Xana
The Xana is a mythical figure from the mountains of northern Spain and is mainly native to Asturias . The Asturian name Xana is seen by some etymologists as a derivation from the Roman god name Diana . In toponyms (place names) the name is still sometimes recognized.
mythology
The Xana appears as a beautiful young woman who comes from a mountain cave in the morning and walks to her spring to bathe in the ice-cold water. According to oral tradition from the Picos de Europa , wishes that reach your ear at this moment come true. Even a curse that she hears during the bath becomes reality. Guarding treasures is a main task of the Xanas , but they can be caught by surprise and recognized.
Since the Xanas (MZ Asturian: Les Xanes ) do not have breast milk , they exchange their babies with human children without the mothers noticing. Only by stacking eggshells next to the hearth fire do the exchanged changelings betray themselves, because they then exclaim in surprise: "I was born a hundred years ago, but I've never seen so many eggshells by the fire!"
The Xanas can wander as far as people's meadows and pastures to steal, mostly food. They steal the horses from the paddocks and ride them until they are exhausted, only to bring them back, exhausted but unharmed.
The entire tradition marks the Xanas as remnants of a pagan religion , today they are mostly settled in the Asturian- Celtic mythology .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Xuan Xosé Sánchez Vicente / Xesús Cañedo Valle: El gran libro de la mitología asturiana. Ediciones Trabe, 2003, p. 28 ff. (For the entire section "Mythology")