Mairu (plural: mairuak), also called Maideak, Mairiak, Saindi Maidi (in

Lower Navarre Lower Navarre (; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; ; ) is a traditional region of the present-day French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost ''region'' of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle A ...

), Intxisu in the

Bidasoa __NOTOC__ The Bidasoa (; ; , ) is a river in the Basque Country of northern Spain and southern France that runs largely south to north. Named as such downstream of the village of Oronoz-Mugairi (municipality of Baztan) in the province of Navar ...

valley are creatures of

Basque mythology The mythology of the ancient Basques largely did not survive the arrival of Christianity 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 o ...

. They were

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

who built

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s or

harrespil Harrespil is the Basque name, that can be translated by "stone circle", given to small megalithic monuments which abounds on mountains of the Basque Country in particular. They are also called baratz, a Basque word meaning "garden" and traditio ...

. Like the dolmens, they are only found in mountains. They are often associated with

lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

, though these are known in all the Basque Country. ''Mairu'' could mean " moor" in Basque.Mairu
in the Online Morris Basque-English dictionary. This term is used with the sense of 'non-Christian' to refer to former civilizations or

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic monuments. The origin of the Mairu is thought to be as old as the " mouros encantados" in Portuguese ({{langx, es, moros encantados), who are thought to be the remnant of old pre-Roman deities.

References

* Anuntxi Arana: ''Mari, mairu eta beste'' - 1996 - Bulletin du musée basque n°146. Basque giants Basque legendary creatures Basque mythology eu:Mairu

See also

References