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ACăpcăun is a creature inRomanian folklore, depicted as anogre who kidnaps children or young ladies (mostlyprincesses). It representsevil, as do its counterpartsZmeu and theBalaur. In most Romanian publications of other European works the names of creatures such asOgres orTrolls are usually translated ascăpcăun. TheRomanian word appears to have meant "Dog-head" (căp being a form ofcap, meaning "head", andcăun a derivative ofcâine, "dog"). According to Romanian folkloric phantasy, thecăpcăun has a dog head, sometimes with four eyes, with eyes in the nape, or with four legs, but whose main characteristic isanthropophagy.
The termcăpcăun also means "Tatar chieftain" or "Turk chieftain", as well "pagan".
Some linguists considercăpcăun to be an echo of a title or administrative rank, such askapkan (alsokavhan,kaphan,kapgan) used by variousCentral Asian tribes who invaded Eastern Europe duringlate antiquity and themedieval era, such as thePannonian Avars,Bulgars andPechenegs.[1]
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