Basajaun

Artist's depiction of a basajaun and his female companion, a basandere.

In Basque mythology, Basajaun ("Lord of the Woods",^[1] plural: basajaunak, female basandere) is a huge, hairy hominid dwelling in the woods. They were thought to build megaliths, protect flocks of livestock, and teach skills such as agriculture and ironworking to humans.

Some authors^[2]^[3] have suggested that the Basajaun myth is a folk memory of early human contact with Neanderthal populations in the Iberian peninsula.

References[]

Citations

^ Lurker, Manfred (1987). The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 0-415-34018-7.
^ Le Quellec, Jean-Loïc (2020). "Néandertal a été déshumanisé au prétexte de sa différence". Archéologia (585): 17. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
^ Čović, Kristina (2020). Izumiranje neandertalaca: glavne teorije o nestanku interpretirane kroz prizmu prasvijesti i uz pomoć paleofikcije paleontologa Björna Kurténa pri modeliranju prapovijesnih scenarija (Master's thesis). University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. p. 44. Retrieved 26 October 2021.

Bibliography

Vinson, Julien (1883). I. Les trois Vérités, X. Basa-Jaun aveuglé. Le Folklore du Pays basque. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose. pp. 10–11, 43–45. bnf
Barandiaran, Jose Migel (1973) [1922]. Eusko-Mitologia. Obras completas II. Bilbao: Editorial La Gran Encïclopedia Vasca.
Barandiaran, Jose Migel (1960). Mitología vasca. Madrid. pp. 75–76.
Martínez de Lezea, Toti (2014). Leyendas de Euskal Herria. Madrid. pp. 25–26.

[lurker-1] Lurker, Manfred (1987). The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 0-415-34018-7.

[quellec-2] Le Quellec, Jean-Loïc (2020). "Néandertal a été déshumanisé au prétexte de sa différence". Archéologia (585): 17. Retrieved 26 October 2021.

[covic-3] Čović, Kristina (2020). Izumiranje neandertalaca: glavne teorije o nestanku interpretirane kroz prizmu prasvijesti i uz pomoć paleofikcije paleontologa Björna Kurténa pri modeliranju prapovijesnih scenarija (Master's thesis). University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. p. 44. Retrieved 26 October 2021.

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