Basajaun

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (March 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Basajaun]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Basajaun}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Basque. (March 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Basque Wikipedia article at [[:eu:Basajaun]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|eu|Basajaun}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

In Basque mythology, Basajaun (Basque: [bas̺ajaun], "Lord of the Woods",^[1] plural: basajaunak, female basandere) is a huge, hairy hominid dwelling in the woods. They were thought to build megaliths, protect flocks of livestock, and teach skills such as agriculture and ironworking to humans.

They were said to inhabit the forests of Gorbea and Irati. They walked in human fashion, with their bodies covered in hair and a very long mane that reached their feet.

Far from being aggressive, the Basajaunak were protective of sheep flocks and they indicated their presence with a unanimous bell shake. When a storm or wolves approached, the Basajaun would shout and whistle on the mountain to warn shepherds. In exchange, the Basajaunak receive a piece of bread as tribute, which they collected while the shepherds were asleep.

Despite this, however, the Basajaunak sometimes appear in the stories as terrifying men of the forest, of colossal forces with whom it was better not to run into, while in others the Basajaunak appear as the first farmers and holders of the secrets of architecture, agriculture, blacksmithing and sedentary life. The trickster San Martin Txiki acquired these various skills from them, which he subsequently taught to humans.^[2]

This creature also appears in Aragonese mythology, in the valleys of Tena, Anso and Broto, places that preserve Basque toponymy. There they call it Basajarau, Bonjarau or Bosnerau.

Some authors^[3][4] have suggested that the Basajaun myth is a folk memory of early human contact with Neanderthal populations in the Iberian Peninsula.