The or (plural: or ) is a

siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisc ...

nereid In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris ...

-like creature in

Basque mythology 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 ...

. , , or 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 combing their hair with a golden comb and charming men. Mythology in coastal areas includes , a variety of lamiak who live in the sea and have fish-like tails, similar to a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

Beliefs

In Basque

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 ...

, are described as helping those who give them presents by providing them with help 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 : Ebrain (

Bidarray Bidarray (; )BIDARRAI

Lower Navarre Lower Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; french: Basse-Navarre ; es, Baja Navarra) is a traditional region of the present-day French ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the ...

), Azalain (

Andoain Andoain is a town in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, in the North of Spain. Nowadays it has a population of 14,637 inhabitants (2019), which has been quite stable sin ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

), Urkulu (

Leintz-Gatzaga Leintz Gatzaga (Spanish, ''Salinas de Léniz'') is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The municipality's population is 251 (2015). Etymology The first part of the name, Lei ...

), Liginaga-Astüe (

Labourd Labourd ( eu, Lapurdi; la, Lapurdum; Gascon: ''Labord'') is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial c ...

). In other myths, must leave if the bridge that they were building at night was left unfinished at cockcrow. People believed that k had left a river if a stone in the bridge was missing. Other beliefs claim that most disappeared when men built small churches in the forest. are also believed to be the other side of the rainbow, where they are combing their hair. It is said that when the sunlight strikes their hair, the rainbow opens. Mythology also occasionally describes male . In those stories, they are described as strong and are attributed with the creation of

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

s at night. It is also said that they can enter a house at night when its inhabitants are sleeping. They are given different names: , , , (in Oiartzun,

), (in

). Many toponyms are related to , including Lamikiz (

Markina Markina-Xemein is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, Bizkaia, in the Basque Autonomous Community, also known as the Basque Country, located in northern Spain. The origin of the town's name lies in its geographic location ...

), Laminaputzu (in

Zeanuri Zeanuri ( es, Ceánuri) is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. Etymology The word ''uri'' cle ...

), Lamitegi (in Bedaio), Lamirain (in Arano), Lamusin (in

Sare Sare may refer to: People * Bakary Saré (born 1990), Burkinabé football player * Clyde W. Sare (1936–2015), American politician and businessman * Haig Sare (born 1982), Australian rugby union player * Hamit Şare (born 1982), Turkish alpine sk ...

), Lamiñosin (in Ataun).

References

{{reflist Basque legendary creatures Basque mythology Female legendary creatures Mythological human hybrids Water spirits

Beliefs

See also

References