The 18 most important Argentine legends

Argentina is known for its incredible mate, the great soccer team and its sensual tango, but it is also famous for its impressive legends that have no scientific support but are part of the Argentine culture.

These legends have passed from generation to generation, for which it is presumed that they will never go out of style and future descendants will grow up listening to these stories.

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Do you know any of them? Anyway, You can then enjoy the best legends of Argentina and we will explain what the meaning of each of them is.

The 18 best known Argentine legends (and their meaning)

There are some legends that are extremely popular among the inhabitants of this country and some fans of their culture, but we assure you that some will surprise you.

1. The smurf Enrique

This legend appeared 20 years ago, when in 2000, two police officers believed they saw Antonio De La Vega in Santiago del Estero, a being of short stature very similar to a child, whose eyes lit up and then he disappeared. Some time later, another police officer claimed to see this petite figure in the Varela Band, Catamarca, on this occasion, the police reported that this goblin had informed him that he was an envoy from Satan.

2. Leather in Lake Gutiérrez

The Patagonian lakes are scenes of many legends and one of them has Lake Gutiérrez as its protagonist. The Mapuches (indigenous people) assure that in this place lives a legendary animal that has its entire body covered with cowhide.

This being, to feed, approaches the coast and remains there motionless waiting for an innocent child to approach and be able to take it to the depths of the lake to be devoured.

3. Elvis lived in Argentina

Unquestionably Elvis Presley remains one of the famous figures who has been the subject of conversation regarding his death and the possible existence of him. For many Argentines, the famous king of rock lived for a time in the land of tango, specifically on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Many people claim that in 1977 he landed at El Palomar, a flight from Memphis with a single passenger named John Burrows (pseudonym used very frequently by Elvis) and other testimonies affirm that during the trips aboard the San Martin train, they saw the king on the roads of rock.

4. The Almamula

Also known as alma mule, mulánima, anima mule, tatá cuñá or friar mule, it is a mythological being from Santiago del Estero that is believed to have been an immoral woman accused of committing incest with her father and brother, she is also accused of having had sexual relations with the priest of the town.

As she never had any signs of repentance, just before she died she was a victim of the curse of God, who turned her into a mule that carries heavy chains in tow. She is believed to be able to kill any human she encounters at night in the thick mountains and around towns.

The legend assures that the almamula screams of pain that can freeze the blood of those who listen to it and that her journey ends at the door of the church in the nearby town to start her journey over again, in the hope that a good brave man can stop her and thus break the curse.

5. The hanged man of Chacarita

In Buenos Aires there is a cemetery known as the Chacarita Cemetery or West Cemetery where every Thursday for the night a spirit of a man appears who hanged himself in a tree located on Jorge Newbery street, very close to the graveyard. It is said that in the 19th century, yellow fever struck the capital of Argentina, leaving a large number of deaths, which led to the construction of this cemetery.

One of her victims was a very beautiful girl who had a relationship with a young man who, when he saw her dead, hanged himself from her since he could not cope with the pain of not being with her. Many witnesses claim to have seen a cadaverous figure roaming the site.

6. The curse of the Virgin of Tilcara

In the World Cup Mexico ‘86, the Argentine team with Diego Maradona at the head, managed to become the champion to the joy of all Argentina, a triumph that has not been able to achieve again despite having the best players in the world.

It is believed that it was due to the curse of the Virgin of Tilcara since the Argentine team of the year 86 went to visit her to ask for her help and thus win the championship and how Thanks to her, they offered to visit her once again as champions, but this promise was not fulfilled and that is why it is said that Argentina has not been able to win a World Cup. Football.

7. The Holy Grail is found in Patagonia

The location of the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper, also known as the Holy Grail, is a mystery, no one knows for sure where this enigmatic object can be found. Many are the stories that speak of the Holy Grail and the place where it is found and Argentina does not escape from it.

Fluguerto Martí, director of the Delphos group, assures that he has proof that this object reached America in the year 1307 through the Atlantic coasts to stay in Patagonia where they still find.

8. Shingles

This is a disease that causes skin rashes and involves several organs and that is why it is extremely serious, but Several legends have been woven around it and one of them is that shingles has a head and a tail and that when joined it causes the death. In the same way, there are several myths regarding its cure, some say that rubbing a toad over the affected area is able to eliminate the disease.

Another version states that the words Jesus, Mary and Joseph must be written in ink at both ends. In the Argentine pampas it is believed that this disease is cured with a jug of water and three twigs which are passed through the affected area saying:

“I was going along a little path, I met San Pablo, she asked me what she had, I answered that she was shingles, what would she cure herself with? Saint Paul answered: with water from the fountain and a branch of (name of the sick person) ’’.

9. The spirit of the lady in white

Legend has it that the writer Enrique García Velloso had a 15-year-old daughter, who died of leukemia. The residents near the Recolecta Cemetery, assure that the spirit of the young woman roams the place since many men confirm having had contact with her in a bar in the area.

The young men, like all the gentlemen, provided her jackets to protect her from the cold since she did not stop shivering. The next day they went back to the bar in search of information that would help them find the beautiful girl, but to her surprise, the manager of the security of the bar, he led them to her grave where he found the jacket that the night before had been provided to warm the young woman who they met.

10. The werewolf

This being is a man of great stature that has his entire body covered with hair and has a bad character, during the nights of the full moon he transforms into an animal similar to a wolf. According to legend, the werewolf is the last child to be born into a family that has had seven male children.

To kill this monster there are several ways: Place a blessed bullet in three churches, leave a knife blessed that it has the shape of a cross also in three churches, hit it with an espadrille or use a flashlight with batteries overdue.

11. The embraced

Peasants in the northwestern part of Argentina believe that to increase the fertility of their livestock, two animals must be married together. According to the legend, each animal is given to chew coca leaves and to drink chicha, thus ensuring a great reproduction among their herd.

12. The ghost dancer

The Colón Theater is considered one of the main Argentine theaters, in its enclosure it is scene of many fantastic stories, but there is a legend that has captured the attention of everyone. It is said that the halls of the place haunt the ghost of a dancer who when turning off the lights, her spirit is present and begins to call the workers pronouncing their Names.

13. The legend of Tue-tue

Towards the south of Argentina there is a legend about a large black bird that appears at night and is known as Tue-tue. This bird visits any family at dinner, waiting for an invitation to return the next day but in human form. If he is not received when he comes again, a great curse falls on the family, just saying:

"Tuesday today, Tuesday morning, Tuesday all week" she will be able to move away the strange visitor.

14. The late Correa

Deolinda Correa was a woman who in 1841 died of thirst in a sandy desert, when she was escaping from the captors of her husband in the province of San Juan. Deolinda begged the Lord to allow her little son to be found alive and it was. The boy survived by feeding on his dead mother's breasts.

The veneration of the late Correa is very popular throughout Argentina and the devotees leave bottles of water along all the roads of the country.

15. Lake Yehuin

A great tragedy occurred in this place in 1981, when a boat with 12 people, 9 children and 3 adults sank, leaving much pain and anguish in its wake. Little by little the bodies of the victims were recovered, except for a 10-year-old girl who never appeared and many say that when approaching the lake she can be heard crying and splashing.

16. The familiar

To get out of their economic problems, the owners of the companies in the north of Argentina did pacts with the devil, who offered them the souls of their workers in exchange for prosperity economical. A huge black dog devoured the workers so that his masters could get out of the financial well where they were.

17. The Moorish Boy

Many years ago in the Cuyo region, there was a very dense forest where a group of thugs had their lair. One day, a family went through the forest, unlucky enough to be ambushed by these people and they killed him.

The mother begged not to kill her son since he was not baptized, but the thieves ignored and threw the boy against a tree, at the moment of impact, the little boy made a wailing sound before To die. The criminals went even further into the forest to distribute the stolen goods and at that moment a very large black bird was hovering around them and emitted a sound equal to that made by the child.

From that moment the thieves did not have a single moment of calm since they constantly listened to the sound, which caused their death.

18. The drunken stick

Also known as the bottle tree or the rosewood, it is a tree that tells the legend of a very beautiful young woman who belonged to an important tribe full of brave warriors. One day all the men of the tribe had to go to war, including the young woman's boyfriend, but he never returned and she, full of pain, went into the forest to die.

Some hunters found the body of the young woman but could not take it away because branches began to come out of her arms and from The fingers of her white flowers, the Indians of the tribe wanted to recover her but in her place they found a thick tree with flowers pinkish.