The Tunda ( es, La Tunda) is a
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
of the Pacific coastal region of
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, and particularly in the
Afro-Colombian
Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians ( es, afrocolombianos, links=no) are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent (Blacks, Mulattoes, Pardos, and Zambos).
History
Africans were enslaved in the early 16th Century in Colombi ...
community of the
Chocó department
Choco Department is a department of Western Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It ...
,
La Leyenda de La Tunda
/ref> about a shapeshifting entity, resembling a human female, that lures people into the forests and keeps them there.
It is capable of changing its shape to appear in the form of a loved one, as in the likeness of a child's mother, to lure its victims into the forest and feed them with shrimps (''camarones peneídos'') to keep them docile. This is called ''entundamiento'' and a person in this state is ''entundado(a)''.[González Cortés, Flover. 2001. ''Fantasmagorías. Mitos y leyendas del Pacífico colombiano'']
Her shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, Magic (paranormal), sorcery, Incantation, ...
abilities are said to be imperfect, as this ''doppelgänger
A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person.
In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
'' of sorts would always have a wooden leg in the shape of a '' molinillo'', or wooden kitchen utensil used to stir hot drinks such as chocolate or ''aguapanela
Aguapanela, '' agua de panela'' or ''agüepanela'' is a drink commonly found throughout South America and a few parts of Central America and Caribbean. Its literal translation means "panela water" as it is an infusion made from panela which is der ...
''. The monster, however, is very cunning when trying to hide this defect from its would-be victims.[Puertas Arias, Esperanza. 2000. ''Del Pacífico colombiano, La Tunda: Mito y realidad. Sus funciones sociales''] In other versions, it appears to male loggers or hunters working deep into the jungle as a beautiful woman that tries to lure a man away, so it can reveal its hideous nature and suck his blood and drink it or devour him as a wild animal like bears.
See also
*Sayona {{One source, date=August 2014
La Sayona is a legend from Venezuela, represented by the vengeful spirit of a woman that shows up only to men that have love affairs out of their marriages. The name "Sayona" refers to the cloth the ghost wears which i ...
*Patasola
The Patasola or "one leg" is one of many legends in South American folklore about female monsters from the jungle, appearing to male hunters or loggers in the middle of the wilderness when they think about women. The Patasola appears in the form ...
*Deer Woman
Deer Woman, sometimes known as the Deer Lady, is a spirit in Native American mythology whose associations and qualities vary, depending on situation and relationships. To women, children, and men who are respectful of women and children, she is a ...
*Sihuanaba
Sihuanaba, La Siguanaba, Cigua or Cegua 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 beh ...
*Baobhan sith The baobhan sith is a female fairy in the Scottish folklore, folklore of the Scottish Highlands, though they also share certain characteristics in common with the succubus. They appear as beautiful women who seduce their victims before attacking the ...
*Leanan sídhe
The ' (; gd, leannan sìth, gv, lhiannan shee; ) is a figure from Irish Folklore. She is depicted as a beautiful woman of the ''Aos Sí'' ("people of the barrows") who takes a human lover. Lovers of the ''leannán sídhe'' are said to live brie ...
*Huldra
A hulder (or huldra) is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name derives from a root meaning "covered" or "secret". In Norwegian folklore, she is known as huldra ("the rchetypalhulder", though folklore presupposes ...
*Soucouyant
The soucouyant or soucriant in Dominica, St. Lucian, Trinidadian, Guadeloupean folklore (also known as Loogaroo or Lougarou) in Haiti, Louisiana, Grenada and elsewhere in the Caribbean or Ole-Higue (also Ole Haig) in Guyana, Belize and Jamaica o ...
References
External links
La leyenda de la TundaLeyenda: La Tunda de esmeraldas (with picture)
Mythological anthropophages
Spanish-language South American legendary creatures
Myths and legends of Colombia
South American mythology
Female legendary creatures
Forest spirits
{{SouthAm-myth-stub
Shapeshifting
Ecuadorian legends