The fascinating legend of Olentzero
Christmas is all around! The season’s joy, family moments and of course….presents! The little ones must have been worn to be “good kids or you‘d be given carbon” However, there was a time when carbon was considered a good present. That’s how the legend of Olentzero begins, the Father Christmas or Santa Claus of Euskadi and Navarre.
Once upon a time, in the cold and magic mountains of Euskadi, called Herria, there was a fairy with long blond hair that wandered through the forest, accompanied by her loyal prakagorri, some little pixies with red trousers. One day, as they were resting next to a river, a prakagorri warned her that something was moving between the bushes. When the fairy went closer, she saw a baby that had been abandoned. She was so surprised, she told: “Your name will be Olentzero because finding you was the most amazing thing”. And I will gift you with Power, Courage and Love, for the rest of your life.
The fairy took Olentzero to a close home where a childless couple lived and they accepted the baby with open arms. They were really happy and from that moment they adopted the baby as their son and he never lacked anything. He grew up and was happy, working with firewood to produce carbon.
