The Trasgo is a type of mischievous fey or goblin, common in the North of the Iberian Peninsula. They have nomess depending on the region, so in Galicia they are called trasno, in Asturias trasgu, in Cantabria and León (trasgo) and in Portugal they are called "strago" or "demonios da mao furada" ( pierced hand demons).
Physical description[]
Although its description usually varies from region to region, the trasgo is generally represented as a small trasgo (between 40-80 cm tall), human-like in appearance, with brown, black or dark skin and very black, shiny eyes. He usually dresses, usually dressed in red and wearing a red hat, also a red hat. The most characteristic of the goblins is that they have a hole in their left hand, although sometimes they are represented with both hands with holes in them. This prevents them from picking up things with them because they always fall through the hole. The Asturian goblins are also said to be lame, although this does not prevent them from moving with astonishing speed; being very agile and being able to make enormous jumps. In Cantabria, horns and tails are also usually added.
Personality[]
Although he is not an evil being, his main hobby is to annoy and play practical jokes on the inhabitants of a house, such as breaking the dishes, scaring the livestock in the stables and making noises at night in the attic. The trasgu is a familiar goblin, and it is very difficult to get rid of it. They like to settle in the hearth fire and their favorite places are attics, stables and kitchens, where they tend to get up to their mischief most often. Cantabrian kobolds tend to be somewhat coarser than their Asturian and Galician relatives. Sometimes magical powers are attributed to them, such as the ability to transform into animals, although they only usually do so when they are outside the house of which they have become "guests." Gluttony is also characteristic of kobolds, and one of the signs that they have settled in a house is the constant disappearance of food, especially sweets.
In other places, it is said that they live in the forests and whose activity is to make fun of people and play tricks on them, especially girls who are doing a task such as shepherding. Since they must hide from humans, their clothing is made up of tree leaves and moss.
Due to his constant pranks, some families were forced to leave their homes because of the trasgo, however this does not usually work, since the goblin has taken a liking to the family and follows them to their new home, where continues with its activities. He will also try to help with household chores in his own way. The only way to get rid of him is to entrust him with impossible tasks, such as collecting water in a basket, bleaching a black sheep or having him pick up corn or millet grains lying on the ground with his hands, something he cannot do because the grains become it sneaks through the holes in his hands; but since he believes himself capable of doing everything, the goblin will accept the deal and will try unsuccessfully to carry out the tasks entrusted to him, until he realizes that he sees himself incapable of doing so, so in the end he will give up and, ashamed and Will leave.
Trasgos in history[]
During the 16th and 17th centuries, even highly regarded theologians were convinced that goblins were a category of minor, domestic spirits. Numerous records of inquisitorial processes show to what extent their belief was rooted among all social classes, and how the church tried to neutralize their action with reprobations and exorcisms. Antonio de Torquemada dedicated an extensive treatise from his Garden of Curious Flowers to "ghosts, visions, goblins, singers, sorcerers, witches and greeters" where he broadly describes his activities. According to Torquemada: " the trasgos are nothing more than imps that are more familiar and domestic than the others… and so it seems that some do not leave some houses, as if they had them as their own homes, and they make themselves feel in them, with some noises and rejoicings, and with many mockery, without doing any harm: that although I will not testify of having seen it, I have heard many credible people say that they hear them ringing with guitars, and with bells, and that many times they answer those who call, and speak with some signs and laughter, and knocks."
Already in the 18th century, the deep-rooted belief in the activities of trasgos would have its first great detractor in the figure of Fray Benito Jerónimo Feijóo, who dedicated an entire chapter of the Theatro Crítico universal (1781) to refuting the existence of the "Trasgos and familiar spirits." From then on, and coinciding with the development of experimental sciences in the 19th century, there were more and more voices from theologians and scientists who rejected the belief in trasgos.
Trivia[]
- In Asturias and Galicia, in addition, there is a type of "trasgu" called "sumiciu", which