The Principality of Asturias (one of the most important in any itinerary on What to see in Spain ), is very rich in legends and fantastic traditions. All this folklore is the Asturian mythology. In it, there is a character that stands out: Las Xanas. Historians believe that many of these beliefs come, possibly, from the ancient pagan religions. Join us to meet las Xanas, the Ondinas of Asturian mythology.
In the mythology of the Principality we can count almost 30 gods and more than 80 mythological characters. Many of these fantastic beings are not exclusive to the Asturian tradition, but are shared by many European peoples.
The Xanas in Asturian mythology
According to Asturian and Leonese mythology, the xanas They are beings that live in water courses such as rivers, streams, waterfalls or fountains. In this sense they are the same as Undines of which we already talked about in Supercurioso. The word "Xana" seems originally to come from Diana, the Roman goddess of nature, from there she derived in Jana and finally with the Asturian pronunciation in Xana. In Cantabria there is a similar figure known as "Anjana".
The xanas They have some common characteristics that are, among others, being female and having great beauty. They are also small, thin and have a long blonde hair. There are good and bad ones. The second are those that, according to the legends, change their babies (xaninos) for human babies so that they are raised by women and thus learn the language of the people and can be baptized. The most widespread legend and with more versions refers to the night of San Juan in which they appear next to the streams waiting for a gentleman to arrive who with their courage manages to disenchant them.
The xana warns the young man that she will become a dragon or serpent that will hold a flower in her mouth. If the courageous knight manages to tear it from his teeth, the enchantment will be broken, he will be free and he will be able to collect the treasure that he hides under the waters, but if he cowards, the xana will throw his comb at him and leave him crippled, if not he curses him to die before a year.
In some places, there was a superstition that it was dangerous to approach the water courses on the night of San Juan because the Asturian undines they were there waiting for some young man to show up to take him under the waters and be with him for all eternity. The belief in this mythological character was so rooted in Asturian and Leonese folklore that there are some place names that bear the name "Xanas" , like the "Desfiladero de las Xanas", the "Cueva de las Xanas" or the "Arroyo de las Xanas".
Surely if you travel to Asturias or Leon you will have the chance to see many establishments that make reference to these undines of the mythology of the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Did you know the figure of the xanas? Do you know any legends about them? If you have been interested in this post, you may want to meet other folkloric characters such as the fairies reading the article: 8 Types of Fairies to discover | Naiads, Nereids, Dryads, ...