Moldavian Folklore: Capcaun

A Căpcăun is a creature in Moldavian and Romanian folklore, depicted as an ogre who kidnaps children or young ladies (mostly princesses). It represents evil, as do its counterparts Zmeu and the Balaur. The Romanian word appears to have meant “Dog-head”. According to Romanian folkloric phantasy, the căpcăun has dog head, occasionally with four eyes, with eyes in the nape, or with four legs, but whose key characteristic is anthropophagy.

The term căpcăun also means “Tatar chieftain” or “Turk chieftain”, as well “pagan”. Some linguists believe to be the echo of Turkish term kapkan (kaphan, kapgan), that in some Turkic peoples in the age of migrations was a high noble or administrative rank.