A number of the motifs of traditional folk tales and legends have been preserved thanks to the efforts made by members of Ľudovít Štúr’s generation to collect folklore. The first to publish a selection of them was Ján Francisci-Rimavský in his book Slovenskje povesťi (Slovak Legends) in 1845. According to the notions of the Romantic collectors of the 19th century, folk legends and tales supposedly carried the features of a “national spirit”. Although Štúr’s adherents denied that the tales had any historical factual value, nevertheless, they projected onto them their belief in the future of the Slovak nation. And it was in particular through the victorious Lomidrevo (i.e. Wood breaker) that Francisci saw the “...idealised individuality of Slovakia”.

     Scientific research has highlighted the typical character of folklore, which is the international dissemination of motifs. Lomidrevo represents the Slovak version of tales about the journey of heroes granted superhuman physical strength by the gods, or other supernatural beings, and thus it resembles the well-known ancient tales of Hercules and Samson.

The figure of Lomidrevo, recorded in the Slovak language environment by Ján Francisci, Pavol Dobšinský and other 19th-century collectors, is depicted within a typical fairy-tale with princesses and dragons and a happy ending – the poor but deft and honest Lomidrevo and his friends become kings. In the Slovak context, Lomidrevo represents the stereotypical highlander/shepherd who travels about the Slovak villages, carrying a shepherd’s axe and a gnarled battle staff.

     His physical prowess is explained by many years of breastfeeding (17). Pavol Dobšinský added the following comment to this motif: “About breastfeeding I must add that in the Muráň Valley and elsewhere in Gemer, referring to the Hron people i.e. the powerful extant inhabitants of the mountainous regions of the river Hron under the Kráľova hoľa mountain, even to this day the assumption is that mothers still breastfeed fully grown boys ... And when referring to the strength of a stout and powerful man, they add: ‘He was suckled by his mother for three years.’ ” 

Zuzana Panczová