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Topic: Monsters in Spanish Legends (Read 8213 times) |
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VilaJunkie
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Monsters in Spanish Legends
« on: 09/18/06 at 09:15:00 » |
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Tomoe or Kamen, do you know of any monsters or creatures from Spain? I figured that Spanish legends might be easier to find, even in Portugal. The only Spanish creature I have heard of is the duende, a type of house dwarf/goblin.
P.S. If anyone else knows about Spanish legends, feel free to add to the thread.
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #1 on: 09/18/06 at 10:06:38 » |
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This is a usual mistake… “duende” is not actually a specific type of goblin or dwarf, it’s a general word, like “Gnome” or “Elf”.
Finding Spanish folklore is a little tricky; Spain has no real common identity. It a group of different nations that at one time or another were conquered or subjugated by Castile (like Portugal almost was at Aljubarrota). You have Galicians, Basques, Asturias, Andalusians, Catalans, and so on, each one with its particularities, language and culture. So Spanish are practically just the inhabitants of Madrid and it’s surrounding areas, the rest is pretty different, not to mention sometimes aggressive to these “real” Spanish.
So, I know a little about Galician (our Portuguese brothers living in Spain) and Asturian folklore and its monsters. Galician folklore is very similar to Northern Portuguese folklore, they have Mouras Encantadas, Trasgos, Caretos and so on, Asturian is a little different and complex, they have Xanas, Mouras (also), Cuélebres (I mention these in the “Here be NO dragons” thread), Sumicius, Tragos (a little different from the Galician ones), the Nuberu, and a few more.
Well, I have an idea.
Portuguese speakers have this power you see, we can understand every Latin based language with little effort, the problem comes when we try to speak it or read it. From some other of your posts, you seem like you know Spanish relatively well, so, I’m giving you these links and ask you, if it isn’t too much trouble, if you could translate all the cool monsters and creatures they talk about, and post them here, ok? I think it serves both our interests.
http://www.arrakis.es/~joserm/a_maxica/
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/price/138/asturing.htm
http://www.elrevistin.com/mitologia_central.htm
http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/fillosdebreoga/ (be careful with this one, it’s a little subjective, too much Celtic tendencies…)
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| « Last Edit: 09/18/06 at 10:07:56 by Tomoe » |
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VilaJunkie
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #2 on: 09/18/06 at 10:44:30 » |
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About the duende again, yes you're right. In American/British/French books about folklore, the authors generally mistake duendes for trasgus. To English speakers, duende is another name for trasgu/trasgo. So even though duende is generic for "dwarf", "goblin" or "elf", I've encountered it as a specifc creature. I'll get right on the translations, they don't look too difficult!
P.S. The last site has only one section about Galicia, the rest is about Irish/British/Celtic legends.
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VilaJunkie
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #3 on: 09/18/06 at 14:55:36 » |
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From the third site (the one with Asturian legends):
The Xana
She is a fairy with the form of a beautiful woman, she enchants men and makes them disappear forever. She lives in caves near fountains and rivers that contain many riches; if you comb out brooches and scissors of gold you are given them for doing her this favor. She exchanges children in the cradle for her own (xaninos), because she has no milk to suckle them.
[Personal note: Xanino is xana, "fairy", and nino, "child".]
El Nuberu
He is a giant master of rainshowers and storms. He likes to descend to earth in the form of an old man and as it seems he meets the people to see how they act. He throws hail on the orchards of those who treated him badly and orbayos on those that try to take shelter.
[Personal note: Nube is the Spanish word for cloud, while orbayo seems to mean some kind of weather.]
The Diañu Burlón/Burllón
He loves to play jokes. He transforms himself into whatever he wants, sometimes into a lame kid [baby goat] so that whoever encounters him will place him on their shoulders. Every time that person takes a step, he gets heavier and heavier until the person remains exhausted. Other times he changes into a small child that appears abandoned. But he doesn't go beyond his "heavy" trick.
[Personal note: The name is unfamiliar, possibly of French or Catalan origin. However, El Diañu Burlón sounds much like Konaki-jijii.]
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| « Last Edit: 01/22/09 at 14:50:14 by VilaJunkie » |
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #4 on: 09/18/06 at 15:29:18 » |
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Cool man.
“Orbayo” probably means the same as the Portuguese “Orvalho”, witch means “Dew”. I read through that one, I think it means that Nuberu spreads dew on the fields of those that give him (Nuberu) shelter, as an opposition to the hail he sends to those that treat him badly.
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VilaJunkie
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #6 on: 09/19/06 at 09:05:28 » |
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According to the website that Mouryo found, Diañu comes from the word "diaño", a local name for "devil/diablo".
Quote:| I think it means that Nuberu spreads dew on the fields of those that give him (Nuberu) shelter |
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That's what I thought, too, when I originally translated it, but orbayo got me confused. It's not in my (usually) comprehensive dictionary.
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VilaJunkie
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #7 on: 09/19/06 at 10:04:47 » |
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La Güestia
It is a procession of souls in pain. They walk at night carrying burning bones instead of candles, and saying, "Walk by day, for the night is mine." It is an omen of death for those that see it. To protect yourself, make a circle upon the ground and go inside of it. The Church takes advantage of this myth for requesting more alms.
http://www.elrevistin.com/mitologia/guestia.htm
[Personal note: Apparently more alms would cause the dead to rest in peace.]
El Cuelebre
It is an Asturian dragon, with wings of espantapajaro [or esperteyu]. It protects ayalgas and enchanted princesses. Its scales are very hard and they can only be wounded by a piercing in the throat. To kill it, give it a loaf of bread full of pins or a red-hot stone. When they are old, their skin becomes very hard, then they go to care for the ayalgas/ayalgues of the sea.
http://www.elrevistin.com/mitologia/cuelebre.htm
[Personal note: Ayalgas could mean "damsels" and ayalgas del mar could mean "mermaids".]
El Trasgu
He is a small and playful dwarf. By night, he rummages all through the house. To get rid of him, you must order him to do three impossible things: turn a black hair into white, carry water with a sieve, and bring a medium glass of liquor in his left hand, in which it has a hole.
http://www.elrevistin.com/mitologia/trasgu.htm
[Personal note: He's a pretty standard nuisance around the house, but his only distinctive feature is the hole in his left hand. According to Mouryo's site, he travels with the family when they try to sneak out of the house on him.]
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #8 on: 09/19/06 at 10:31:30 » |
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That whole in the Trasgu’s hand I think is a distinctive feature from the Portuguese and Galician Trasgus, at least I never heard of that particularity in Portuguese legends.
About that moving thing that Trasgus do, there’s this Portuguese story of an old woman that had a Trasgu in her house, so she decided to move. As she as carrying her stuff to the new house, just a little up the street from her old one, she passed by a little child with a red cap carrying a chair. She immediately recognised her chair and asked the kid where he was going with it. Kid that was actually the Trasgo she was trying to get away from answered: “We are moving, aren’t we!?”
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #9 on: 10/19/06 at 15:41:19 » |
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So, let me try this… I’m going to risk translating one of these sites, the first one I posted, the water creatures part (“criaturas de las aguas”/”creatures de les agues”). Note that these won’t be real translation, more like what is kind of written there, as the only Spanish I know is Portuguese.
Wish me luck…
Espumeros (something like “foamers”, as in “foam”)
A little creature that lives over the waves of the ocean, near the coast. He is a sea deity, which frisks the foam of the waves when these break their borders. He is characterised by his small and joyful appetence, hiding the beach cliffs when a storm brews in the sea.
Home Marín (Sea Man, I guess…)
Asturian mythological being, half man, half fish, which moves with the same easy in water and in land. He has the habit of hiding in the crevices in borrows to spy on the young ladies that pass near him.
It is told in El Franco the story of a Home Marín that dedicated his time to spying on the girls that bathed in a fountain at the beach. When one of the girls was left alone, the Home Marín would take them away. But the villagers caught him and took him to the village centre; the Home Marín stopped eating and because of this and the lack of water he died shortly after.
Llavanderes (Washers)
Old white haired women with wrinkled skin that live hidden in the woods, inside hollow oaks. On stormy nights they are heard in the eerie sound of their shovels biting against the rocks, as they wash their clothes by the river shores. When this happens it s better not to bother their works, for many are the youngsters that have died drowned by the llavanderes.
They have command over the clouds and can create storms, like the Ñubero. On rainy nights they enter the river streams and franticly shake their shovels, causing great floods.
Sometimes they act beneficially, diverting the flow of rivers to put out fires were babies or elders are at risk.
In the shores o Sella there is a great cave, from it emerges a clear stream, this cave it is said live many Xanas. Four women are seen there washing clothes; they are four curious women that the Xanes punished.
Xuan Canas (Grey Hair Jonh (?))
A little man that lives hidden in the water of wells and rivers. He spends his time watching people that approach the water near his hiding place off guard; he then grabs them and hides them in the water forever. Mothers usually warn their children with fear: Don’t go near that place, or the Xuan Canas will take you away.
Pataricu
Gigantic beings that live in a country in front of the eonaviega coast. They only have one eye in the middle of their foreheads. They have the most acute sense of smell, which enables them to detect shipwreck victims that reach their shores, to eat.
Ventulín (whirlpool, in Asturian)
Asturian air spirits less powerful that the Ñuberu, their brother. Contrary from him they era very beautiful and all the facial features are well proportional. At night they float through space and through the moon rays. They have a very harmonious accent; they transport the whispers of lovers in their continuous flowing and cradle babies to sleep. When people are far from their loved ones they transport their sighs, gently whispering them from the other side of your windows.
The ventolinos are also responsible for the rosy night of St. Jonh, elevating melodious chants.
Serenes, Marines (Siren and Mermaids, I guess)
Inhabitants of the rivers of Asturias, half women and half fish. Many tales are told about they apparitions, one of those tales is from the time the crusaders, wile travelling for the Holy Land and stopping in Gijón they said it was frequent to see the serenes following their boats.
Their harmonious chants, that they use to seduce sailors, consequently cause shipwrecks.
The explanations for the existence of these beings are several: Sometimes there are girls cursed by their mothers for being too lazy, some other times it is a divine curse set by God onto girls that have tempted monastery monks.
In Cangas del Narcea it is told that in a certain fountain there lived an “enchanted” that every St. Jonh festival appeared, until one day a land slide covered the fountain with dirt, the “enchanted” abandon the fountain and caring a coffer filled with gold. When she reached the sea she turned into a Serena.
To break the enchantment binding a Serena it is necessary for a young lad to marry her.
Serenas exist in all the shores of the Asturias, their male counterpart the Home Marín, is much less known, only being known by the El Franco fishermen.
There was a large discussion and description of the Ñubero in that site, but I prefer not to talk about him, as he was already mentioned in this topic.
In a few days I’ll try to do some more.
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Caerdroia
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #10 on: 10/19/06 at 19:35:34 » |
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This hotel has a Trasgu, complete with palm-hole, as a mascot:
http://www.ribadesellaturismorural.com/index_en.htm
In the Trasgu story, does he attempt to do any of the impossible things, or are they just meant to frustrate him, like the "Brewery of Eggshells" in the Celtic changeling stories?
I vaguely remember a story where a character is asked to perform this task and solves the problem by sealing the holes with wax. I'm wondering if this is related.
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VilaJunkie
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #11 on: 10/19/06 at 20:34:09 » |
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on 10/19/06 at 19:35:34, Caerdroia wrote:| In the Trasgu story, does he attempt to do any of the impossible things, or are they just meant to frustrate him, like the "Brewery of Eggshells" in the Celtic changeling stories? |
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It's really a combination of both. The Trasgu is compelled to try and do these tasks, but they either take him such a long time or he can't finish them that he gets frustrated and leaves the person/people alone. He's afraid they might be mad that he didn't finish the tasks--or even worse, that person might be a powerful sorcerer who can control him. I've heard this technique being used on French and Italian elves as well. The racier versions state that the elf spies on a couple making love, and the woman pulls out a pubic hair, demanding that it be uncurled/straightened. Of course, this was impossible before the days of hair straighteners.
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #12 on: 10/24/06 at 15:36:31 » |
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These are the ones referring to the “Criaturas de los bosques/Criatures de les viesques” (creatures of the woods). Note that I did not translate the ones that have already been mentioned in this or other topics.
Busgosos, Mofosos
One of the many supernatural creatures that live in the woods of all regions of the World. They are characterised for not being bigger that a hand and by wearing green hats and dresses; they are without malice and jokers, you can always tell when they are present. Their head is covered by thick hair were curved horns sprout, like those of a goat; their face, arms, and torso are human, but their legs are those of a goat.
They spend their time in the loneliness of the woods; they occasionally show themselves to those that venture into the deepest bush, to show them the way home. The Busgosu also has a malefic personality in some regions of the Asturias, kidnapping women and taking them to his cave, like a satire… they watch over the forest and its animals, making the lives of hunters a little harder. When they get mad they can make people fall of cliffs. Generally they are not evil, they simply have fun making all kinds of jokes, like making people get lost and such… these jokes make them a relative to the Diaño Burllón.
Pesadiellu (night mare)
No one has ever seen a Pesadiellu; they simply feel his effects, which consist on a weight in the chest and on the shoulders. Besides this oppressive effect, he causes terror; to ward him off one can resort to religious formulas. If you pray to Jesus Christ the Pesadiellu will throw himself down the stairs.
We also find this character in Galicia, with the name Pesadelo.
Sumiciu
It the Sumiciu that, moving among human beings, has fun making needed thing disappear. It is certain that there are no stories or legends were the Sumiciu is the main character, because, like many other magical creatures he is invisible, causing our many forgets. That is why these are so many expressions and exclamations in the Asturias referring that the Sumiciu is responsible for the disappearance of much needed objects.
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #13 on: 10/26/06 at 13:15:35 » |
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These are the ones from the Criaturas de la noche//Criatures de la nueche section. Most of this section was about more general stuff, the connection of the Asturian people with the supernatural, like witches, the Asturian beliefs in the after life, lost souls and special day and nights.
Guaxa
Guaxa is a white haired witch with an ugly wrinkled face, which at night flies into houses and sucks the blood of little children, making them get weaker and weaker until they die.
When child is in good health and then starts to get paler and thinner it is custom for parent to spend the night awake, looking after the child to “give hunt” to the Guaxa. Once the Guaxa is hunt she will leave the baby alone, which will soon recover its health, in some cases the Guaxa will turn into a normal woman if her finger is twisted.
Carro de la Muerte (Death wagon/carriage)
It’s a wagon that flies throw the air at night collecting the dead. It’s all black and you can’t see its horses or its rider and hovers silently over the houses of the dying.
In other versions it is a carriage that comes by night to collect people. It has cork wells so as not to make sound, it’s pulled by two horses and its rider is the last person that died. It stops in front of a house and calls out to one of its inhabitants “Leave «insert name», for you are called”. In that very moment the person called gets out, enters the carriage and disappears for ever.
Papón (basically the bogeyman)
Also called Coco the Rampayu (I have no idea what this is), he’s an evil creature that comes every night to eat the naughty children that don’t want to go to bed. So all mothers at night say: Go to sleep baby, the coco is coming”.
A relative of his is the L’Home l’Untu, also called Sacamantecas, which kidnaps children in the dark to take their fat.
As far as that site goes, I’m finished.
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #14 on: 06/22/07 at 10:00:18 » |
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Since I’m having a little break from projects and exams this week I decided to try and pick up the pace on information gathering for the forum here, and I remembered that some time ago I discovered that there were Galician, Asturian, Aragonian, Catalonian and Basque Wikipedias. Since these are small wikipedias, in languages spoken in various parts of a not so big country, I figured it wouldn't be too contaminated with crap, so I have decided to give them a go and try to translate some of their contents in the mythology and folklore of these specific areas of Spain.
(The monsters and creatures already discussed in this and other topics I obviously won’t mention)
One side note: Galician translation is easy, Asturian, so and so, Catalan and Aragonian, never tried it but it can’t be that hard, Euskara (the Basque language)… FORGET IT! I’m not touching that one; I (and the academic community in general) don’t know what the hell that is! It isn’t similar to anything, there is even this Basque legend about the Devil travelling there to try and tempt the locals, but ended up giving up because he couldn’t learn Euskara.
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #15 on: 06/22/07 at 10:02:57 » |
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Galicia:
Lavandeira (Washer, I think you always have one of these in every European folklore system)
These spirits only come out on full moons, by the river sides, where they wash sheets stained with blood that never comes off. It is said that they are women that died of child birth or that they are women that allowed their children to die without being baptized.
The living can help them clean their sheets, but they should twist the sheets in the opposite direction, otherwise they could find their death.
Meiga
According to popular tradition, Meiga is a woman that knows magic and other hidden arts.
The Meiga differs from the witch in popular tradition, because witches always act with the intention to do evil. The Meiga is the old wise village woman, coming close to the figure of the healing druid.
Nubeiro
A kind of spirit that lives in the air that has the power to create thunder.
Santa Compaña (Holy Company, or something like that)
This is a procession of the spirits of the dead, which walk the path of a parish caring candles. An intense smell of burning wax is the main tell that the Santa Compaña is coming.
This procession is usually led by a living person, carrying a cross and a pot of holy water. Legend says that this living person is doomed to lead the Compaña until it crosses another living person, which then takes his place.
The main purpose of the Compaña is to visit all the houses where death will soon take place.
Procesión das Xás (procession of the Xás)
The Procesión das Xás or Procesión das Xans, is a procession similar to the Santa Compaña, but instead of the spirits of the dead it is constituted by the spirits of the living.
This procession is constituted by tow row and in front carries of coffin. The closer to the coffin the spirits the members of the procession are the closer to death they are. The ones that are the furthest away from the coffin may still last three of four years. Those that cross this procession do not feel it, as it has no substance, and usually it is seen in cross roads.
If who ever see the Procesión is a friend of its member he his lifted throw the air and transported to a different area, if he is an enemy he is beaten up and dragged over spiny bushes.
Only certain people become a part of the Procesión, you have to fulfil one of these condition: your godfather made a mistake while praying the “credo” in your baptism, or if your baptism oils were mistaken the extreme anointment oils. These mistakes can be corrected if you get rebaptised
Sacaúntos
The Sacaúntos is the Galician equivalent of the Bag Man, a big and badly dressed character. Sometimes he is also called "papón", meaning that he can “papar” (gobble up) someone, especially small children
The Sacaúntos sucks the fat out of little children until they are all bones and sells it to old men. This way they win money to trade their blood with younger blood.
Urco
The Urco resembles a huge black dog, with long hears and horns, whose presence is a bad omen. According to popular tradition inhabits the shores of the river Lérez in a place called “Borrón”. After 1877 and 1878 the legend of the Urco gave place to Entrodo (Carnival) festivities in honour of the monster.
The Urco is seldomly seen, for he hides himself in the caves and gulls of the sea side, letting his presence be known for his howl. This howl freezes your blood and paralyzes you with fear, and has similar feeling to being stabbed in the chest with a knife. When this howl is silenced it means that some catastrophe happened, namely someone died.
Some tales claim that the Urco eats souls.
A main source for these wikipedia article was this site: http://www.galiciaencantada.com/index.asp?rsl=1280
That I know to be a good reliable site, the only problem is that it is a little hard to navigate, as it has no monster index, just the legends where they are in.
(Omitted from translation: Trago, as this one was already mention a few times and Breogán as he is not a monster but a god/hero of Celtic inspiration)
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| « Last Edit: 06/22/07 at 10:13:43 by Tomoe » |
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VilaJunkie
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #16 on: 06/22/07 at 11:06:20 » |
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Wow, thanks Tomoe! You're a great help. You're right about the Basque language; I can't make heads or tails of it. For example, one creature I know of is called the basajaun. It's a wild man of the woods type of guy--hairy, lives in the forest, protects animals and trees, etc. But, what the hell does the name mean? Maybe jaun is related to John and Juan; I have no idea.
About a couple of the Galician creatures: The Lavandeira is known in Scotland as the bean-nighe or Washer of the Ford, and in France as Les Lavandieres or Cannard Noz ("night ducks", because of their webbed feet).
The Meiga has a bad, younger, seductive sister also called a Meiga/Maja. So it's like Baba Yaga, but backwards.
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #17 on: 06/22/07 at 11:21:48 » |
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Dude, don’t try to make sense of Euskara that way, it’s not Latin based. Like I said, it’s of unknown origin. But anyway, I found a section of the Spanish wikipedia dedicated to Basque mythology, so I’ll probably work on that (basajaun is there, by the way).
By the way, I’m finished with the Asturian wikipedia and I’m now working on the Cantabrian folklore. I'll probably post some more latter today.
And one more thing, in case anybody is kind of lost on the geography evolved, here is a map of the various regions of Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Autonomous_communities_of_Spain.svg
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Tomoe
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #18 on: 06/22/07 at 17:39:04 » |
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Asturias:
Ayalga
The Ayalga is a mortal woman that by means of a spell is locked inside a tower or castle filled with treasures, like the Xanes they are also guarded by Cuélebres. The spell they are under gives them some powers, like talking to animals and plants. To break this spell a man must kill the Cuélebre, after that the Ayalga will become a normal human girl, marry her saviour and give him the treasure.
Güercu
Güercu is an apparition of a person soon to die, normally of the same family of the one that sees it.
(Omited from traslation: Xanes, cuélebre, Nuberu, Trasgu, Sumiciu, Busgosu, Diañu Burllón, Pesadiellu, Ventolines, Espumeros, Serenes, Llavanderes, Güaxa, El Papón o Home del untu, Pataricu, Güestia, carru la muerte and Moroso or Mouros)
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Tomoe
Bona-fide Bakemono
Wino Shogun
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Re: Monsters in Spanish Legends
« Reply #19 on: 06/22/07 at 17:39:48 » |
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Now I was supposed to do the Catalan stuff, but I kind of changed my mind. You see the articles on Catalan folklore are huge, and there’s lot of them. I think this is because of the Catalan overwhelming sense of pride, for generations they have strived to evidence the difference between them and the rest of Spain, so it’s only logic that their folklore outputs are extremely complete and detailed.
So basically I’ll move on to the Cantabrian stuff, and then I’ll to the Basque. After that, I'll think about Catalonia.
Cantabria:
Anjana (a derivative of “jana”, cantabrian medieval word for sorceress)
These creatures are the benefactor counterpart of the cruel ojáncanos and ojáncanas of cantabrian folklore; they are the good fairies of cantabria, generous and protecting. Their representation is similar to the xanas in the Asturias, the Janas in Leon and the Lamias in the Basque country.
There are many theories about the Anjanas; some say they are heavenly creatures sent to earth by God to do good deeds for 400 years, when they return to heaven never to comeback. Others say they are spirits of the trees with the task of taking care of the woods. In any case, they are described has gentle and beautiful, with half a meter in height, slit eyes, brightly black or bleu. Their skin is very white and their voice gentle, behind their backs they hide nearly imperceptible wings.
They use their hair in long jet braids; adorn themselves with gold and multi colour silk dresses, wearing in their heads crowns of flowers. They dress a thin white tunic and a blue cape and carry a wicker rod that each day of the week shines with a different colour.
They give live to the fields, help animals and plants that were victims of the ojáncanos, guide the lost and give presents to the needy, but also punish the wicked.
In the spring solstice, at mid night, they get together to dance, and spread roses of many and strange colours, who ever finds one of these roses will be happy until the end of his life.
Busgosu
Like the Asturian one. In fact, according to this, the Busgosu was taken to the Asturias by Basque blacksmiths, that moved there, being a native Cantabrian myth.
Culebre (different from the Asturias Cuélebre, as this is a unique monster)
A legendary creature from Cantabria shaped like a wigged serpent. It has a large teeth filled mouth and spits fire, his eyes are incandescent, his body is covered in scales and on his back grow two bat wings. He inhabits a cave filled with treasure.
In the past the Culebre demanded the sacrifice of virgins to appease its fury, but one, who was about to be sacrificed, called for Santiago (the apostle James) and the saint battled the beast, wounding it in the chest. Culebre released a crowd of sulphur and ran away, hurt and humiliated, never asking for tribute again.
It is said that Culebre is so old that it has lost most of its powers, this is aggravated on Saint John’s Eve, were he is completely vulnerable, but on the other hand on the eve of Saint Bartholomew his powers are fully restored.
Espumeru (also present in the Asturias, but, either these are a little different or the information is more complete)
A sea goblin, extremely small that wears seaweed as clothes, they give sea shell to mermaids so that in return they give them flower necklaces. There are two classes of Espumeros, the dark ones, that have extremely shiny eyes and that guide boats in the fog, and the blond ones, that occasionally leave the sea the bring news about the sailors to their families.
Musgoso (something like mossy, as in moss)
A good and compassionate man that lives in the mountains to work good deed. I can be seen walking calmly and slowly, dressed in his dried moss coat and leaf hat. He has a flute made of a strange wood; with witch he plays sweet and sad songs, which he uses to guide lost shepherd back to their flocks. At sun down he whistles from the top of his mountain if any danger will come to the shepherd during the night.
He has a tired look but is in fact tireless, of untidy aspect with tiny eyes and beard. The Musgoso is respected by mountain folk, as he helps them rebuild their huts after storms and in the summer cleans up the natural water fountains. He can only be seen from afar, walking in green paths and no one has ever heard his voice.
Nuberu (interestingly, in Cantabria Nuberu is a whole species, not just one guy)
In Cantabria the Nuberu are described as trickster spirits, small, skinny and with an ugly face, that ride clouds. They command storms and use lightning as weapons.
Contrary to the Ventolines, the Nuberu are terrible being, destroyers of crops and farms.
All the rest, except the physical appearance, is like the Asturian Nuberu.
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| « Last Edit: 06/22/07 at 17:41:27 by Tomoe » |
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