The

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

of the ancient

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

largely did not survive the arrival of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

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 nam ...

and scant historical references to pagan rituals practised by the Basques.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, the other main figure was her consort Sugaar. 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. Based on the attributes ascribed to these mythological creatures, this would be considered a

chthonic In Greek mythology, deities referred to as chthonic () or chthonian () were gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility. The terms "chthonic" and "chthonian" ...

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 "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

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

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest re ...

(8th century) * the 12th century diary of the pilgrim Aymeric Picaud * various medieval sources making references to pagan rituals, including the records of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

* 19th and 20th century collections of myths and folk-tales, such as those collected by José Miguel Barandiaran, 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 polytheism, polytheistic religions have deity, deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index o ...

—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 entirely accepted.

Influence on Iberian pantheons

The Iberian Peninsula's

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

speaking cultures like the

Lusitanians The Lusitanians were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people living in the far west of the Iberian Peninsula, in present-day central Portugal and Extremadura and Castilla y Leon of Spain. It is uncertain whether the Lusitanians ...

and Celtiberians seem to display a significant Basque influence on their mythologies. This includes the concept of the Enchanted Mouras, which may be based on the Mairu, and the god Endovelicus, whose name may come from proto-Basque words.

Myths of the historical period

After Christianization, the Basques kept producing and importing myths. * Jaun Zuria is the mythical first Lord of Biscay, said to be born of a Scottish princess who had an encounter with the god Sugaar in the village of Mundaka. * The battle of Roncesvalles was mythologized in the cycle of the Matter of France. * In the Aralar Range, Saint Michael was said to appear to assist a local noble turned hermit. * The coat of arms of Navarre 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 (), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the Spain in the Middle Ages, medieval history of Spain. The Christian ...

. * The battle of Amaiur was the battle where

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

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 Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

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