The

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

of the ancient

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: 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. Bas ...

largely did not survive the arrival of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

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 Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

and scant historical references to pagan rituals practised by the Basques. One main figure of this belief system was the female deity Mari. According to legends collected in the area of

Ataun Ataun is a town located at the foot of the Aralar Range in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. The town consists of three major parishes - San Martin, San Grego ...

, the other main figure was her consort

Sugaar In Basque mythology, (also , , , ) is the male half of a pre-Christian Basque deity associated with storms and thunder. He is normally imagined as a dragon or serpent. Unlike his female consort, , there are very few remaining legends about . Th ...

. 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 Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

. Based on the attributes ascribed to these mythological creatures, this would be considered a

chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

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.

Historical sources

The main sources for information about non-Christian Basque beliefs are: *

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

, who mentions the sacrifice of male goats and humans * Arab writers from the time of the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, also known as the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania (in the Iberian Peninsula) from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the decline of t ...

* the 12th century diary of the pilgrim

Aymeric Picaud Aymeric Picaud was a 12th-century French scholar, monk and pilgrim from Parthenay-le-Vieux in Poitou. He is most widely known today as being the suspected author of the Codex Calixtinus, an illuminated manuscript giving background information for p ...

* various medieval sources making references to pagan rituals, including the records of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

* 19th and 20th century collections of myths and folk-tales, such as those collected by

José Miguel Barandiaran eu, Jose Miguel Barandiaran Aierbe, es, José Miguel de Barandiarán y Ayerbe known as and eu, Aita Barandiaran, lit=Father Barandiaran, label =none (31 December 1889 – 21 December 1991), was a Basque anthropologist, ethnographer, and ...

, which comprise by far the largest body of material relating to non-Christian beliefs and practices * the modern study of place-names in the Basque Country

Mythological creatures and characters

The Urtzi controversy

Urtzi may have been a Basque mythological figure—a

sky god The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-In ...

—but may have been merely a word for the sky. There is evidence that can be read as either supporting or contradicting the existence of such a deity. To date neither theory has been able to convince fully.

Influence on Iberian pantheons

The Iberian Peninsula's

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

speaking cultures like the

Lusitanians The Lusitanians ( la, Lusitani) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people living in the west of the Iberian Peninsula prior to its conquest by the Roman Republic and the subsequent incorporation of the territory into the Roma ...

and

Celtiberians The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BCE. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strab ...

seem to have a significant Basque substrate in their mythologies. This includes the concept of the

Enchanted Moura The Enchanted moura or (enchanted female Mouros) is a supernatural being from the fairy tales of Portuguese and Galician folklore. Very beautiful and seductive, she lives under an imposed occult spell. Shapeshifters, the occupy liminal spaces ...

s, which may be based on the

Mairu Mairu (plural: mairuak), also called Maideak, Mairiak, Saindi Maidi (in Lower Navarre), Intxisu in the Bidasoa valley are creatures of Basque mythology. They were giants who built dolmens or harrespil. Like the dolmens, they are only found in mount ...

, and the god

Endovelicus Endovelicus (Portuguese: ''Endouellicus'', ''Endovélico''; Spanish: ''Endovélico'', ''Enobólico'') is the best known of the pre-Roman Lusitanian and Celtiberian gods of the Iron Age. He was originally a chthonic god. He was the God/Lord of the ...

, whose name may come from

proto-Basque Proto-Basque ( eu, aitzineuskara; es, protoeuskera, protovasco; french: proto-basque), or Pre-Basque, is the reconstructed predecessor of the Basque language before the Roman conquests in the Western Pyrenees. Background The first linguist wh ...

words.

Myths of the historical period

After Christianization, the Basques kept producing and importing myths. *

Jaun Zuria Jaun Zuria (Basque for "the White Lord") is the mythical first Lord and founder of the Lordship of Biscay, who defeated the Leonese and Asturian troops in the also-mythical Battle of Padura, in which he chased off the invaders to the Malato Tree, ...

is the mythical first

Lord of Biscay The Lordship of Biscay ( es, Señorío de Vizcaya, Basque: ''Bizkaiko jaurerria'') was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. On ...

, said to be born of a Scottish princess who had an encounter with the god Sugaar in the village of

Mundaka , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = BasqueSpanish , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. * The

battle of Roncesvalles The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, ''Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on th ...

was mythified in the cycle of the

Matter of France The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French '' chan ...

. * In the

Aralar Range The Aralar Range () is a mountain range in the Basque Mountains of Southern Basque Country. The part of the range lying in Gipuzkoa was established as a conservation area called Aralar Natural Park in 1994. In addition to its natural features, sc ...

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

was said to appear to assist a local noble turned hermit. * The

coat of arms of Navarre The coat of arms of Navarre is the heraldic emblem which for centuries has been used in Navarre. It was adopted as one of the official symbols of the Chartered Community of Navarre and is regulated by Foral Law 24/2003. It is commonly used by Na ...

was said to come from a feat in the

battle of Las Navas de Tolosa The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab ( ar, معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the medieval history of Spain. The Christ ...

. * The battle of Amaiur was the battle where

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

lost its independence to the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * La Paglia, Antonio. ''Beyond Greece and Rome: Faith and Worship in Ancient Europe'', Black Mountain Press, 2004. * Lezea, Toti Martínez de. "Leyendas de Euskal Herria". Erein, 2004. * Ortíz-Osés, A. ''El matriarcalismo vasco''. Universidad de Deusto, 1980. . * ______ . ''El inconsciente colectivo vasco''. Txertoa, 1982. . * ______ . ''Antropología simbólica vasca''. Anthropos, 1985. * ;Folktale collections: * .
Quelques contes basques tirés du manuscrit Webster
. In: ''Fontes linguae vasconum: Studia et documenta'', Año nº 6, Nº 18, 1974. pp. 453-464. . * Vinson, Julien.
Le Folk-lore du Pays Basque
'. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1883. * Webster, Wentworth.
Basque legends
'. London: Griffith and Farran. 1879. * Zaïka, Natalia M.
Approche textologique et comparative du conte traditionnel basque dans les versions bilingues de 1873 à 1942 (W. Webster, J.-F. Cerquand, J. Barbier, R. M. de Azkue)
'. Iker-31. Euskaltzindia, 2014. * ''Catálogo tipológico de los cuentos populares maravillosos vascos''. Herri kulturaren narrazioak, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Basque Mythology Basque culture