From: egusqui@lpthe.jussieu.fr (Inigo EGUSQUIZA)
Subject: Re: Ref: nomes
Organization: LPTL, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 18:35:04 GMT

In article <c3l2yba@rpi.edu>, beascoea@colossus.cs.rpi.edu (Alex Beascoechea) writes:
|> In article <1992Dec16.142547.19081@osf.org> montero@gyoza.osf.org (Carlos E. Montero Luque) writes:
|> >In article <9212102317.AA90934@cpuserver.acsc.com> <GEN4015@HUSKY1.STMARYS.CA> writes:
|> >>
                      [erased stuff...]
|> >
|> >>
|> >>Y, ahora, una pregunta: ?Hay alguien que podria explicarme los costumbres
|> >>espanoles de Navidad?  Creo que he oido que no hay ningun "Santa Claus"
|> >>en Espana y "St. Nick" tampoco.  ?Como son sus costumbres?...
|> >
                       [more erased stuff...]
|> 
|> 
|> It seems you have not seen a modern "Reyes" parade for a while. Every year
|> they come the most unexpected ways. For example in Bilbao they come in
|> a small (towing?) ship going up the river. And I think I have seen the
|> parachute stuff in TV too!!! 
|> (But I admmit that americans have more ... "fantasy" for this kind of stuff).
|> 
|> Now in the Basque Country the Wyse Men are suffering big competition coming 
|> from the Olentxero (Uhmm perhaps is with z not x), that is the equivalent
|> to Papa Noel but in the form of peasant (kids love it).
|> 
|> Perhaps someone can explain the different versions thoughout Spain..
|> 
|> -- 
|> ----------------- Alex Beascoechea -----------------
|> alex@ecse.rpi.edu beascoea@cs.rpi.edu beasca@rpi.e
|> ----------------------------------------------------
|> 


     I am not quite sure as to why I have such a strong feeling that you
do indeed come from Bilbao, Alex...
      At any rate, you forgot to mention the time they tried to get to
Bilbao in a (hot-air) balloon, and those several occasions when they arrived
by 'copter, etc. I am sure it is like that in many other places of Spain.

     But as to the Olentzero (or Olentzaro or several other dialectal
variants), it is disputed whether it is a genuinely Basque tradition or
a very recent adaptation of the Father Christmas theme.
In fact he is not exactly a peasant, but a charcoal maker who lives 
in the woods (a very standard figure in Basque iconography 
to depict those deprived of social intercourse, by the way), who, 
on hearing that Jesus is born, runs down the mountain to tell 
everyone. Of course, added on to that is that he comes with a big 
sack of either charcoal or presents, and that he is
a bit of a gourmand, like all of us.

     Whatever the case might be, you are all
invited to go watch the Olentzero figures being taken out for a walk 
on Christmas Eve in many Basque towns (including Bilbao)...
This is a (possibly modern) Basque custom which is a mix of 
Christmas Carol singing 
and Guy Fawkes' night (for the usa-people who don't know about 
these English things, i mean that the figure that represents the 
Olentzaro is burnt in a funeral pyre, after a tour of the town has 
been made, carrying it, and singing carols to it at 
every other corner).

     That's all I know, so, 

                            Merry Christmas to all /


                            Feliz Navidad a todos  /


                            Gabon Zoriontsuak opa dautsuet!!

  

   I%igo Egusquiza