Borda (legendary creature)
A blindfolded witch of the Po Valley who kills on sight.
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In Milanese, the word borda also means fog, while in Bergamasque it carries both the meaning of fog and paper mask.[1] In the Modenese region, the creature is primarily called Borda, while in Bolognese it is known as Bourda and in Ferrarese as Bùrda.[1]
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Bourda
- Bùrda
- Bûrda
- Burdâna
- Bordón
- Bordö
- Bordoeu
- Bordò
- Field
- Folklore, legendary creature
- Nationality
- Italian (Emilia-Romagna, Po Valley)
- Associated elements
- Fog
- water
- swamps
- canals
- ponds
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The masculine form of the creature is called Bordón in Parma and Bordö or Bordoeu in Milan, where it means Ogre.[1] Some scholars trace the etymology of Borda to the Celtic root "bor-," linked to the god Borvo who presided over thermal and spring waters.[2] This root appears in toponyms and terms related to water across areas with ancient Celtic presence.[2] In Romagnol lullabies, the Borda kills children who are not good and refuse to sleep by strangling them with a lasso or rope.[3]
Some scholars connect this killing method to human sacrifices in ancient Germanic cults.[3] Bodies found in Danish and British peat bogs, such as the Tollund Man, show evidence of suffocation with a rope tied around the neck followed by drowning.[3]
What the cited sources add
According to Calvetti's essay, the term borda signifies fog in the Milanese, Cremasco, and Bormiese dialects.[1] In the Bergamasque dialect, the same word denotes both fog and a paper mask, as recorded in Calvetti's work.[1]
References
- Wikipedia, "Borda (legendary creature)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: From the essay "La Borda" by Anselmo Calvetti published in the magazine La Ludla (number 1, Year XIV , pag.12), Magazine of the Association "Instituto Friedrich (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Borda (legendary creature)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Calvetti 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Borda (legendary creature)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Green 1999, p. 272 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Borda (legendary creature) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Female legendary creatures
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Borda (legendary creature) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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