L. A. Maciel @lamaciel-writer - Tumblr Blog

Some concepts I did for a friend’s fantasy film a while ago. The designs are based on Portuguese folklore.

Los Almajones are described as tall women who carry their babies across the hills and fields at sunset.

Zangatinos are household fairies who favour their human hosts with magic if treated well, and turn to mischief if slighted.

The Corredores De Fado, or Fated Runners, are men who have been cursed to spend their nights running through the countryside as wolf-like beasts.

portuguesecreatureslegendsgalore

Pieira

Wolf-herder, peeira, witch, wolf-keeper, corrilário, wolf fairy.

If you are the north or south of Portugal, in Brazil or other Portuguese speaking countries, you may hear these names.

Born from an uninterrupted line of six girls before her, turned by a faulty baptism ceremony or just by hearing the howl of a wolf who wants her, these girls and women protect the wolf pack they belong to until someone breaks their enchantment or maybe until seven years pass. Sources vary.

Like many others who turn into something not human, there is a rift between them and the society they live in. They don’t belong in the human world, as they travel between several. In legends, this rift can be more subtle, with the girl getting up in the middle of the night to go do her wolf-herder thing, or it could be literal, with her living in a forest with the wolves.

Either way, far from society, maybe forever.

Sounds great! Where can I sign up? Such tragedies are these sad tales. Being an outcast in a small community, where people can’t mind their own business.

(I guess not sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong is a very Portuguese thing to do)

If you see them, they will either be turned into a full-on wolf to run with the pack or just do the fado in human form. In only one story I’ve seen one of these turn into a half-woman, half-wolf creature. Less animalistic than werewolves, pieiras have some sort of control over their actions but don’t underestimate them, if you are a human and attempt mess with one, you’ll get hurt. Animals seem to be the only ones to witness the more caring side of them.

Still, they can be very kind, healing sicknesses and werewolf curses. They can be independent wild beings, servants to their packs, a werewolf or an evil spirit, or maybe incredibly clever leaders of their wolf packs. In some tales, a pieira can even be a seductress that preys on wandering men to feed them to her wolves.

(Man, I want to be a pieira)

Her wolves don’t even need to be actual wolves, they can spirits or metaphors, and that fact, combined with the fact that they sometimes live in forests, makes some wonder if their mythological roots don’t lie with classical nymphs. Who knows? These legends are too spread and old to identify their mythological origins, but we know that maybe tales of these creatures originated in Galicia.

In the end, stories about them are diverse but the formula is a tad repetitive:

A girl is found by a random villager who is very weirded out by seeing a woman who is apparently completely on her own (maybe even having strange fashion choices such as strange clothing and short hair) and shenanigans ensue. Things don’t not end well for one of the parties.

Either way, someone dies because these legends are supposed to be horror. Not enchanting fantasy or mysterious tales that fill your head with wonder. Horror. Some people may wonder why I’m choosing to write about wolf-fairies on Halloween week and this is why. These creatures have grey morals, can be quite ruthless and selfish to humans, and are overall very associated with bloodshed. Don’t mess with a pieira, because if you don’t kill her, the last thing you’ll see is her and her wolves.