The olentzero, has its origins in Navarre
History: Olentzero, a character of Navarrese origin, based on a coalman, who makes the children of the Basque Country smile on Christmas day. The olentzero is not only limited to the autonomous community of the Basque country, but of all euskal herria, to be able to know that it includes the ends euskal herria you can read the article that we have on the provinces of the Basque country, although summarizing we can say that euskal herria is composed of the three provinces of the Basque country, Navarre and the French Basque country, if you have more interest in this cultural and geographical area you can read our article on the Basque provinces.
It is not known exactly the origin of the olentzero but many place it in the Navarrese town of Lesaka, a town that we recommend to visit with eyes closed, if you coincide in San Fermines, you will find a whole town overturned with the festivities of their town, the town is literally invaded by young Basques who come to Lesaka from all corners of Euskal Herria.
If we analyze carefully the Olentzero we will see in him reflected the Basque culture and tradition. In the past, the job of charcoal burner was very popular in the mountains of the Basque Country, hence the profile that the Olentzero has today, a burly man with a visible gut (we want to believe for the good gastronomy of the Basque Country), with a long beard and above all stained with soot. As on many other occasions the Olentzero appears for the first time in documents of the fueros of Navarre in the 17th century under the name of Onenzaro.
The Navarrese tradition, dresses the Olentzero with old clothes and neglected appearance as a symbol of the past time, after walking him through the streets they gave him fire, thus burning all the past and welcoming the new time that awaited them. Many say that Olentzero was created based on the Christian faith, something that has been denied on several occasions by great historians, since Christianity simply adopted the customs of the Basque people, as you can see the history of Olentzero is quite clear, or at least has a logical basis on which we can base our ideas.
In many parts of the Basque Country and outside the Basque Country, Olentzero is compared to Santa Claus, which is totally inevitable due to the symbolic resemblance of the character, especially in the French Basque Country, but as we have already explained above, it has nothing to do with the character known worldwide.
The Olentzero is a character that did not completely take root throughout the Basque Country until well into the twentieth century, and this is due to the new image that was given to him, either by the media or from public agencies, to make that rough man with a strong character a very patient and nice man.
Tradition: The olentzero song is one of the most sung songs throughout the Basque country during the Christmas season, we leave you a video of the olentzero song and the lyrics in case you feel like creating a Christmas atmosphere typical of the Basque country:
Olentzero joan zaigu
mendira lanera
intentzioarekin
ikatz egitera.
Aditu duenian
Jesus jaio dela
lasterka etorri da
berri ona ematera.
Horra! Horra!
Gure Olentzero!
Pipa hortzetan duela
eserita dago
kapoiak ere baditu
arraultzatxuakin
bihar meriendatzeko
botila ardoakin.
Inolaz ezin dugu
Olentzero ase
bakarrik jan dizkigu
hamar txerri gazte.
Saiheski ta solomo
makina bat este
Jesus jaio da eta
alaitu zaitezte.
Horra! Horra!…
We leave you a translation of the olentzero’s song so you can see the true meaning of the song, when reading it pay attention to the part where they describe the olentzero:
Olentzero has gone
to the mountain to work
with the intention
to make coal.
When he heard
that Jesus was born
he came running
to give the good news.
Look at him! Look at him!
Our Olentzero!
With his pipe between his teeth
is sitting
also has capon roosters
with his eggs
for tomorrow’s snack
with a bottle of wine.
We can not in any way
fill Olentzero
has eaten by himself
ten young pigs.
Rib and loin
a lot of intestines
Jesus was born
and you have to rejoice.
Look at it! Look at him…
Progress: With the passage of time the name of the olentzero, is not the same in many parts of the Basque Country, especially in parts of Navarre and French Basque Country, in many of them he is known as Olentzaro, Orantzaro or Onontzaro, all these denominations are based on the word Onenzaro that we mentioned before. The Olentzero’s family has also changed over time, in its beginnings the Olentzero was a lonely man who lived in the mountains and occasionally went down to the villages, today in many places he is represented accompanied by Mari Domingi, giving Olentzero the image of a family man.
Image of olentzero: The image of olentzero is as the song says, the image of a Basque coalman, with traditional clothes, with txapela, pipe and a good sack of gifts, as you can see the image is very similar to that of Santa Claus. This image of olentzero is modified many times by the evolution of Basque society, for example with the entry into force of the anti-smoking law, there are many brands that advertise the olentzero in their catalogs, without the much-prized smoking pipe. If you come to the Basque Country at Christmas time and you see a man with a checkered shirt, beard, pipe, txapela and coal stained, do not hesitate, you are in front of the olentzero himself.
olentzero
As you can see the olentzero, that character that gives objects to Basque children, has a long history behind him, a history with a lot of tradition and culture of the Basque country. If you have any questions about the olentzero, his image, or anything related to him, just leave us a comment, as you know it is not necessary to register to comment.
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