In Romanian folklore, a balaur is a dragon-like creature often described with multiple heads and horse-like features.
The balaur is one of the major monstrous beings in Romanian traditional stories. It is commonly portrayed as a huge serpent or dragon with wings, scales, fins, or several heads. Its appearance is not completely fixed: regional tales and later literary versions give it different combinations of animal features.
Balauri frequently guard treasures, threaten communities, or serve as opponents for heroic figures. In some stories, the hero must defeat a balaur before rescuing a princess or completing a quest. The creature therefore fills a role similar to dragons in other European folklore, but its imagery reflects Romanian and wider Balkan traditions.
The balaur should not be confused with the zmeu, another Romanian folkloric being often translated as an ogre or dragon. Nor is every Romanian serpent monster a balaur. The term specifically identifies a powerful, fantastic reptilian creature whose heads and supernatural abilities vary by tale.