The Borda is a

legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

that belongs to the culture of the

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

and other areas of the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is a sort of witch that appears, blindfolded and horrible, both at night and on foggy days and kills anyone who has the misfortune to meet her. It is a

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

of the fear related to

swamps A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

and

marshlands In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

, and to ponds and canals, invoked by adults to scare children and keep them away from such potentially dangerous places.

Description

The Borda, known by this name especially in Modenese, is also known as ''Bourda'' in Bolognese, ''Bùrda'' in Ferrarese, ''Bûrda'' or ''Burdâna'' in Emilian. The masculine form takes the name of ''Bordón'' in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, ''Bordö'' or ''Bordoeu'' in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

(meaning

Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

), ''Bordò'' in Bormiese (with a generally derogatory connotation). In

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

, as well as in the dialects Cremasco and Bormiese, the word ''borda'' means fog. In

Bergamasque The Bergamasque dialect is the western variant of the Eastern Lombard group of the Lombard language. It is mainly spoken in the province of Bergamo and in the area around Crema, in central Lombardy. Bergamasque has official status in the p ...

the name has the meaning fog as well as that of paper mask.From the essay "La Borda" by Anselmo Calvetti published in the magazine La Ludla (number 1, Year XIV , pag.12), Magazine of the Association "Instituto Friedrich Schürr" for the enhancement of the dialectal heritage of Romagna, published by the Publishing Company Il Ponte Vecchio in January 2010 Some scholars of local folklore trace the etymology of the term Borda to the root "''bor-''" which can be traced back to Borvo, of

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

, who presided over thermal and spring waters, and would be found, in a vast area united by an ancient Celtic presence, in toponyms and terms related to the water element. Examples being: the river Bormida, Spa resorts such as

Bormio Bormio (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina valley, it is a popular winter sports resort. It was the ...

, Bourbon-Lancy,

Bourbon-l'Archambault Bourbon-l'Archambault () is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. It is the place of origin of the House of Bourbon. Population Personalities In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bou ...

, words in French such as and ''brume'' (meaning fog) or (slime).

Origin and diffusion of the myth

Italian

Emilian-Romagnol

English '
'
'
'
'
' Some

lullabies A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural know ...

Romagnol Romagnol ( or ; ) is a Romance language spoken in the historical region of Romagna, consisting mainly of the southeastern part of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The name is derived from the Lombard name for the region, ''Romagna''. Romagnol is classifi ...

are dedicated to the Borda, which kills children who are not good and do not want to sleep by strangling them with a lasso or a rope. Some scholars point out that this peculiar way of killing can be traced back to the human sacrifices practiced in ancient Germanic cults and would be known by the discovery, in some Danish and British

peat bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and mus ...

, of bodies of people suffocated with a rope tied around their neck and then drowned, such as the

Tollund Man The Tollund Man (died 405–384 BC) is a naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 5th century BC, during the period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was found in 1950, preserved as a bog body near Sil ...

. The legend of Borda is central to the novel ''Mal'aria'' by Eraldo Baldini, from which the '

TV miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

was created.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{cite book , last=Guerrini , first=Olindo , title=Alcuni canti popolari romagnoli , language=it , trans-title=Some folk songs from Romagna , publisher=Zanichelli , location=Bologna , date=1880 Italian legendary creatures Female legendary creatures Mythological aquatic creatures Water spirits

Description

Origin and diffusion of the myth

See also

References

Bibliography