Olentzero
Angel (Olentzero) is a character from the Basque Christmas tradition. He is about a mythological coalman who brings gifts on Christmas day in the area of Navarra and the Basque Country, as well as in the French Basque Country (historical region of France). Its origin is in the area of Lesaka, Navarra.
The character
Angel is depicted as a stout, ragged, coal-smeared, well-fed man. Aita Donostia describes him as "very intelligent stubborn" (buruhandia, entendimenduz jantzia) or "bellied pig" (urde tripaundia). The unique characteristic of him is that he lives isolated from society dedicated to making charcoal in the forest, liking to eat and drink well and every winter he comes down from the mountains to the villages.
The first reference in history is to the Fueros Navarros. According to the historian of the XVII century, Isasti de Lezo Onenzaro is the name given to the eve of Christmas Eve.
Symbolism
The most widespread hypothesis is that the origin of Angel predates the Christianization of Navarra and that, as Claude Labat indicates "the character of Angel must be located within the winter solstice celebrations".
There is evidence of the existence in the Basque territory of the commemoration of the winter solstice and the rebirth of nature and the sun. In this line, the tattered, neglected and old appearance of the character would symbolize the past time and his burning, the usual way in which the parade on New Year's Eve ended, represents the destruction of all relationship with "old time" and the reception of a new time. The passage of time that is already dying to one renewed and full of life, in the words of J.M. Satrústegui, "means leaving the way clear for the coming year".
This hypothesis is related to similar local customs. In Álava, Navarra, La Rioja and the Burgos region of La Bureba the day before New Year's Eve comes a man who has "so many eyes" like days of the year and New Year's Eve "so many noses" like days of the year In Larráun they call Olentzaro "the man with the 366 eyes".
Christianity adapted earlier local customs to their new beliefs. The Olentzero character would have become the announcer of the news of the birth of Jesus (as did the Gentiles, who agree with Olentzero in the isolated type of life they maintain). The character is endowed with a Christian and homely meaning in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The comparison with the Nordic Santa Claus, particularly in the French Basque Country, was inevitable.
Evolution
Since the performance of "old time" Until the current incarnation of the good-natured tit who gives gifts to children, a very profound evolution has taken place. Most of it has been done in the latter part of the 20th century.
The character of legends related to the syncretism between Basque mythology and local Christian traditions: a giant or jentil who converted to Christianity, giving way to the most modern versions of a charcoal burner who lived in the mountains and who was not he did not like children. When he went down to the village to sell the coal, the children hid from him. In the 20th century the figure of Olentzero incorporated elements of the traditions of Father Christmas-Santa Claus, the Three Wise Men and the Child Jesus becoming a character who brings gifts to children on Christmas day.
Its history has been enriched with stories and contemporary iconography. Some versions stress more on the Christian aspects of his story; others remove the religious aspects but keep the magical ones, and others remove all the supernatural aspects of his story so that he can be followed by other religions and even atheists. There are versions that make it an ambassador of goodwill and spirituality, while commercial advertising affects the aspect of material gifts. In addition, some groups emphasize the Basque nationality and culture aspects of the tradition, while others avoid them. The traditional version usually presents him dirty, and smoking a pipe, although many times, especially for trade, Olentzero dolls are created clean and without tobacco. Some consider him a mocking figure, and others venerable. Thus the traditional song of Olentzero, which in many versions describes him as entendimendu gabea ("without understanding"), in other versions proclaims him entendimentuz jantzia ("(re)dressed in understanding").
Names and etymology
The most common name for this character is Olentzero as it is used in Guipúzcoa. In Navarra it receives the names Olentzaro , Orantzaro (in the Beruete and Leiza area) and Onontzaro in the Larráun area.
Depending on the locality there are different variants of this name: "Olentzaro" (Oreja, Lesaca and Araquil), "Olentzero" (Vera de Bidasoa, Irún, Oyarzun, Vitoria and San Sebastián), "Orentzaro" (Zarauz), "Onentzaro" (Andoáin), or "Orantzaro" (Berastegi and Larráun).
About the etymology of the name there are several hypotheses. Lope de Isasi, already in the XVII century, said that it could come from the Basque words onen, "good" and zaro, "time" or "epoch", that is to say from onenzaro, "time of goodness". This hypothesis was also defended, already in the XX century by Resurrection María de Azkue. One version of the same hypothesis is that the The term Onentzaro could be related to Onentzat aro or Onentzako aro ("time for the good guys", in Basque). Caro Baroja put forward the hypothesis that the word, and in particular its beginning with the vowel "O" It is related to the songs that were performed in the Christian liturgy between December 17 and 23 that began with said letter. Pio Baroja says of him that because he has different names, for example in Zarauz he is known as Orenzago, in San Sebastián as Orentzaro. And he notes legends that told him about him in a negative sense: "He was a giant who came down the chimney with a sooty face, with red eyes and a fierce air." It was also said that in the Zurriola he put the boys and took them to the sea. In some parts it was believed that he came with a sickle to cut off the heads of children.
Another not very credible hypothesis is that it is related to the Basque term oles that is usually used in songs of the round where economic or in-kind payments are requested, normally for the celebration of a snack or later dinner, or to the request of alms for a good cause.
Other researchers indicate that the head Olen comes from a modification of the French word Noël, Christmas, which is impossible given the fact that the primitive form is Oneen.
Also, in the 16th century the "Onentzaro" was celebrated with gifts at the winter solstice;, the "time of the good guys" or "good times".
Music
Traditional song
The singer-songwriter Gontzal Mendibil dedicated an entire album, Olentzaro from 1993, to this tradition. The traditional Olentzero song was covered by the punk rock group Zarama.
Mari Domingi
Lately, the figure of Mari Domingi (a woman mentioned in a traditional song in Basque) has been introduced as Olentzero's wife or girlfriend, with the intention of avoiding the supposed sexism that giving all the prominence to one character would have masculine. Various voices —especially feminists— have criticized the alteration of tradition in this way in order to give Mari Domingi a role that in the end is clearly secondary.
Customs and dolls
One of Olentzero's current functions is very similar to that of the Three Wise Men or Santa Claus: children write their letters to Olentzero asking for gifts, they give them to their parents, and some of these gifts appear at home on the Christmas morning. In the Basque Country and Navarra there are towns where an Olentzero parade or parade is held on Christmas Eve, others where a Three Kings parade is held on the afternoon of January 5, and others where both are celebrated. As an exception, in Ermua (Vizcaya) the Olentzero reception parade takes place on December 31 (however, the Three Kings Parade takes place on the usual date). In these parades Olentzero can appear represented by a doll or by a person dressed as a charcoal burner. This parade was recovered in many towns in the Basque Country after the Franco regime, since during that time it was prohibited by the dictatorship [citation required].
It is customary for groups of neighbors to walk a doll characterized by Olentzero (with a face stained with charcoal, traditional clothes, txapela, pipe, a sack with gifts, in typical Basque clothing) through the streets on Christmas Eve, singing and asking for money for a humanitarian or social group or for their own leisure activities. As a farewell to this character, in special events it is common to cremate the doll at the end, either on the same evening of Christmas Eve, or after Christmas.
The image of Olentzero is a characteristic and frequent element in the Christmas decoration of establishments and street furniture in the Basque Country and Navarra.
Political controversies over Olentzero
For a few years of the Franco regime, the figure of Olentzero was prohibited in Pamplona by the Civil Government, until a few years later it was able to parade through the streets of the Navarrese capital. The Civil Governor argued that "apart from not being traditional in this city, perhaps it does not fit due to its profane nature, in the full meaning of the festival to be celebrated", and authorized the parade in "its religious part", the one referring to the Nativity, "without the authorization being extended to the output of the Olentzero".
In recent years, some of the Olentzero delegations in Pamplona have joined groups with banners against the dispersal of ETA prisoners with their photos. For this reason, the Pamplona city council requested guarantees for its realization. In 2009 it decided that these celebrations will no longer have municipal permission and that the requests will be considered a "manifestation request" and sent to the Government Delegation. Recently, the organizing commissions of the neighborhoods have requested permission with "The desire to be able to see Olentzero in each neighborhood distributing sweets and smiling, in a festive and joyful atmosphere". In recent years, the Olentzero parades have been held normally again and are free of controversy.
In the vast majority of towns in Navarra and the Basque Country, the Olentzero parade and gift-giving is celebrated without any type of incident [citation required]. On the other hand, there have also been those who have acted against Olentzero dolls, despite the fact that Francoism also sometimes tolerated this celebration in Pamplona. In Areso (Navarra) Olentzero was traditionally left during Christmas night in the main square of the town. During the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 the doll disappeared and was found days later destroyed. In 2005, the neighbors finally discovered that they were agents of the Civil Guard on duty who carried out such vandalism, and two agents of said body were finally filed and transferred to other locations. The event had repercussions throughout Spain.