Colombian Myths And Legends 352751

COLOMBIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What do you think are myths and legends? • What are the most important and famous myths of your culture? Share with your class.

• Have you read about Colombian myths?

Colombia has many traditional folk tales and stories about legendary creatures which are transmitted orally and kept for next generations to come. Some of them are common with other Latin American countries. The Colombian folklore has strong influences from Spanish culture, with elements of African and Native American cultures.

WHAT ARE MYTHS, LEGENDS AND FOLKTALES?

Myths and legends are stories that have been told over a long period of time that have no proof of existence. Hand Down: (v.) to on from one member of a family to a younger one

WHAT ARE LEGENDS?

A legend is a semi-true story, which has been ed on from person to person.

WHAT ARE MYTHS? A myth is a story based on tradition or legend, which has a deep symbolic meaning.

WHAT ARE FOLKTALES?

A folktale is a popular story that was ed on in a spoken form, from one generation to the next.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEGENDS, MYTHS AND FOLKTALES? Myths, legends and folktales are hard to classify and often overlap. Overlap: (v.) (of two things) to extend or lie partly over (each other)

COLOMBIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS The Colombian folklore has strong influences from Spanish culture, with elements of African and native American cultures. Folklore: (n.) the body of stories and legends attached to a particular place, group, activity, etc.

THE WEEPING WOMAN

It is a widespread legend in central and South America. Widespread: (adj.) extending over a wide area.

Whereabouts: (n.) (functioning as singular or plural) the place, esp. the approximate place, where a person or thing is.

Doom: (n.) death or a terrible fate.

THE WEEPING WOMAN La Llorona or The Weeping Woman is a widespread legend in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central America. Although several variations exist, the basic story tells of a beautiful woman by the name of Maria killing her children by drowning them, in order to be with the man that she loved. When the man rejects her, she kills herself. Challenged at the gates of heaven as to the whereabouts of her children, she is not permitted to enter the afterlife until she has found them. Maria is forced to wander the Earth for all eternity, searching in vain for her drowned offspring, with her constant weeping giving her the name "La Llorona". People who claim to see her say she comes out at night or in the late evenings; some believe that those who hear the wails of La Llorona are marked for death. She is said to cry "Ay, mis hijos! Ay, mis hijos!" which translates to "Oh, my children!"

THE SOMBRERON

It's an east-central Colombian folk tale in which a hellish man, The Sombreron, wears a big sombrero that covers his head to his calves. Calves: (n.) the thick fleshy part of the back of the leg between the ankle and the knee. Peasant: (n.) a person who lives in the country; rustic.

THE SOMBRERON The Big Hat is one of the oldest apparitions. He is well known for his black poncho, gargantuan hat and for traveling on his black mule with his two big black dogs restrained by thick heavy chains. He always arrives at night in a gallop, frequently on Fridays especially during Lent and on Good Friday. As the story goes, he makes noisy appearances galloping and whistling, letting the dog’s chains drag all Over the ground. It seems that electric light has exiled him as it was in the penumbrous towns of long ago, where he used to frighten the drunkards with his dramatic commotion. Amidst his whistling and laughing, he would proclaim his menacing phrase: “If I manage to reach you, I’ll put this hat on you!” This myth is a playful one and it seems that the Big Hat’s only intention was to frighten.

PATASOLA – ONE FOOT

It is one of many myths in South American folklore.

Flesh: (n.) the soft part of the body of an animal or human.

Wilderness: (n.) a wild, uninhabited, and uncultivated region

ONE FOOT In the midst of the jungle sits a mythical woman who torments any unfaithful spouses who inhabit the thickness of the Andes. Patasola, or “one foot”, lures men by crying for help as a seductive and beautiful woman. Once the man is close, Patasola becomes a horrible one-legged woman with fiery eyes, a ferocious mouth lined with feline teeth, and a disheveled short strand of hair that falls over her face to hide her ugliness. This condemned creature was once a beautiful married woman with three children. Her husband, who had reason to be jealous after comments from a close friend, decided to set up a series of outings and kept watch of the house in order to prove his wife’s intentions. He unfortunately discovered that she had in fact disrespected their wedding vows; enraged, he struck the man down with an axe, and in a second swing took his wife’s leg. Both died that night. The husband then took their three children, set the house on fire, and fled the town, leaving the spirit of Patasola to do her ghostly bidding. Many claim to have seen her jumping through the woods on her one leg, moaning and groaning.