Duende

Overview

Duendes are small humanoid folkloric beings of Iberian, Latin American, and Filipino tradition, ranging from helpful or mischievous house-sprites to dangerous forest dwellers said to lure children astray; in 1933 Federico García Lorca repurposed the word as an aesthetic concept for the dark vital force of art.

Details

Origin:

Iberian Peninsula, Latin America (especially Mexico, Central America, and Andean countries), the Philippines, and the Mariana Islands; with parallels and overlaps with regional Indigenous traditions.

Regions:

Cantabria and Asturias, Galicia, Andalusia, Yucatán Peninsula, Oaxaca cloud forests, Belizean Cayo and Toledo districts, Andean cloud forests, Philippine archipelago

First Reported:

Medieval

Full Account

Duende (plural: duendes) is a class of small humanoid folkloric beings widespread in Iberian, Latin American, and Filipino tradition. The Spanish term derives from a contraction of dueño/dueñe de casa ('master/owner of the house'). In Spain, duendes are typically house-sprites or nature-spirits whose dispositions vary regionally: the trasgos enter through the chimney to move and steal household objects; the anjanas/xanas of Cantabria and Asturias are nymph-like water guardians; the busgosos are bearded forest-dwellers who play the flute for shepherds; the nuberos rule clouds and weather. In Latin America the duende takes on darker forms: the Tata Duende of Belize and Guatemala is a forest spirit who lacks thumbs and lures children into the bush, and Mexican folklore describes wall-dwelling duendes who attempt to clip children's toenails. In the Philippines, duwende inhabit rocks, caves, and termite-mound 'punsó', divided into white (benevolent) and black (malevolent) types, with the nunò sa punsó receiving special respect. In 1933 Federico García Lorca delivered the lecture 'Juego y teoría del duende' ('Play and Theory of the Duende'), reinterpreting duende as the dark, earthy, death-aware vital force at the root of flamenco and great art.

Also Known As

• Duwende (Tagalog / Filipino, Philippines)
• Tata Duende (Spanish / Belizean Creole, Belize, Guatemala)
• Trasgo (Asturian / Spanish, Spain)
• Anjana / Xana (Cantabrian / Asturian, Northern Spain)
• Nubero (Cantabrian, Spain)
• Busgoso (Asturian, Spain)
• Nunò sa punsó (Tagalog, Philippines)

Etymology

Origin:

Spanish duende, contracted from dueño de casa ('master of the house') / duen de casa, ultimately from Latin dominus ('master')

Meaning:

Originally 'master of the house' (a household spirit); later generalized to a class of small humanoid folkloric beings

First Use:

Attested in Spanish folkloric texts from the medieval and early modern periods

Timeline

• 1500-01-01 — Spanish colonization spreads duende vocabulary across the Americas and (later) the Philippines (Source of the modern global distribution of duende beliefs)
• 1933-10-20 — Federico García Lorca delivers 'Juego y teoría del duende' as a lecture in Buenos Aires (Reframes 'duende' as an aesthetic and existential concept in modern art)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Duendes are typically respected, propitiated, or warded against rather than confronted; offerings, polite speech, and avoidance of certain natural sites form the practical core of belief.

Related Phenomena

• Douen — Trinidadian backward-footed spirit-child possibly etymologically related to duende
• Domovoi — Slavic household tutelary spirit
• Brownie — Scottish household-spirit tradition
• Leprechaun — Irish small-humanoid folkloric figure
• Chaneque — Mesoamerican forest-spirit grouped with Latin American duendes in popular tradition
• Alux — Yucatec Mayan small spirit comparable to Latin American duende

Tags

Sources

• Duende (mythology) — Wikipedia
• Juego y teoría del duende