Oral tradition gives two overlapping accounts coexisting side by side: some say Anjanas are heavenly beings sent by God to do good deeds who return to heaven after 400 years and never return; others indicate they are spirits of trees who take care of the forests. Both strands are reported in the tradition rather than synthesized into a single canonical origin.
Folkloric descriptions portray Anjanas as beautiful, delicate female fairies of very small stature (traditionally given as about 0.5 ft / 0.15 m tall), with white skin and a sweet voice. Their eyes are described as slanted, serene and loving, with black or blue pupils "as bright as the stars." They have nearly transparent wings, long braids (jet black or golden) adorned with multicolored silk bows and ribbons, wear a crown of wild flowers, a blue cape over a long thin white tunic, and carry a stick of wicker or hawthorn said in tradition to shine in a different color every day of the week.
Anjanas are portrayed as caretakers of nature and helpers of people: they help injured animals and trees damaged by storms or by the Ojáncanu, assist lovers, guide people who become lost in the forest, aid the poor and suffering, can converse with spring waters, and leave gifts at the doors of helpful and kind villagers. They punish the wicked and oppose the cruel Ojáncanu. They are said to respond to summons for help if the summoner is "good of heart."
Aernus
Aernus is a theonym attested in a small number of Roman-period inscriptions from the vicinity of Bragança (north-eastern Portugal). Scholarly discussion treats Aernus as a local or regional deity within the Lusitanian and Gallaecian pantheons, probably serving as a protector of a specific tribal group (the Zoelae) in a limited territorial horizon.
Arquetu
A Cantabrian popular-belief figure depicted as an old man marked with a green cross and seven keys on his forehead who intervenes in human economic affairs by lending money to prodigals and punishing repeat wastefulness with a curse of eternal poverty.
Bandua
Bandua is a theonym attested in Roman‑period epigraphic sources from north‑west Iberia (Galaico‑Lusitanian area). The name appears with many localizing epithets and is reconstructed by scholars as a local tutelary or protective divine figure (or a set of closely related local figures) with occasional Roman syncretism to Mars.
Batea
Batea is a polysemous term found in scientific, geographic, material-culture, mythological, and modern technical contexts. In the supplied sources it appears as a genus of amphipod crustaceans, two named figures in Greek mythology (without further detail in these sources), a municipality in Catalonia, a traditional gold-panning pan, and as the name/acronym of contemporary technical and policy documents.
Caballucos del Diablu
In Cantabrian tradition the Caballucos del Diablu are supernatural horses—described as the damned souls of sinners—that are said to appear on the night of St John (June 23). They form part of a regional bestiary of fantastic beings and are linked to Christian notions of sin, punishment, and the annual bonfire rites.
Cantabrian Neptune
A Roman-name sea-deity invoked in ritual contexts along the Cantabrian coast; attested in fragmentary sources as the sacred agent associated with the open sea in local ritual taxonomy rather than a richly attested autonomous Cantabrian personality.
Carassa de Barcelona
No reliable information about a folkloric or supernatural entity called 'Carassa de Barcelona' is present in the supplied sources. References in the materials relate to Barcelona's street naming, Christmas markets, and neighborhood culture, but none document an entity by this name.
Catalina Lercaro
Catalina Lercaro is the legendary specter associated with a 16th‑century member of the Genoese Lercaro family who allegedly died by suicide in the family mansion (Casa Lercaro) in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife. Tradition holds her ghost walks through the rooms of the mansion (now the Museum of History and Anthropology of Tenerife) and she is widely regarded in local lore as the Canary Islands' most famous ghost.
Corocotta
Corocotta is a name attested in two related registers: a Cantabrian legendary/historical human figure remembered as a guerrilla leader or bandit active during the late 1st century BC, and a classical natural-history term for an exotic canid/felid‑like beast (often equated with the spotted hyena) described in Greco‑Roman literature. The two usages overlap by name but represent distinct traditions—local oral memory of resistance and wider Roman wonder‑literature about exotic animals.
Cuegle
The cuegle is a monstrous figure from Cantabrian (northern Spain) folklore: a small, bipedal humanoid with grotesque features that attacks people and livestock and is reputed to steal babies from cradles. Household protection recorded in sources is placing oak or holly leaves in the cradle, which the creature is said to find repulsive.
Cuélebre
A legendary long‑lived reptilian guardian from Asturian and Cantabrian folklore, depicted as a giant winged serpent or dragon that inhabits caves and watery liminal places, guards treasure, and is sometimes said to hold xanas (fairy‑like beings) captive. Folktales attribute to it senescent physical changes, a miraculous healing byproduct, and specific folkloric countermeasures.
Dip
In Catalan popular tradition the Dip is an evil black hellhound and emissary of the Devil that sucks the blood of cattle and humans. Tied specifically to the village of Pratdip, the Dip appears in local images (altarpieces, escutcheon) and in oral legend as a nocturnal predator whose tales were used to frighten drunken night‑goers.
Community Record
- [1]Anjana (Cantabrian mythology) — Wikipedia. Wikipedia: 'Anjana (Cantabrian mythology)'wiki