The Legend of Aždaja

Aždaja in the village Umoljani

One of the surviving legends about the Bosnian dragon in village Umoljani goes like this:

Once upon a time in a village far far away, a lot of people gathered to party. They partied for days and thus made such a noise that woke the Aždaja, a giant serpent that slept in the nearby canyon. Aždaja crawled out of the canyon and hurried towards the people to put an end to the terrible noise. As soon as they realized the danger, the people chanted their prayer which saved them by petrifying the Aždaja. The trail of Aždaja can still be seen today in a form of a winding creek leading to the village, and the beast itself petrified on a nearby cliff.

The village is situated near the canyon of river Rakitnica which is where the dragon lived. The creek leading from the canyon to the village is called Studeni potok or "The cold creek".
It is quite obvious the legend got skewed and deformed by the passing ages, turning the dragon (Aždaja) into a mindless beast that threatened the people. In fact, the opposite is true. That is why I made this film - to show the world the real dragon of Bosnia.

Here is a map showing the locations from the legend: