#portuguese legend

[bluberimufim]

Cool and spooky-ish Portuguese legends and mythological creatures because it's nearly Halloween!!

I've been wanting to do this for a while now, because I've felt disconnected from Portuguese culture lately and I'm trying to get into it. So I wanted to share some cool things I found because Portuguese folklore is something no one talks about and I love to share my culture with people! Please be warned that the translations may sound kinda awkward and that this is almost 100% from Wikipedia since Portuguese mythological creatures are a super obscure topic, and the only other big resource I could find was a super expensive book. That being said, the Wikipedia sounds pretty legit because it sounds like it was written by an old person.

Now let's get into some of my favourites!

Werewolf

This is a basic one but I still find it pretty funny. When I visited Cova do Lobisomem (trans.: Werewolf Cave), I learnt that the legend there is that, if you have twelve kids, the eldest son (in the story it was a son, but I don't know what happens if your eldest is a girl) becomes a werewolf and has to go live out in the wilderness. Another closely related legend mentions they have to serve some kind of penitence, but I found nothing on it.

Peeira (or "werewolf fairy")

Known as the "female version of the werewolf" and is able to control wolf packs. Her power seems to be guiding these wolf packs by being a reasonable and more human-like figure in the group, and is described as "lovely and wild" (omg that sounds sooo pretty). Information contradicts in this bit, also saying that she either has feelings for the werewolves or that she lures men into the woods to feed them to her ghost-wolves. A girl becomes a Peeira by being a couple's seventh oldest daughter, or by being called upon by her "predestined/soulmate werewolf".

Bisarma

Ghost of colossal size that can stand over valleys with one foot on each mountain, and sing monotonous tunes in "huge voices" (idk how else to translate it). This mythological creature also shows up in parts of Spain.

Jã

Weaving spirits. If you leave out a bunch of linen and a cake, they'll make you a linen cloth as fine as a hair, but if you forget to leave out the cake, they'll burn the linen. Apparently, people used to claim their ancestors had sheets made by the Jãs.

Zorra Berradeira (trans.: "Screaming Fox")

Shows up in Algarve every 7 years and, when it's not there, it's theorized that it visits other countries. It's a fox spirit that screams all the time but can be heard better at midnight or midday and, if you mock it, it will chase you down until your death.

Velha da Égua Branca (trans.: Old Lady on the White Mare)

Appears in Algarve on full moon nights and makes a lot of noise in the fields with pots and pans. She rides a white mare, wears a white cap with red ribbons that look like lightning, and holds a knife in her left hand. She's been called a "personification of the night".

Homem do Chapéu de Ferro (trans.: Man in the Iron Hat)

Another spirit from Algarve, but evil. He appears at midnight on the sides of roads and fountains, or under olive or fig trees. He's always accompanied by an animal, which is the Devil in disguise: either a black pig, a huge black rooster, or a deer with antlers as tall as a church tower. He has a gigantic frame, is "bronze-coloured" (whatever that means) and wears an iron hat. He'll run away when he sees the Old Lady on the White Mare (oooooh Algarvian connected universe).

Hey, people who live in Algarve, blink twice if you need help with all the supernatural shit because this seems disproportionately hardcore

Okay, this next one is gonna be longer because it's a whole legend with a plot, but I still want to tell it because it's kinda spooky and I love it!!

The Golden Lamprey

On full moon nights, on the banks of the Minho River (northern border with Spain), you can see a very beautiful Moorish girl with golden hair caressing a giant golden lamprey. The girl spends the night combing her hair with a golden comb or singing a sad melody, and the lamprey swims close to her.

According to legend, the lamprey had once been a Portuguese knight, and the girl had been engaged to another man. The two had been sentenced to death for their forbidden romance and had both been cursed - he turned into a fish and she can only gain physical form under the full moon.

There were men who set out in boats to search for the girl, either to seduce her or to steal her fine silk dress, but none ever found her.

Until one night, a young man disappeared after being heard in the tavern, clearly drunk, declaring that he was going to search for the golden-haired Moorish girl. His plan was to make her fall in love with him, sell her comb, and then open an inn where he'd let curious travellers take a look at this supernatural river girl in exchange for large sums of money.

The next day, the lantern he'd set out with was found on some rocks near the river by a few fishers, and his body was found in the water, a bit further ahead. On his neck, there were the marks of small, sharp teeth, similar to the shape of a lamprey's mouth. But what startled the fishers more was the satisfied look on the young man's face. (not posting a pic of a lamprey's mouth bc it feels like it would warrant some kind of content warning but pls do look it up if you're curious, it's horrifying)

There was also another legend of another cursed Moorish girl but on a rock this time that I remembered reading in school, but I genuinely cannot find it. If you know anything about a story named "A Moura do Penedo" (not the cursed snake princess one) pls hit me up, I remember loving that one as a kid. "Cursed Moorish girl" is such a common trope in Portuguese legends that it's almost unsearchable.

And if you want to add anything or correct any of the information I presented, please feel free! This is very much "baby's first dive into Portuguese folklore"

That being said, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! There are other less-spooky legends I'd love to share, if you're interested! Happy Halloween/other coinciding spooky holiday!

[sportszilla247]

Real Madrid Reacts To Cristiano Ronaldo Scoring 900 Career Goals

Cristiano Ronaldo made history by scoring his 900th career goal this week. The Portuguese legend achieved this incredible milestone during a UEFA Nations League match against Croatia. Ronaldo has now scored 900 goals for both club and country (excluding friendlies). This is the highest number of goals ever scored by a footballer in the history of the game. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner hit…

[mirensiart]

Now I'm curious, since you made a post about spanish speaking Wind, do you have any other language headcannons for the rest of the boy? I personally believe that out of everyone, Legend would know the most languages due to his numerous quests! ♡

I do like the whole different languages thing since obviously hylian must’ve changed between eras/timelines

Now romance languages like Spanish, Portuguese and Italian are pretty similar in the sense that

If you speak slowly in Spanish with someone who speaks slowly in Portuguese back, u actually can understand each other

Italian is a lil more different, but when I visited Italy years ago I would talk in Spanish with locals and they would reply in Italian and we could work stuff out lol

Anyway, similar languages u can kinda understand each with sounds like a funny way to have everyone interact at first

Downfall timeline's hylian is like italian

Child timeline's hylian is like portuguese

Adult timeline's hylian is like spanish

And sky's + four's hylian being like Latin the source of all the romance languages fit lol

Wild who's a mixture of all timelines would speak the most chaotic and most different romance language......French (lmao)

Anyway this is just my headcanon of course, I also like to think they all eventually ate that one nut from the minish cap games that let's u understand the minish's language

I reckon it could work to understand different types of hylian lol

[analligatorr]

next time.. maybe

[queer-ragnelle]

hi! i was wondering which books were on your "to scan" list and which books you're looking for but don't own a copy of. if that's okay to ask.

Hello!

This is a great question, especially because I’m so fortunate to have a lot of people here on tumblr as well as discord who work to help me fill out these book lists!

There’s a few books in my collection I haven't found a PDF for.

Retellings

The Story of Sir Galahad by Mary Blackwell Sterling (1908) [Camelot Project]

The Doom of Camelot anthology edited by James Lowder (2000)

Legends of the Pendragon anthology edited by James Lowder (2002)

There may be more to add to the list though! If anyone has a book in mind that is:

In the public domain

Out of print

Written by a deceased author

I’d be happy to work on adding those! Whether that be tracking down an existing PDF or buying a copy to scan.

Medieval Literature

English translations:

Three Arthurian Romances translated by Arthur Gilbert Ross (Caradoc, The Knight with the Sword, The Perilous Graveyard)

I ordered this and then it never arrived. :^/ I'll try again, but my goal is to have the full text scanned and searchable rather than the individual parts such as float around currently.

Roman van Walewein

Ferguut

Lancelot Compilation

English translations of this Dutch trilogy is locked up in university libraries. I know they are, because several people have told me so. Academic rigmarole is preventing anyone from accessing them yet. But! I have physical copies of all three books myself edited by David F. Johnson & Geert H.M. Claassens. They’re huge, Lancelot is pushing 800 pages long. I’d like to exhaust our options before I spend hours scanning these, particularly if they already exist in full searchable PDF format. If it comes to it, I'll scan them. Cover to cover.

Untranslated:

Le Petit Bruit (French)

Le Román de Tristan le roman de Palamede (French)

Escanor by Girart d'Amiens (French)

Les propheties de Merlin (French) [some people are working on this already]

Cantari Arthuriens (Italian) [needs to be made into a PDF & then translated, already have translated Pulzella Gaia]

ll Ciclo di Guiron le Courtois Vol I-Vol VI (Italian) [Can't find Vol VII.]

Roman de Roi Artus by Rustichello da Pisa (Italian) [Does a PDF exist?]

Memorial das Proezas da Segunda Tavola Redonda by Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcellos (Portuguese)

Tristán de Leonís y el rey don Tristán el joven, su hijo (Spanish)

That's everything at the moment. Having this typed out will be helpful so we can keep track of what's what. Let me know if there's anything I missed!

[naydragon-of-wisdom]

WAIT IT'S GONNA HAVE PORTUGUESE TRANSLATIONS??? oh my gosh I think this is the first zelda in portuguese. This makes me so happy.

[ratfc]

Proud rat supporter

[chaosmayhemgem]

bro wtf??? im trying to finish playing spirit tracks and suddenly, right after leaving the fire temple (the LAST temple, i think), the train controls completely disappear??

i've heard it's seen often in pirates copies of the game, but the glitch only happens after i stop at a village then take off again, or if i change regions (eg. fire region to ice region)

i really wanna know why this is happening because i COULD go straight to the tower to beat the game, but i rlly want to do some other stuff first

[chapinii]

did ramon lie and say his only parent was spreen???

[tommi-art]

"The Coronation of Inês de Castro in 1361" by Pierre-Charles Comte, c. 1849, oil on canvas

[kcdrawns]

I do not know the character nor anime, I was asked to drawn this by one of my followers on Instagram so I came to share it! My commissions are open, this one's are quick non paid sketches I do in an ask box.

Some others!!

[bluberimufim]

Pedro & Inês (cultural ramblie)

Happy Valentine's Day!! <3<3 When I planned this post, I did not realize Carnaval and Valentine's Day were on consecutive days (catholic calendar calculations continue to kick my ass, just like every year), so you get TWO cultural ramblies for the price of one!!

This one is a bit different from the other ones. I usually talk about legends or holiday traditions but this is actually just history! Still, I felt inclined to share partly because this is a major thing in portuguese culture and partly because this is the most overdramatic historical anecdote I have ever seen and more people need to know about it. Now, let's get into it!

The Tragedy of Pedro and Inês

(portraits of Pedro and Inês, made centuries after their deaths)

In 1340, Prince Pedro of Portugal, son of King Afonso the 4th, married Constança Manuel of Aragon. When she moved to Portugal, Constança brought along her lady-in-waiting, Inês de Castro. You can already see where this is going.

Pedro and Inês fell madly in love and began a secret relationship (which seems to not have been that secret at all). In 1344, Afonso the 4th exiled Inês to the castle of Albuquerque, near the border, out of fear that this affair would sour diplomatic relationships with Castille.

It just so happens that Constança died in childbirth one year later. Despite his father's requests, Pedro refused to remarry, claiming that he was still too overcome with grief over his wife's death. Instead, he had Inês's exile annulled and began living with her. During this period in which they lived together, they had 4 children.

In 1355, five years later, King Afonso the 4th ordered the assassination of Inês de Castro. She was killed in Coimbra, in Quinta das Lágrimas, where legend says you can still hear her crying at the fountain where she lost her life, later named Fonte das Lágrimas ("Fountain of Tears"). This moment, along with another one further ahead, is the one all the poets go crazy for.

Inês's death triggered a revolt against the king, led by Pedro. However, there was never an actual physical confrontation, since the queen-mother was able to stop it in time.

In 1357, Pedro rose to the throne, becoming King Pedro the 1st. He claimed that he had married Inês in secret around 1354, legitimizing their children and making her possibly the only posthumous queen in history (someone fact-check me on this). For avenging her death, he was dubbed "Pedro, the Just".

He had matching tombs made for him and Inês so she could be buried as queen by his side. They still stand today in the Monastery of Alcobaça, where you can visit them. They were placed on opposite ends of the transept, facing each other, so that they could be face to face when they rose from their graves. The inscription on Pedro's tomb is thought to read "Until the ends of the world". I'll show pics later, don't worry.

You thought I was done? I haven't even gotten to the overdramatic part! (Ok, the tomb thing was pretty dramatic, but this part is extra as hell)

As King Pedro the 1st, he had Inês's two assassins executed. According to a somewhat contemporary chronicle by Fernão Lopes (still Middle Ages but a century later), he had their hearts ripped out, one through the chest and another through the back. Sources seem to disagree on whether this actually happened or not, but Fernão Lopes was a pretty reliable guy in other parts of his chronicle. And, this being strictly myth, it is said that he made those two assassins kiss the hand of Inês's corpse as they would the queen's. For this, he was dubbed "Pedro, the Cruel", on top of his other title. Perfectly balanced and whatnot.

Here's a painting by Pierre-Charles Comte about it:

The Tombs

I saw them in early November of last year and I cannot overstate how amazing they are in real life. The whole church they're in is beautiful but the tombs are just breathtaking, especially knowing the story behind them.

They're the reason I wanted to make this post. They are considered some of the greatest masterpieces of portuguese gothic sculpture. They are full of intricate carvings and, despite missing a few pieces here and there, are still in amazingly good condition today. You can visit them for free any time.

Here are the pictures I promised. The last 2 are taken by me!

Some historical notes (cool facts)

This is mostly about the corpse coronation part because I found it in my research and thought it was cool.

The first dynasty of portuguese kings didn't have coronations. They were seen as warrior kings first and foremost, and therefore felt no need to pledge their allegiance to Christianity. If they did swear over something, it was a shield. They did not have the fancy ceremony.

What can we learn from all this, you ask?

Write that overdramatic romance you've been wanting to. You'll never out-drama queen King Pedro the 1st.

[smbhax]

Shurato

Wikipedia:

Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato (Japanese: 天空戦記 シュラト, Hepburn: Tenkū Senki Shurato, lit. “Shurato of the Heaven Wars”, occasionally spelled in the Siddhaṃ script on the logo and related merchandise) is a Japanese manga created, written and illustrated by Hiroshi Kawamoto and later adapted to anime by Tatsunoko Productions. It ran 38 episodes on TV Tokyo from April 6, 1989, to January 18, 1990, and also received a 6-episode OVA followup series named Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato: Dark Genesis (天空戦記 シュラト 創世への暗闘, Tenkū Senki Shurato: Sōsei e no Antō, lit. “Shurato of the Heaven Wars: The Secret Feud of Creation”), that ran from August 16, 1991, to March 16, 1992. Set in a parallel world called “Tenkūkai”, which exists alongside Earth, evil forces known as the Asura Gods threaten to overcome the forces of good, causing the magical leader of this realm to transport warriors from Earth to their world. It’s based on Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

[helladventurers]

Nintendo once again making accidental trans characters by naming a cool trainer♂️ "bonita"

[analligatorr]

today is "valentine's day" here in Brasil (pre saint Antonio's day to be exact) so I felt free to draw these pathetic cowboys

[tutchando74]

O último a chegar é a mulher do padre!

A poem about another legend of my country.

Wattpad (Link's not working for some reason)