Legends and Popular Tales of the Basque People

Dark and Gothic tales from the Basque region.

The Tales — Aquelarre; Arguiduna; Maitagarri; Roldan's Bugle-Horn; Jaun-Zuria, Prince of Erin; The Branch of White Lilies; The Song of Lamia; The Virgin of the Five Towns - Ballad; The Chant of the Crucified - Ballad; The Raids - Ballad; The Holy War - Ballad; The Prophecy of Lara - Ballad; Hurca-Mendi.

“ON placing before the reader this collection of Basque legends, fairy tales, ballads, and popular stories having their origin in the ancient traditions which formed a portion of the sacred inheritance bequeathed to the Basque people by their forefathers, and handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation; I have thought that a few remarks would not be out of place concerning the moral and historical importance which these legends and tales possess, as being the reflection of the ideas and faithful echo of the sentiments of past generations.

If at one time these legends were viewed with contempt by superficial minds that could not perceive behind the simplicity of their form the great lessons which they inculcated, and the lofty sentiments they enclosed, these very tales and legends are in our day becoming the objects of the attention and study of deep thinkers who, by the meagre light which these tales alone afford them, are able to penetrate the shadows left by those ancient societies that have disappeared from the face of the globe, carrying along with them the secrets of their ideas, civilization, and life, because these traditions constitute the archives of the people, the treasures of their science and of their beliefs; they are the records of the lives of their forefathers, the landmarks of the grandeur of their past history.”