March 1 is the day Romanians celebrate ‘Martisor’, an old tradition related to spring arrival and fine weather, also symbolizing love, respect and friendship.
The word Martisor is the diminutive of martie, the old folk name for March (Martie, in modern Romanian), and thus literally means “little March”. It is also the folk name for the first month of spring.
Martisor is also the name of the trinket with the red and white string with hanging tassel customarily given on the 1st day of March.
Traditionally boys give to girls, as gifts, the ‘Martisor’ symbol; nevertheless, there are several regions in Romania where the girls are the ones to offer the gifts.
Offering this trinket or talisman is an old custom, symbol of the coming spring and it is believed that his or her bearer will be strong and healthy for the rest of the year.
Traditionally, both women and men used to wear Martisor pinned to their jackets and blouses, close to the heart, until the last day of March, when they would hang it to a fruit-tree twig. There is also the tradition that, after wearing it for a certain period of time, people would buy red wine and sweet cheese with the coin, according to a belief that their faces would remain beautiful and white as cheese and rubicund as the wine, all year long.
The traditional ‘Martisor’ is thought to be a silver coin with a red/white cord, made by girls and tied by the hand, dating back to 1905. Others say that the oldest ‘Martisor’ dates back in 1879 and was made as a silver heart another one depicts a flying swallow.
Legend of the red-white string: blood onto the snow
A legend of ‘Martisor’ says the Sun, transformed into a young man, came down to the village, but was taken away and locked by an evil dragon. Everything went sad: birds did not sing anymore, springs were not flowing, children did not laugh anymore. Nobody dared to confront the dragon, until one day when a young man went to the dragon’s castle and fought him. After defeating the dragon, the Sun was released and everyone was happy, as nature revived. However, the brave young man did not live to see the spring. Blood poured out of his wounds onto the snow. That is why young people started weaving two threads, red and white, and to offer them to the loved ones.