Basque mythology

Here we have a reproduction of a Hilarri, a Basque gravestone,

from 1736 with commonly found symbols.

The mythology of the ancient Basques largely did not survive

the arrival of Christianity in the Basque Country between the 4th and
12th century AD. Most of what is known about elements of this
original belief system is based on the analysis of legends, the study of
place names and few historical references to pagan rituals practised
by the Basques.

Mythological creatures and

characters

One main figure of this belief

system was the female
character of Mari. According to
legends collected in the area of
Ataun, the other main figure
was her consort Sugaar.
However, due to the scarcity of
the material it is difficult to say
if this would have been the
"central pair" of the Basque
pantheon. Based on the
attributes ascribed to these
mythological creatures, this
would be considered a chthonic
religion as all its characters dwell on earth or below it, with the
sky seen mostly as an empty corridor through which the
divinities pass.

Here we have Anboto, a mountain where the figure of Mari is

said to have resided.

There are a lot of mythological characters in Basque Mythology.

And also all of them connected with Mari, it’s the most important:

♥ Mari is considered the supreme goddess, and her consort

Sugaar the supreme god. Mari is depicted in many different forms:
sometimes as various women, as different red animals, as the black
he-goat, etc. Sugaar, however, appears only as a man or a
serpent/dragon. Mari is said to be served by the sorginak, semi-
mythical creatures impossible to differentiate from actual witches.
The group of witches near Zugarramurdi met at the Akelarre. That’s a
witches meeting.

♥ Adur is not a character but the abstraction of luck, destiny or

magic. It's said to be the power of soothsayers. In common language
it also means saliva. It's also the name of a river.

♥ Ama Lur: Mother Earth. It may be a modern creation or may

be another name of Mari.

♥ Atxular and Mikelatz are said to be sons of Mari, among

others.

♥ Basajaun: the wild man of the woods and his female version:
basandere.

♥ Eguzki or Eki is the known name of the Sun, considered a

daughter of Ama Lur.

♥ Gaueko is an evil character of the night.

There’s a very known sentence that he
says:
“The day for the people of the day and the
night for the night creatures”. He goes
around the world at night and if he sees
anyone who mustn’t be there he punishes
them.

♥ Herensuge is the name of a dragon who

plays an important role in a few legends.

♥ Erge is an evil spirit that takes men's lives.

♥ Ilargi is the known names of the Moon, also a daughter of

Ama Lur.

♥ Jentilak: giants, sometimes portrayed throwing rocks at

churches. They are believed to be Pagan Basques themselves,
seen from a partly Christianized viewpoint. A surviving jentil is
Olentzero, the Basque equivalent of Santa Claus.

♥ Lamiak or laminak: a type of nymph with bird-feet that dwelt

in rivers and springs.
 ♥ Mairuak or Intxisuak are the male equivalent of lamiak in the
Pyrenean region.

♥ Odei is a personification of storm clouds.

♥ San Martin Txiki, a popular local Christian character, is a

trickster.

♥ Sorginak are both mythological beings that travel with Mari

and real witches.

♥ Tartalo: the Basque version of the Greco-Roman Cyclops.

The Urtzi controversy

The existence of a Basque mythological figure, Urtzi, has been

questioned in numerous discussions. The argument for Urtzi being a
Basque sky god is based on two main arguments.

The first main argument is that Basque has numerous meteorological

terms which contain forms of the root ortzi.

This has led to a popular

modern interpretation of Urtzi as
a sky god. It should also be
mentioned that the modern
Basque word for sky, zeru, is a
loanword from Latin caelum and
that the word urtzi or ortzi is not
productive anymore.

The second argument is

based on the 12th century account, the Codex Calixtinus, of Aymeric
Picaud, a French pilgrim, who recorded a number of Basque words and
expressions, saying about Urtzi: et Deus uocant Urcia ("and they
name God as Urcia".) Since the remaining material Picaud recorded
appears to be very accurate, this bears some weight.

However, there are no legends at all related to such a god and

Picaud remains the only explicit reference to date. This had led to the
alternative theory that this may have been a generic term for "sky"
and that Picaud may have simply "pointed at the sky" looking for the
word for God and been supplied the word for "sky". This explanation is
to some degree supported by the unexpected absolutive case ending
-a in Urcia, which neither in Proto-Basque or modern Basque appears
on proper nouns. To date neither theory has been able to convince
fully.
Tartalo

In Basque mythology, Tartalo is an enormously strong one-eyed

giant very similar to the Greco-Roman Cyclops. It
is speculated that the name may derive from the
Greek underworld Tartaros. He lives in caves in the
mountains and catches young people in order to
eat them. He also eats sheep. In Biscay, it's known
as Alarabi. There is a story about him that appears
to be derived from the Odyssey.

♥ Tartalo’s tale:

One day, while two brothers of the

Antimuño baserri (a kind of Basque farm) were
hunting, a storm broke, so they decided to take
refuge from the rain in a cave, which was Tartalo's
cave. Soon after, Tartalo appeared with his flock of sheep. He saw the
two brothers and said: "Bat gaurko eta bestea biharko" ("one for
today and the other for tomorrow").

That same day he cooked and ate the eldest one, and then, he
went to sleep. While he was sleeping, the youngest brother stole
Tartalo's ring and then he stuck the burduntzi ("roasting spit" in
Basque) in his only eye. Tartalo was blind, but not dead yet.

He started to look for the boy among his sheep, but he put on a
sheep's skin and escaped from Tartalo. But, unluckily, when he got out
of the flock of sheep, the accuser ring started to shout: "Hemen nago,
hemen nago!" ("Here I am, here I am!").

Tartalo got out of his cave and he started to run after the ring,
hearing its shouts. The young one wasn't able to take off the ring, so,
when he arrived to the edge of a cliff, he cut off his finger, and since
Tartalo was near, he decided to throw it down the cliff. Tartalo,
following the ring's shouting, fell off the cliff.

Basajaun

In the Basque mythology, the Basajaun is the lord of the woods.

He lives in the forest and in the caverns. He has men appearance and
all the body covered with hair and a long hair. One of its feet sole is
circular as a veal hoof. Far of being aggressive is the genius protector
of the sheeps and when they know that he is near they sake their
cowbell. When a storm is coming he shouts and whistle from the
mountain to tell the shepperds something is wrong.

♥ Basajaun Myths:
 Long ago, only the basajauns knew how to plant, harvest and
mill wheat to make flour. The basajauns kept this knowledge to
themselves, but a Basque man worked out a plan to steal the secret
and give it to the human race. The Basque man made a bet with the
basajauns to see who could jump over wheat they had harvested.
They laughed at him, because they knew that he would be no
competition for them, and they laughed at his big shoes. They all
jumped over the wheat easily, but when the Basque man tried, he fell
on top of the heaps, and the basajauns laughed again. He laughed,
and he laughed last and best. They saw the Basque man walking
away home, with his big, shoes full of grains of their wheat.
Fortunately, a man was passing by the cave of one of the basajauns,
and he heard him singing:

"If the humans knew this song

They'd be well informed.
When the leaf is in the bud
Then you sow the corn.
When the leaf falls off the trees
Then you sow the wheat.
When the February feast comes round
Sow the turnip in the ground."

Then, the Basque man told all the humans, and that is how
cultivation spread through the world.

The basajaun also exists in Aragonese mythology in the valleys

of Tena, Ansó, and Broto under the names Basajarau, Bonjarau, or
Bosnerau.

Olentzero

Olentzero is a Basque Christmas tradition. According to Basque

traditions Olentzero comes to town late at night on the 24th of
December to give presents for children.

The name Olentzero appears in a

number of variations: Onenzaro,
Onentzaro, Olentzaro, Ononzaro,
Orentzago and others.

♥Olentzero’s Tale:

There are many variations to the

Olentzero traditions and stories
connected to him, that changes from
village to village. The first written account of Olentzero is from Lope
de Isasi in the 16th century.

One common version has Olentzero is that he was one of the

jentillak, a mythological race of Basque giants living in the Pyrenees.
Legend was that they observed a bright cloud in the sky one day.
None of them could look at this bright cloud except for a very old,
nearly blind man. When asked to examine it, he told them that it was
a sign that Jesus will be born soon. According to some stories, the old
man asked the giants to throw him something to live without
Christianisation. Having obliged him, the giants tripped on the way
down and died themselves except Olentzero.

Other versions of the Olentzeroren kondaira or "history of

Olentzero" tell that as a new born he was abandoned in the woods
and was found by a fairy who gave him the name Olentzero.

He turned into a strong man and charcoal burner who was also
good with his hands, carving wooden toys that he would carry in a big
bag of charcoal to give to the children of the village. It is said that he
died one day saving children from a burning house and that when he
died, the fairy who had found him give him eternal life to continue
giving presents to children and people.

♥Olentzero’s song:

Similar to European Christmas carols, there are Olentzero

kantak. Two very common ones are:

*OLENTZERO JOAN ZAIGU/ OLENTZERO HAS GONE:

he sits.
ENGLISH He also has capons
Olentzero has gone with little eggs,
to the mountains to work to celebrate tomorrow
with the intention with a bottle of wine.
of making charcoal. Our Olentzero
When he heard we can't be hungry
that Jesus has been born we have eaten whole
he came running ten piglets.
to bring news Ribs and pork loin
Horra horra so many intestines
out Olentzero because Jesus is born
with the pipe between his have mercy.
teeth Olentzero brings
 happiness and
joybecause he has heard
on the mountain
of Jesus' birth.
On this bright day
heart, rejoice. outside and
inside quickly loose the
chill.
BASQUE
Olentzero joan zaigu
mendira lanera,
intentzioarekin
ikatz egitera.
Aditu duenean
Jesus jaio dela
lasterka etorri da
berri ematera.
Horra horra
gure Olentzero
pipa hortzetan dula
*OLENTZERO BURU HANDIA/ OLENTZERO BIG HEAD:
The title translates as "Olentzero big head". An arroa is an old
measure equivalent to just over 11kg.
ENGLISH
Olentzero big head
robed in understanding
is said to have drunk last
night
a wineskin of ten arroa
Oh big-bellied pig!
Tralaralala, tralaralala.
Oh big-bellied pig!
Tralaralala, tralaralala.
BASQUE
Olentzero buru handia
Galtzagorriak
eserita dago.
Kapoiak ere ba'itu
arraultzatxoekin
bihar meriendatzeko
botila ardoakin.
Olentzero gurea
ezin dugu ase
osorik jan dizkigu
hamar txerri gazte.
Saiheski ta solomo
horrenbeste heste
Jesus jaio delako
erruki zaitezte.
Olentzerok dakarzki
atsegin ta poza
jakin baitu mendian
Jesusen jaiotza.
Egun argi honetan
alaitu bihotza
kanpo eta barruan
kendu azkar hotza
entendimentuz jantzia
bart arratsean edan omen
du
hamar arroako zahagia.
Ai urde tripahandia!
Tralaralala, tralaralala.
Ai urde tripahandia!
Tralaralala, tralaralala.
 In Basque mythology galtzagorriak, meaning the red-pants, are
a type of imps.

According to the legend, a certain farmer who wanted a way to

do less work, was advised to go to a shop of Bayonne and buy a box
of galtzagorriak. He did that and, when he was back to his farm, he
opened the small box. Little imps with red pants jumped immediately
from it asking “what do we do, what do we do?”.

He immediately put them to work: repair the fence, prepare the

land, milk the cows, redo the ceiling… in few minutes the
galtzagorriak had done all the jobs and asked again “what do we do
now, what do we do now?” . The farmer ordered them to do many
other things and again the job was done in minutes. But the
galtzagorriak kept asking what to do. The more than pleased farmer
had to say: ”nothing”. Frustrated the imps started to undo all the job.
Eventually, the farmer managed to get them back into their box and,
from then on, he decided to do his job by himself.

Sorginak

Sorginak are the assistants of the goddess Mari in Basque mythology.

It is also the Basque name for witches, being difficult to tell between the
mythological and real ones.

Sometimes sorginak are confused with lamiak. Along with them, and
specially with Jentilak, sorginak are said often to have built the local
megaliths.

Sorginak like other European witches, used to participate in the

sabbat, called akelarre in the Basque country. These mysteries happened on
Friday nights, when Mari and Sugaar are said to meet in the Basque country
sacred cave to engender storms.

Sorginak are often said to recite the following spell

to travel to and back from the akelarre: Under the
clouds and over the brambles, or variants of it. In
many legends a failed witch (normally a man) says
the spell inverted (Under the brambles and over the
clouds) and arrives to the akelarre quite sick.
Other variants of this song are also known.

Sorginak often are said to transform

themselves in animals, most commonly cats.
These cats are sometimes said to bother pious women that do not
wish to go the akelarre.

Inquisitorial documents describe horrific practices of witches,

like eating children or poisonings. But popular legends do not speak of
these practices, instead mentioning kissing "the devil's arse" or an
animal's genitals, occasional poisoning of crops, bothering modest
women (in the shape of cats or other animals) and ointing their bodies
with some product (possibly based on stramonium or other
psychoactive plant) to "fly" to and from the akelarre and perform
other supposed feats.

While in the late Middle Ages there are a handful of references

to witchery, they are mostly fines for accusing someone of being one.

Throughout the Basque Country there are many places

associated with sorginak, often also associated with Mari or other
mythological characters. (Zugarramurdi caves…)

Lamiak

In Basque mythology, the mythological heroes Lamias are often

described with bird feet. Mostly female, dwell in rivers and usually
comb their long hair with golden combs. They tend to be kind and the
only way to anger them is stealing their combs. The Basque
mythology explains their disappearance because of the founding of
monasteries.
Sometimes taking the form of a beautiful woman they attract
men, and they can only be distinguished by their duck feet. They
sometimes had children with them. In other legends they are half
human and half fish. Others say they are merely the goddess Mari.

♥ According to the legend…

Once a young shepherd of

Orozko,in Bizkaia, called
Antxon,was walking in the
mountain with his flock when he
heard a great song. He was so
amazed that he forgot the sheep
and went to the place the voice
came from.
By separating some bushes he
saw something incredible. On a
rock in the middle of the river
sat the most beautiful girl he
had ever seen. She had long,
blond hair, as long as her feet ...
She was brushing it with a golden comb while she was singing a
strange tune.Antxon could not remove his eyes from her.
Then, the young girl stopped singing and turned around to
watch the bushes. She saw the young shepherd,and she got scared
and went into the river. Soon she got her head out of the water
behind the rock,watching Antxon carefully... the boy was astonished,
the play.Finally opening her big beautiful transparent eyes lamia
asked:
- Who are you? The shepherd kept silent .- Who are you? - Said
the young girl again.
-Antxon, Antxon- he answered at last.- What about you?

The girl laughed and did not respond, going down in the water
again. The shepherd waited and waited,and as she didn’t appear,he
went home very confused. During the next few days he didn’t leave
home, and could not stop thinking of the the girl, so he finally decided
to go to the river. On the way,as he approached the scene, again he
heard that song of the angels, and felt happy.
The beautiful girl, like the last day,was there,brushing her blond hair
sitting on the top of the rock next to the waterfall .... When she saw
Antxon she stopped singing and smiled
-Hello, Antxon she said. -I 've been waiting for you.
- Me? He asked amazed.
-yes,you.come here, Come.
Antxon went to the rock, and stayed there for hours doing
nothing, they didn´t speak, they only stared.
- Would you marry me? -. Lamia asked the young man when the
sun began to hide.
-yes!- Antxon said.
As a sign of commitment, the lamia gave him a ring that was in
his finger instantly.
After leaving the young man went back home ....
-Mom, I'm going to marry said Antxon to his mother.
-But, son ..., who are you going to marry ? "Asked his mother,
surprised, because she didn’t know that her son had a girlfriend.
- With the most beautiful girl in the world. She lives up in the
mountain,near the river.
-…But who is she? - Said the mother.
-The most beautiful woman I've seen in my life.
- What is her name? Who are her parents?
-she's the most beautiful, the most beautiful woman...
The mother came to the conclusion that her son had been
bewitched. Immediately she went to the street, spoke with
neighbours, with the grandmother, the uncle, with the priest .... all of
them advised her all in different ways:
If she’s a witch like this.. if she’s a Lamia like…
Finally the oldest man of Orozko also gave his opinions:
-If she’s a lamia, she will have duck feet, he said ...
The mother returned home and made her son promise that he
would look at his girlfriend´s feet . After much stress, Antxon
promised that he would do it. Suddenly, he had a great desire to see
her again, and ran away into the mountains.
His love was swimming like a dolphin with fish playing in the water,.
He came quietly, he wanted to give her a surprise ... but wow! his
girlfriend´s feet were not as the other girls´ around the world!
-will I be-dreaming? Asked himself, incredulous ...
The feet of the girl appeared to be duck feet, duck feet definitely!
Antxon was paralyzed by the shock and then he went back to town
with a broken heart. When he was entering home his mother was
waiting,he noticed something strange happened.
- And what, son? What happened? Have you seen her feet? She
asked impatiently.
-They are like ducks' feet ... said the young man,unhappy.
It is a LAMIA! You can not marry her! Hear me!Humans cannot
marry with Lamias.
Antxon, with great sadness, got into bed and fell ill. With his
headache he had dreams and saw his beloved's face and heard her
voice calling .. "Zatoz, MAITEA, zatoz" ( "Come, dear, come"). But he
never returned, because he died of grief.
The day of the funeral lamia came to the house . She
approached the bed, and covered him with a sheet of gold and kissed
his cold lips. She followed the funeral procession to the door of the
church, but as everyone knows, the Lamias cannot enter the church,
and then she returned to the mountain crying for her lost love. And
she cried so much that in the place where her tears fell there is a
spring to remember the impossible love between the lamia and the
shepherd. "

Tales around the world

There are lots of very well known tales around the world. It’s
curious to know different names for them. Here are some of them in
English, Basque and Spanish. Children all over the world fall asleep
while listening to these everlasting stories.

ENGLISH SPANISH BASQUE

Little red riding Caperucita roja Txanogorritxu

hood

Thumbling Pulgarcito Erpurutxo

Cinderella Cenicienta Errauskiñe

The lady & the beast La bella y la bestia Ederra eta piztia

101 dalmatians 101 dálmatas 101

dalmaziarrak
AND HOW TO START A TALE :
ONCE UPON A TIME...

ERASE UNA VEZ...

BAZEN BEHIN...
--------------------------------

AND HOW TO FINISH:

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...

Y VIVIERON FELICES Y COMIERON PERDICES...

ALA BAZEN EDO EZ BAZEN, SAR DADILA KALABAZAN

ETA ATERA DADILA HERRIKO PLAZAN...

JOSE MIGUEL DE BARANDIARAN, “AITA BARANDIARAN” (FATHER,

AS HE WAS A PRIEST), WROTE THE DICTIONARY OF BASQUE
MYTHOLOGY IN 1984. IT WAS AN ESSENTIAL BOOK FOR BASQUE
STUDIES.