Dragons are ubiquitous across mythologies all over the world and the Basque Country is no exception. Their version – the herensuge – shares many features with other dragons but also has some seemingly distinct traits. The herensuge also features in stories in which a hero vanquishes the monster, providing the hero some bonafides. Though in at least one story a young girl kills the herensuge by throwing an egg in its face.

• The herensuge is a dragon-like diabolical spirit that often takes the form of a snake. Indeed, the word suge means snake in Euskara. Depending on the story, he has either one (more commonly) or seven heads. Various homes can be found across the Basque Country, but most often he resides in the Ertzagania cave in the Ahuski mountain range, the chasm of Aralar chasm, Murugain in Mondragón, or Peña of Orduña.
• Stories about the herensuge vary across the Basque Country. In the Ahuski mountains, the herensuge attracts cattle to his cave with his breath. In others, it is said that he eats human flesh, consuming up to a person a day in some places. Perhaps one of the more interesting stories, from Ezpeleta, says that, when the seventh head forms, herensuge bursts into flames and flies off to the west, to Itxasgorrieta, or the “place of the red seas,” where he promptly sinks into the water. How his heads form isn’t clear. As he flies, he creates a terrible noise that echos across the countryside.
• In at least one story, the herensuge is born from an egg laid by a hen in manure. But other accounts say that the seven heads are actually the children of the main dragon and, as they mature, they fall off and reap havoc on their own.
• In some stories, he is killed at the hand of various heroes. In one, a blacksmith kills him with an iron bar. In another, he is poisoned. In yet another, elaborated in the legend of Teodosio de Goñi, Saint Michael cuts his head off. In yet other stories, a youth – particularly a young girl – could kill herensuge by throwing an egg in his face.
• In some stories, herensuge is confused with Sugaar, the snake-like consort of Mari. With the advent of the Catholic Church in the Basque Country, stories involving herensuge also became convoluted with the snake in the garden of Eden and the seven-headed dragon that appears in the Book of Revelation. He is even said to be the husband of Lilith.
• My daughter exhorted me to say that the herensuge is featured in the book The Basque Dragon, which we read together when she was younger.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Herensuge. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/herensuge/ar-58827/; Herensuge, Wikipedia