subjects for the stamps were the medieval "Legend of the founding of Moldova" and the Moldavian folk tale "The Poor Man and the Dragons".
There are several versions of the legend about the founding of Moldova. According to one of them, Dragos, the Voivode of Moldavia, who came from Maramureš, a land located just south of present-day Transcarpathia, went hunting with his warriors. The hunters climbed the mountains and descended into the valley at their foot and attacked a herd of a large bison. The wild bull was huge, with a powerful neck and sharp horns and he tirelessly left the hunters and their hunting dogs to chase him. Fleeing from the pursuit, he rushed into the river that blocked his path, but was wounded by the arrows of the hunters and the spear of Dragos. The governor's favorite dog named Molda rushed after the bison, but could not overcome the stormy river and died in its waters. The hunters crossed the river and killed the wounded bison on the other bank. As a hunting trophy, the Voivode, Dragos, cut off the bison's head. The bull's head became the coat of arms of the Voivode and the whole country. To honor the memory of the brave and faithful dog, Dragos named the river that caused his death - Molda. The new lands, where the Voivode fell in the heat of the hunt, turned out to be fertile and Dragos settled there, taking them under his rule. In keeping with the name of the river, these lands began to be called Moldova or Moldavia.
According to another version, the governor Dragos was heading to these places to protect them from the raids of warlike Tatars. A huge bison blocked his way, but the governor hit him with his mace. And, in the same way, the bison tried to escape by swimming across the river, and similarly the faithful dog Molda rushed in after him. Mentions of these events are found in the works of a number of Moldavian chroniclers and writers, such as Grigore Ureke (1590-1647), Miron Costin (1633-1691) and Dmitry Cantemir (1673-1723). Many details of the legend differ, but the bison, the river and the brave dog Molda are present in all its variants.
On a stamp with a face value of 9.5 lei, artist Vladimir Melnic depicted the scene of the horse chase of the Voivode Dragos after a bison. And on the stamp with a face value of 11 lei - a depiction of another folk tale involving a peasant called Lazarus digging a well with a dragon.
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