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Cuero (legendary creature)

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Trelquehuecufe ("cuero-wekufe or "pelt of the evil spirt") of the Mapuche, a monster with claws around its rim.[1]

El cuero (from Mapudungun: trülke wekufü "pelt or hide" and "wekufe or evil spirit")[2][3] also known as cuero del agua ("water hide"), cuero vivo ("live hide"), manta (El Manta, "The Blanket") or manta del diablo is an aquatic creature from Mapuche mythology subsequently incorporated into the myth of Central Chile (including Chiloé Islands) and Southern Chile, and certain parts of southwest Argentina.

Nomenclature

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Mapudungun orthography: trülke wefukü "devilish pelt",[a][4] also transcribed trəlke "hide or pelt"[5] + wekufü.[6]

Transliterated as ‹See RfD› Trelquehuecuve,[7] ‹See RfD› Trelquehuecufe (with the footnote that the "v" in the north tends to be pronounced as "f" by the southern population)[8] or Trelquehuecuvu,[9] ‹See RfD› Trelquehuecú,[10] ‹See RfD› telquehuécuve[11] or ‹See RfD› chueiquehuecú, chueiquebueicú.[14]

Alias ‹See RfD› Laquen trilque, ‹See RfD› lufquen-trilque (cuero del lago "pelt of the lake" <Mapudungun: lafken "lake"[15]).[16]

This also called cuero del agua[17] or cuero de agua.[10] or colloquially cuero vivo ("live hide").[18]

It is also called manta (La Manta, "the Blanket")[19][10] or "manta del Diablo".[10] Also Cuero del agua "water hide".[17]

General description

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El Cuero dwells in the depths of rivers and lagoons.[20] Most sources agree in descring El Cuero as resembling an outstretched cowhide (or calfskin,[2] or donkey hide come to life[21]) which envelops its prey,[13] and many sources call it an octopus (Spanish: pulpo),[2][13][22] or cuttlefish (Spanish: jibia).[11]

From Mapuche sources, Guevera earlier stated the Trelquehuecuve (northern pronunciation) was an octopus with "nails at the end of its arms",[b][23] but in a later work, he said the Trelquehuecufe (southern pronunciation) was "armed with claws all around",[c] and included a drawing of a pelt with many claws all around the edges.[20]

Details differ, and a different source described the cuero as an octopus with innumerable eyes on the rim, with four large eyes in the middle (lore of Talagante).[13] Some informants told a story collector that the hide was brown "with large whitish spots", and had many short legs ending in claw to grab the victim.[24]

Or tentacles terminating in pincers and a pair of eyes, with a suction cup in the center, according to Bernardo Quintana Mansilla (1972).[25] Red, bulging eyes at the center, and a feeding mouth underneath, according to another book (2023).[3]

Manta

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El Cuero is also known as the La Manta ("blanket"), assumed to be an octopus also, with an expansive skin that folds back to catch its prey.[13]

"Manta" is the preferred term in the Chiloé Islands where it would be called "Cuero" elsewhere in Chili, according to Cavada. The Manta targets humans and animals entering water, wraps around, and drags its prey to the bottom of the water.[19]

As for connection to manta ray cf. § Fauna identification.

Guirivilo

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See also: nguruvilu

El Cuero is sometimes confused with the Guirivilo (nguruvilu), the "fox-serpent".[26]

Father Joseph de La Porte (d. 1779)'s report of the "guruvilu"[27] was closely reiterated by Father Juan Ignacio Molina (1810)'s on "Ghyryvilu", with both saying that the term was also applied sometimes to an ox-hide like creature they reckoned to be the "Manta".[28] Molina's description is filed under the entry for "Cuero" in DeMello' encyclopedia (2024).[29]

Julio Vicuña Cifuentes [es] had filed Vicuña Mackenna's description of the "cuero"[22] (cf. § Local legends) under his "Guirivilo" material.[30]

The monster dubbed ‹See RfD› gueruvilo by the locals of the town of Talcamávida on the northern bank of the Biobío River, had been blamed for taking children who bathed in the lagoon about 400 yards in circumference beyond the town's moat. Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche (d. 1816) reported the beast as the Manta, in his posthumously published work.[31]

Legend

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The creature lurks in the rivers, lagoons, and lakes of Chile[10] and Argentina. The legend of the cuero or "manta" extends to the whole of Chile, including the Chiloé Archipelago.[19]

Mapuche lore

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The "Trelquehuecufe", presumed to be a clawed octopus uses its ability to contract and squeezed the life out of its victim.[23]

The "Trelquehuecuve" evidently engages in sunbathing on the beach: it crawls out to the edge of a river or lagoon to receive the warmth of sunlight, and when it wishes to return back, it raises a whirwind or whirpool[d] which will shove it back into water.[23]

Local legends

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A cuero appeared in the lagoon of Viña del Mar which enveloped its unwary prey like a "sheet",[e] as reported by Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna (1877). The writerremarked it must be the case of the giant octopus from Victor Hugo.[32]

In the Lácar region of Neuquén Province, where they perform the Mapuche rite of the ngillatun [es],[35] The researcher gathered detailed information on the "‹See RfD› lafquen-trilque" ("pelt of the lake") which reputedly assumes a straight-log like form, like a thick, long trunk (tronco), but is able unfurl (expand) and flatten out (Lácar Lake). It has a generally earthen color but is sometimes green or black. The waves wash sand over it and it becomes camouflaged. When one steps on it, there is a mossy feel, but then experiences dizziness (or drowsiness), and the pelt monster flips up its sides equipped with numerous sharp nails and claws, and envelops the victim, carrying him to the depths.[f][38]

There is a local legend of the cuero appearing at Tranque Lautaro or Lautaro Reservoir [es], Atacama Region.[39]

Protection

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The traditional capturing method use a sort of natural fishing lure using a "thorny bush" known in Chile as quisco, which usually refers to the cactus Echinopsis chiloensis (lore of Buin and Coihueco de Chillán conurbation).[13]

But to defeat a cuero, the help of a machi wise woman may be required. The machi will use a method similar to the one already described, plunging the thorny bush of the calafate (Berberis microphylla, Magellan barberry) and the cuero will pounce on it mistaking it for food prey, is damaged by the thorns as it squeezes, and it dies.[25]

In one retold story, a family was camping at a lake in southern Chile, and the father was hypnotized by a strange bubbling and jumped in, then the bubble grew into a whirlpool and out came a Trelke-wekufe (tr. The Cowhide) which grabbed the man away. She created a lure out of the spiny cuttings of the quizco (quisco' cactus) and the calafate wrapped up to resemble a human, and made some incantations in Mapudungun. The monster attacked and got snagged by the spines, and mortally wounded the creature.[40]

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In the story "The indio and the cuero", the hero Ñanco defeats the cuero by fighting it with bunches of quisco cacti tied to his arms and legs, and the monster bled out to death. He enters a secret cave, and stabs the monster's master, fat, with one leg stuck to his back, and the face turned away (identifiable as an Invunche[41]) and rescues his cousin, daughter of the cacique chieftain. Other girls had been kidnapped by the cuero, and brought to be forcibly married to the Invunche, or have their blood sucked. Ñanco finds silver treasure, and with the wealth, successfully marries the cousin, over the rich one-eyed rival.[43]

The story entitled "The Lagoon of Pudahuel" referring to a sector of Santiago tells of a time when the railroad had not been connected from Valparaíso to the capital, when one ox-carter decided he would ford across on a Good Friday, against the apprehensions his colleagues, and got taken down by a cuero before their eyes.[45]

Fauna identification

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One lexicographer (1916) opined that the Cuero del agua "water hide", a supposed freshwater species of octopus that attacks humans must be a fabulous invention based on a marine species.[17]

Some have suggested the myth of "La Manta" may be connected to the manta ray or some other large ray.[46]

Scientific explanation

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The myth may have originated from the phenomenon of the remolino (whirpool, whirlwind).[9]

See also

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  • nguruvilu – Mythical fox-serpent of Mapuche myth
  • Wekufe – type of harmful spirit or demon in Mapuche mythology
  • Monster of Lake Tota – Colombian mythological creature
  • Nahuelito – Mythical creature in Argentina
  • Ubrique – municipality of Spain
  • Caboclo de agua [es]

Explanatory notes

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  1. ^ Spanish: cuero diabolo.
  2. ^ Spanish: brazos terminan en uñas
  3. ^ Spanish: armada de garras en todo su alrededor
  4. ^ Spanish: remolino.
  5. ^ Spanish: sábana
  6. ^ From informant Lucas Lefiñir, interviewed by researcher Hassler.[36] Requoted by Álvarez[37]

References

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  1. ^ Guevara (1908), p. 322, fig. 42.
  2. ^ a b c Guevara (1908), p. 322.
  3. ^ a b Kaplan, Martina; Buscaglia, Mariano (2023). "Cuero". Bestiario nacional: Criaturas del imaginario argentino (PDF). Recoleta, Buenos Aires: Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno. p. 82. ISBN 978-987-728-171-2.
  4. ^ Salas, Adalberto (1992). El Mapuche o Araucano: fonología, gramática y antología de cuentos. Madrid: Editorial MAPFRE. pp. 215, 227. ISBN 9788471004420.
  5. ^ Augusta, Félix José de (1916) Diccionario araucano-español s.v. "trəlke" 'cuero, pellejo'.
  6. ^ Augusta, Félix José de (1916) Diccionario araucano-español s.v. "wekufü" 'el diablo'.
  7. ^ a b Guevara, Tomás (January–June 1899). "Historia de la Civilizacion de Aruncanía (continuation Capítulo VIII)". Anales de la Universidad de Chile. 103: 1033–1034.
  8. ^ Guevara (1908), p. 322.
  9. ^ a b Valenzuela, Pedro Armengol (1918) Glosario etimológico Tomo 2, s.v. "Trequelhuecuvu", p. 419
  10. ^ a b c d e Plath, Oreste (2022). "El Cuero". In Karen Plath Müller Turina (ed.). "El+cuero" Geografía del mito y la leyenda chilenos (in Spanish). Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN 9789562892698.
  11. ^ a b Gotschlich, Bernardo (December 1913). "Llanquihue i Valdivia". Boletín del Museo Nacional de Chile. 6 (1). Santiago: Imprenta Universitaria: 451.
  12. ^ Lenz, Rodolfo [in Spanish] (1904). "466. Chueiquehuecú". Diccionario etimolójico de las voces chilenas derivadas de lenguas indijenas americanas (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Cervantes. p. 323.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Vicuña Cifuentes, Julio [in Spanish] (1915). "XI. El Cuero". Mitos y supersticiones recogidos de la tradición oral chilena (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Universitaria. pp. 38–39.
  14. ^ Lenz, "‹See RfD› Chueiquehuecú" [12] apud Vicuña.[13]
  15. ^ Augusta, Félix José de (1916) Diccionario araucano-español s.v. "lafken" 'mar o lago'.
  16. ^ a b Leonardo, Sergio (1968). "Nguillatun en Pampa de Oro". Comentario. 63: 62. Informant: Quintomán, at Lago Lácar.
  17. ^ a b c Román, Manuel Antonio [in Spanish] (1916). "Cuero del agua". Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas (in Spanish). Vol. 4. Santiago de Chile: La Revista católica. p. 466.
  18. ^ Halart, Sophie (2020). "12. 'A Water of a Hundred Eyes': Reconfiguring Liquidity in Recent Chilean Contemporary Art". In Blackmore, Lisa; Webber, Marc A. (eds.). Liquid Ecologies in Latin American and Caribbean Art. Routledge. ISBN 9780429533884. "cuero vivo" (or Lafquén Trilque in Mapudungun)
  19. ^ a b c Cavada, Francisco Javier [in Spanish] (1914). "La Manta". Chiloé y los chilotes: estudios de folk-lore y lingüistica de la provincia de Chiloé (república de Chile) accompañados de un vocabulario de chilotismos y precedidos de una Breve reseña histórica del archipiélago ... Revista de folklore chileno 5 (in Spanish). Imprenta universitaria. p. 104.
  20. ^ a b Guevara (1908), p. 322 and fig. 42.5.
  21. ^ Lore of Concepción.[13]
  22. ^ a b Mackenna, Benjamín Vicuña (1877). De Valparaíso a Santiago. Santiago de Chile: la Libreria del Mercurio. p. 76.
  23. ^ a b c Guevara Historia I: 230 apud Vicuña;[13] (=Guevara (1899) Ch. VIII[7]
  24. ^ Saunière (1918), notas, p. 74
  25. ^ a b Quintana Mansilla, Bernardo (1972). "El Carbunco". Chiloé mitológico (in Spanish).; Reprint 1987, pp. 75–76.
  26. ^ Cárdenas, Renato (1998). "Ñirivilo". El libro de la mitología: historias, leyendas y creencias mágicas obtenidas de la tradición oral (PDF) (in Spanish). Punta Arenas: Editorial Atelí. p. 95.
  27. ^ La Porte, Joseph de (1798). "Carta CCXXVI. Peces e Chile". El viagero universal: Ó, Noticia del mundo antiguo y nuevo. Vol. 15. Madrid: Imprenta de Villalpando. p. 179.
  28. ^ Molina, Juan Ignacio (1808). "Chapter IV. Worms, Insects, Reptiles, Fishes, Birds and Quadrupeds". The Geographical, Natural and Civil History of Chili: With Notes from the Spanish and French Versions and Appendix, Containing Copious Extracts from the Araucana of Don Alonzo de Ercilla. Vol. 1. Translated by an American gentleman. Middletown, Connecticut: I. Riley. p. 162.
  29. ^ DeMello, Margo (2024). "El Cuero". Bigfoot to Mothman: A Global Encyclopedia of Legendary Beasts and Monsters. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 94–95. ISBN 9781440877261.
  30. ^ Vicuña Cifuentes (1915) "XXI. Guirivilo", p. 66
  31. ^ Carvallo y Goyeneche, Vicente (1876). "Capitulo XX. Description de la Provincia de Rere". Psicolojía del pueblo araucano (in Spanish). Vol. Tomo 10 (Tomo III). Santiago de Chile: Impr. de la Libreria del Mercurio. p. 124.
  32. ^ Vicuña Mackenna (1877) De Valparaíso a Santiago, p. 76 apud Vicuña.[13]
  33. ^ Hassler (1979), p. 64.
  34. ^ Hassler (1979), p. 15.
  35. ^ At a place named "Pampa de Oro" (milla lelfün);[33] Hassler attended the ceremony 1953.[34]
  36. ^ Hassler, Wily A. (1979) [1957]. Nguillatunes del Neuquén: costumbres araucanas. Neuquén, Argentina: Editorial Siringa. p. 42. 1st Edition, Buenos Aires: Editorial Pehuén, 1957, p. 58
  37. ^ Álvarez, Gregorio (1981). El tronco de oro: folklore del Neuquén (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Siringa Libros. p. 153.
  38. ^ Nearly identically worded but abridged account from informant Quintomán at Lácar Lake, given by Leonardo at Lácar Lake.[16]
  39. ^ Plath (2022): Los Cueros del Tranque Lautaro
  40. ^ Martín, Paula (2014). "El Cuero (Hueke Huekú o Trelke-wefuke): Leyenda Mapuche de Chile y Argentina" [The Cowhide (Hueke Huekú o Trelke-wefuke): Mapuche legend from Chile and Argentina]. In MacDonald, Margaret Read (ed.). Pachamama Tales: Folklore from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay (in Spanish and English). Translated by Paula Martín; Illustrations by Luna Núñez. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 116–119. ISBN 9781610698535.
  41. ^ Saunière (1918), notas, pp. 75–76
  42. ^ Narrado por Ramón Trincau de Río Bueno. Saunière, Sperata R. de, ed. (1918). "VII. El Indo y el Cuero". Cuentos populares araucanos y chilenos: recogidos de la tradición oral. Santiago: Impr. Universitaria. pp. 70–72, notes pp. 72–75.
  43. ^ Narrated by Ramón Trincau, from Río Bueno.[42]
  44. ^ Laval, Ramón Arminio [in Spanish] (1923). "17. El Laguna de Pudahuel". Cuentos populares en Chile: recogidos de la tradición oral. Santiago: Cervantes. p. 239.
  45. ^ The informant, Ramon Fernandez, 15 year-old student, explains furthermore in a footnote signed "R.F." that the cuero attacks people, animals and small Watercraft [es] vessels, and sandwiches the victim between the folds of skin it develops by movement.[44]
  46. ^ Philippi, Rodolfo Amando (1867). "(Extracts) Zoolojía. Comentario crítico sobre los animales descritos por Molina, por R. A. Philippi. - Comunicacion del mismo a la Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas en marzo de 1867". Anales de la Universidad de Chile: Correspondientes a 1867. 29: 788.

Bibliography

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