ZburÃÂtor or sburÃÂtor (Romanian word meaning 'flyer') is a supernatural being in Romanian folklore, described as a "roving spirit who makes love to maidens by night".
The zburÃÂtor is also likened to an incubus, and described as a malevolent demon active in a "oniric-erotic" manner, i.e., visiting women in their dreams in the guise of a handsome young man.
The zburÃÂtor is otherwise referred to as a zmeu (another dragon-like creature) in some regions, though perhaps perceived to have more human-like aspects than the zmeu.
Dimitrie Cantemir, writing about the myth concerning it in Descriptio Moldaviae (1714âÂÂ1716), stated that the "zburator" meant "flyer" (), and according to the beliefs of the Moldavan it was "a ghost, a young, handsome man who comes in the middle of the night at women, especially recently married ones and does indecent things with them, although he cannot be seen by other people, not even by the ones who waylay him".
A literary reworking of the myth later appeared in the romantic poem by Ion Heliade RÃÂdulescu ZburÃÂtorul ('The Flyer/Flying Incubus', 1843), and the "incubus" with flowing black hair visiting a young girl and inducing her erotic awakening. The myth reappears in the late romantic literature, in poems such as CÃÂlin (file de poveste) (CÃÂlin (story pages)) and LuceafÃÂrul (The Evening Star) (1884) by Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu.
The zburÃÂtor (sburÃÂtor ) myth became one of the four fundamental myths in Romanian folk poetry according to the framework of George CÃÂlinescu (1941).