This article was translated by John R. Bopp
This isn’t the first time we’ve brought up Félix Mugurutza‘s wonderful blog. Recently, we linked to his amazing discussion on the word “agur” and its origins. Now, given the holiday spirit in the air, we wanted to link again to another of his articles covering the origins of Olentzero and his true story.
This story has a direct connection with very old Basque traditions, from before the arrival of Christianity, and they’re closely related to the worship of the sun, which features so prominently in our mythology.
Reading Félix’s work is always a great way to dig deeper into Basque history and traditions. We highly recommend adding him to your list of regular reading, as each article will share something interesting.
So, we’l leave you with the history and roots of the tradition of Olentzero, closely linked to the Basque tradition of sun worship.
Eskerrik asko to Félix for sharing such important information with us about who we are and where we come from. Reading your articles makes us all better Basques.
El Arca de No Se – 12/2018 – Euskadi
Olentzero es un madero
El personaje de Olentzero que tan incuestionable nos parece hoy, poco o nada tiene de tradicional entre nosotros y sí mucho de una necesidad ideológica de un momento concreto, siendo luego bien espoleado por el comercio, siempre ansioso de mover las cajas registradoras. Y no está mal del todo y de hecho me encanta para celebrarlo. Pero no soporto que ello conlleve una matarrasa de todo lo anterior, de lo propio y genuino. Tanto que lleguemos a olvidar quiénes somos y de dónde venimos. Así es que vamos a revolver un poco, como un modo de lucha revolucionaria y antisistema contra el olvido generalizado.
(Sigue) (Traducción automática)
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
