Legend of la Encantada
The Spanish legend of la Encantada is a generic name that refers to a set of oral traditions and legends mythological narrated in numerous Spanish localities. Although there are multiple local variants, a series of elements are common: the protagonist, the time, the manifestation and other elements.
La Encantada is supposedly closely related to mythological beings such as the Lamias, Mouras, Mari and Mairu, the Anjanas and the Xanas, In fact, both are, in essence, different versions of the same narrative but adapted to particular cultural environments. Likewise, its relationship with the Mexican figure Xtabay suggests a very ancient and almost universal presence of the myth or a possible Colombian transatlantic diffusion, either through the processes of conquest of America, in the reverse process through the importation of legends of the original American peoples, or being a round-trip tradition.
Toponymy
The term encantada is quite common in Spanish toponymy and microtoponymy and, normally, designates the apparition. Gálmez de Fuentes considers said toponym as an explanation or a posteriori adaptation of the Pre-Roman term *kanto. Another parallelism is that, in such places, there are usually archaeological sites, so it is considered a fairly reliable indicator in previous prospecting.Many times the toponym is presented under the form mora encantada, which may lead to believe that the sites are from the period of the Muslim domination. This is not true, since many of them are earlier and show a survival of cultural substrates that reflect the antiquity and historical memory of the place. The explanation to these supposed moras can be related to the pre-Roman term *mor and, in turn, to the morras, typical villages of the Bronze Age of La Mancha. The name of the Basque goddess Mari is not far from these moras and mouras either, etymologically.
Versions
In essence, the legend narrates the apparition of a beautiful young woman combing her long hair with a golden comb, around Saint John's Eve and in the vicinity of a castle, cave or other natural site charged with strong symbolism. The encounter with it can arouse an enchantment of the spectator, who is generally a shepherd or farmer. Some of the different versions of the myth are:Aketegi ([Cegama])
Baza
Benamor (Moratalla)
Coy
On the St. John's Eve a Moorish princess dressed in white and with long hair comes out of la ''Encantá Cave to comb her hair and wash her face in the spring of the Fountain. In the past, people did not go out on the street that night for fear of being enchanted. The cave is located in the Cabezo de la Encantá'', where there are remains of an ancient watchtower from medieval times that, together with the castle of Coy, was part of the defensive constructions of Campo Coy.Las Camarillas ([Hellín])
Manzanares el Real. La Pedriza
The Cueva de la Mora in la Pedriza, Manzanares el Real, is reminiscent of stories that are repeated throughout the Spanish geography due perhaps to the long Muslim occupation. There is another legend with this title, collected by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer in his Legends, located in the Navarre town of Fitero.The cave, which is difficult to access, is located near the Giner de los Ríos shelter, specifically in front of its main façade and to the east of the Peña Sirio. It seems that the daughter of a rich Arab fell in love with a young Christian. In this situation she was kidnapped and held by her Muslim relatives inside this cave. Years passed and the Christian knight never returned, despite the longed-for wait by the young woman, so according to the beliefs of the people, from time to time, the soul of the scorned young woman slips wandering among the rock formations and canchales trying to find her lost love.
Paterna del Madera
Puerto Lumbreras
Rojales
La Encantá is a traditional legend from Rojales, a village in the Vega Baja del Segura in the province of Alicante. The story goes that many centuries ago, in the Middle Ages, an Arab princess named Zulaida or Zoraida falls in love with a Christian prince, provoking the wrath of her father, the Moorish king, who curses her to live forever enchanted inside the round mountain called Cabezo Soler, next to the Segura river, on the road that goes from the village of Rojales to Guardamar. Every year, and only on Saint John's Eve, la ''Encantá appears in the Cabezo Soler for someone to free her. If a brave man meets her, la Encantá will ask him to carry her in his arms to the Segura River to bathe her feet and thus break the curse. But for the man who carries her, la Encantá becomes heavier and heavier, not to mention the monsters that come out to meet her, causing the poor brave man to fall faint to the ground, letting go of the princess, condemning her to return to her confinement in the mountain, and in turn burdening him with a curse formulated by her for not achieving his goal: that of dying with his tongue out.This legend has been remembered thanks to the oral tradition and the novelization of the writer Fausto Cartagena. There is also a play written by Salvador García Aguilar, which was directed with great success by the famous director Alberto González Vergel, and a medium-length film entitled La leyenda de la Encantá, directed by Francisco Jorge Mora García and Joaquín Manuel Murcia Meseguer in 2002, which won the Special Mention in its category at the International Film Festival Cinema Jove in Valencia. Years later, the composer Francisco Jorge Mora García composed several instrumental and choir pieces inspired by the legend of la Encantá''.
Usanos
La Encantada de Usanos is a traditional legend of Usanos, province of Guadalajara. The legend has passed from generation to generation and speaks of a lamia or bewitched and beautiful woman that in the hill of the Castillejo, as it goes from Usanos to the term of Galapagos, has its lair in a cave, from which flows a stream.On St. John's day each year, the lamia is visible, and she combs her long golden hair with a comb in one hand and a dagger in the other, trying to switch places with any passerby who approaches her on that date. For the spell to occur, it is enough for the passerby to hold the lamia's gaze or engage in conversation with her, at which point the switch of the bewitched person would occur.
This legend has been remembered thanks to the oral tradition and to having been poetized and collected in the book Castilla, este canto es tu canto by the writer Juan Pablo Mañueco, in 2014.
Villarrobledo
In this version, the fundamental elements are present: the beautiful young girl, the curse, the golden comb or St. John's Eve. However, what is peculiar is that it links the legend with reality since, indeed, in the area there is a "castle" and others nearby and "rare flowers that cannot be found elsewhere" grow.Meanings
General
The "story" of the enchanted woman in itself has its roots in a time when the knowledge and the very history of human societies were transmitted in an oral tradition way and reflects manifestations of the past that are difficult to explain nowadays. La Encantada is reminiscent of the nymphs of classical mythology In many of them, one can also intuit the precedents of fairy tales. The similarities between the stories suggest cultural contact, perhaps from prehistory.In general, the encounters with Mari, the mouras, and the encantadas are not positive for the viewer; although there is a certain graduation between the terrible character of Mari and the possibility of being bewitched or bewitched by the encantadas. Many of the latter give the possibility of salvation for people who encounter them by choosing one, among several objects; although it is remarkable the character of some of them, like the one of Villarrobledo, whose only look can serve her to free herself and leave the unhappy spectator occupying her place.