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The lamia (or lamina) (plural: lamiak or laminak) is a siren or nereid-like creature in Basque mythology. [1] [2] Lamiak are typically portrayed as living in and around rivers. They are depicted as beautiful, long-haired women with webbed duck feet, usually found at the river shore brushing their hair with a golden comb and seducing men. [ citation needed ]
Mythology in coastal areas includes itsaslamiak, a variety of lamiak who live in the sea and have fish-like tails, similar to a mermaid.
In Basque mythology, lamiak are depicted as generous, aiding those who give them presents by helping them at work. For example, if a farmer were to leave food for them at the river shore, they would eat it at night and in exchange finish ploughing his field. In some places, bridges were believed to have been built at night by lamiak: Ebrain (Bidarray, Lower Navarre), Azalain (Andoain, Gipuzkoa), Urkulu (Leintz-Gatzaga, Gipuzkoa), Liginaga-Astüe (Labourd).
In other myths, lamiak must leave if the bridge that they were building at night was left unfinished at cockcrow. People believed that lamiak had left a river if a stone in the bridge was missing. Other beliefs claim that most lamiak disappeared when men built small churches in the forest.
Lamiak are also believed to be found on the other side of rainbows, where they are combing their hair. It is said that when the sunlight strikes their hair, the rainbow opens.
Mythology also occasionally describes male lamiak. In those stories, they are described as strong and are attributed with the creation of dolmens at night. It is also said that they can enter a house at night when its inhabitants are sleeping. They are given different names: Maideak, Mairiak, Mairuak , Intxixuak (in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa), Saindi Maidi (in Lower Navarre).
Many toponyms are related to lamiak, including Lamikiz (Markina), Laminaputzu (in Zeanuri), Lamitegi (in Bedaio), Lamirain (in Arano), Lamusin (in Sare), Lamiñosin (in Ataun).
The Basques are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country —a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.
Navarre, officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France. The capital city is Pamplona. The present-day province makes up the majority of the territory of the medieval Kingdom of Navarre, a long-standing Pyrenean kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost part, Lower Navarre, located in the southwest corner of France.
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
Olentzero is a character in Basque Christmas tradition. According to Basque traditions, Olentzero comes to town late at night on the 24th of December to drop off presents for children. In some places he arrives later, for example in Ochagavía – Otsagabia on the 27th and in Ermua on the 31st.
In Breton folklore, a Korrigan is a fairy or dwarf-like spirit. The word korrigan means in Breton "small-dwarf". It is closely related to the Cornish word korrik which means gnome. The name changes according to the place. Among the other names, there are korrig, korred, korrs, kores, couril, crion, goric, kornandon, ozigan, nozigan, teuz, torrigan, viltañs, poulpikan, poulpiquet, and paotred ar sabad.
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people. The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Euskal Herria is the oldest documented Basque name for the area they inhabit, dating from the 16th century.
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 scant historical references to pagan rituals practised by the Basques.
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Mari, also called Mari Urraca, Anbotoko Mari, and Murumendiko Dama is the goddess of the Basques. She is married to the god Sugaar. Legends connect her to the weather: when she and Maju travel together hail will fall, her departures from her cave will be accompanied by storms or droughts, and which cave she lives in at different times will determine dry or wet weather: wet when she is in Anboto; dry when she is elsewhere. Other places where she is said to dwell include the chasm of Murumendi, the cave of Gurutzegorri (Ataun), Aizkorri and Aralar, although it is not always possible to be certain which Basque legends should be considered as the origin.
Latvian Lauma or Lithuanian Laumė, or Yotvingian Łauma is a fairy-like woodland spirit, and guardian spirit of orphans in Eastern Baltic mythology or Yotvingian mythology. Originally a sky spirit, her compassion for human suffering brought her to earth to share our fate.
The Cegua, La Sihuehuet or Siguanaba, Cigua or Siguanaba is a supernatural character from Central American folklore though it can also be heard in Mexico. It is a shapeshifting spirit that typically takes the form of an attractive, long haired woman seen from behind. She lures men away into danger before revealing her face to be that of a horse or, alternatively, a skull.
The Bidasoa is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi in the province of Navarre, the river actually results from the merger of several streams near the village Erratzu, with the stream Baztan that rises at the north-eastern side of the mount Autza being considered the source of the Bidasoa. It joins the Cantabrian Sea between the towns of Hendaye and Hondarribia.
The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country, is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community presided over by Jean-René Etchegaray.
Sorginak are the assistants of the goddess Mari in Basque mythology. It is also the Basque name for witches, priests and priestesses, making it difficult to distinguish between the mythological and real ones.
Bertsolaritza[berˈts̺olaɾits̻a] or bertsolarism is the art of singing extemporaneously composed songs in Basque according to various melodies and rhyming patterns. Bertsos can be composed at a variety of occasions but are performed generally by one or various bertsolaris onstage in an event arranged for the purpose or as a sideshow, in homage ceremonies, in benefit lunches and suppers, with friends or at a competition. Such a sung piece of composition is called a bertso, the person who sings it is called a bertsolari and the art of composing bertsos is called bertsolaritza in Basque. Traditionally these were sung by men but there is an increasing number of young female bertsolaris today.
The Basques are an indigenous ethno-linguistic group mainly inhabiting Basque Country. Their history is therefore interconnected with Spanish and French history and also with the history of many other past and present countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas, where a large number of their descendants keep attached to their roots, clustering around Basque clubs which are centers for Basque people.
The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.
The Basque Country, also called Basque Autonomous Community, is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa.
The physical geography of the Basque Country is very diverse despite the small size of the region. The territory hosts a blend of green and brown to yellowish tones, featuring hilly terrain altogether. The Basque Country spreads from the rough coastal landscape to the semi-desert of the Bardenas on the south-eastern fringes of Navarre.
The Spanish legend of la Encantada is a generic name that refers to a set of oral traditions and legends mythological narrated in numerous Spanish localities. Although there are multiple local variants, a series of elements are common: the protagonist, the time, the manifestation and other elements.
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