Sardinia's Legends and Fantastic Creatures ⋆ Lifeguin

Get to know Sardinia’s myths

Sardinia goes by many names, known for example as Isola del Vento (The Island of Winds), or sometimes referred to as The Small Continent, or as an Island within an Island as there is so much contrast and variation around every corner.

Because of the rich history, myths and mysteries have been handed down from the Nuragic age. From Atlantis to the mysterious giants, stories of fantastical figures such as fairies and demons, Sardinia is full of them. Let’s have a closer look at the legends, where we all know, in each legend is a little bit of truth.

Legend of the Creation

The Sardinian legend says that after completing the world, God had some rocks remaining and decided to drop them in the Mediterranean. After he had the basics, he then looked back at what he already created and took a little bit of the best and placed it around the island we know as Sardinia. We could also say he kept the best for last.

As it usually goes, there is more than one legend when it comes to the creation of the island and its civilization and another famous is, The Legend of Sardus Pater, a hero or a god who came to the Island to bring civilization. And even here we have several variations of the legend. Both Greek and Latin historians wrote about a hero (male or female) called Sardus or Sardò, who came from another country to build a colony in Sardinia. The Latin Sardus was thought to be the son of Hercules who was sent to build his personal city on the Island; while the Greek Sardò was running away from a city (Sardis) in modern Turkey and arrived all the way to Sardinia.

The myth of Atlantis

There isn’t a person on this planet who didn’t hear about the famous Atlantis and its myth can be applied to many civilizations around the world found almost in every ancient culture.

The first who mentioned the legendary Atlantis was the Greek philosopher Plato, who said Atlantis was an advanced civilization on a continent beyond the Pillars of Hercules and whose people, because of their power and technologies, thought themselves to be superior to their gods.

These gods, as a punishment for human arrogance, destroyed their continent in one day and one night. Atlantis has always been thought to be in the Atlantic ocean, somewhere deep, deep on the bottom of the sea, but many theories say otherwise.

Apparently, the Pillars of Hercules were located in Sicily, which makes Sardinia an excellent candidate for the role of the lost island!

Apart from it’s location, Plato also described Atlantis as a large island with a mild climate, full of forests, water, and minerals, and whose inhabitants were expert tower builders – playing straight into the card for Sardinia, as all the mentioned characteristics can be found here, not to mention the thousands of towers found around the island, called Nuraghi.

The Island of Giants

Often called also the Island of the Giants or the Land of the Giants, Sardinia brings yet another great legend. The year was 1974 when one of the greatest Mediterranean archaeological discoveries of the last century took place in Mont’e Prama (Cabras area). It was local farmers who found fragments and the digging started. In the end, 25 statues over 2 meters tall were found – The Giants of Monte Prama.

**Credits: Sergio Melis. Photo from Sardegna Turismo.**

The so-called Giants’ Tombs were tombs never seen before – they were tall and made of heavy stone, sometimes even going up to 4 meters (13 feet) tall.

And the stones at the entrance were up to a few tons heavy! Can you imagine? I can barely lift myself, can’t imagine lifting such heavy stones.

Once you enter the tombs and see how tall they are, of course, it’s not surprising that stories about the giant people of Sardinia started circulating around.

And it’s not only the tall ceilings but also tales about big bones found inside these tombs. Whether it’s true or not, it is among the top places to stop by when in Sardinia.

The Devil’s Saddle

The Sella del Diavolo (the Devil’s Saddle) has one of the most fascinating legends surrounding it. The legend goes, that the fallen angel Lucifer himself, enchanted by the beauty of Cagliari’s sea, tried to conquer the area and claim it as his own but God sent a legion of angels to fight him back and was defeated. The rock formation is believed to be either his saddle that, falling from the sky, was petrified with time, or the print of Lucifer’s body that was thrown from above.

Another legend says, God wanted to offer the Angels land where to live and they choose Sardinia, which unleashed the wrath of Lucifer who started a battle in the skies of Cagliari. Lucifer was thrown from his horse and fell to the ground, calcifying himself in the promontory that today takes his name.

The sea here is called Angels’ Gulf to honor the holy beings who, supposedly, are still protecting the area nowadays.

Fantastical creatures of Sardinia

The Janas

The Janas are literally fairies and often described as small, pretty, delicate beings, but some legends depict them as quite scary. Their height is believed to be about 25 centimeters (almost 10 inches) tall. Some believe them to be maniacs, and they help people or bring mischief based on their mood (almost like me 😃), but most of the legends say, they usually help the honest and punish the greedy.

In some parts of the island, there are also myths according to which the Janas were evil witches.

They live inside the Domus de Janas, ancient monuments excavated inside large rock formations during pre-nuragic time. Historically, Domus de Janas are tombs., apparently a population who lived in Sardinia before the Nuragic civilization excavated these small recesses in the rocks and used them to bury their loved ones.

The Demon Ammutadori

Did you ever wake up unable to move, couldn’t shout to ask for help? We know it today as sleep paralyzes, but in Sardinia people believed you may have fallen victim of the demon Ammutadori, which is a demon that attacks you in your dreams, making you unable to talk or move. Before going to bed, children, as well as adults, recited spells called “Brebus” to try to keep the demon away.

The Goblin Pundaccio

The goblin is about the size of a two-year-old child with a red hat. He is able quickly to appear and disappear wherever and whenever he wishes., but most of the days he spends under the soil, where he takes care of huge pots filled up with gold and treasures. It’s during the night he comes out and jumps on your chest when you sleep.

Don’t be scared though and if you are an opportunist, there is some good news. If you manage to steal his hat and put it under a dirty pot the Pundaccio will beg you to give it back. He will never try to take it back by himself terrified by the idea of getting his hands dirty and here you can negotiate to get some of those treasures and gold he is hiding.

Beware, he will be crying and begging, don’t get fooled and pity him, make sure to first get the gold before returning the hat to him, he will disappear and you will never get your treasures.

The Sardinian Basilisk

The Sardinian version of a basilisk, was apparently a gigantic reptile, snake, or dragon with seven heads, that was living inside a mountain. There is of course also a myth connected with it – the Scultone’s myth is a popular tale in Baunei. The legend goes, centuries ago, the Golgo Plateau (part of Baunei municipality) was plagued by an enormous snake, or dragon, that could kill people by petrifying them if they looked into its eyes. The only thing that could pacify this basilisk was sacrificing young maidens to him every year. Then St. Peter one day came to Baunei and found a girl crying because she was chosen to be sacrificed. St. Peter offered the villagers, that if they will name a church after him, he will get rid of the creature, and of course, they happily accepted. St. Peter went into the cave, took the basilisk by its tail, and shook it so hard the ground opened and he thews it into the newly formed cave, all the way down to Hell.

The cave is today known as Su Sterru and can be seen today as well as the St. Peter Church.

Sardinia has even more fantastical creatures, monsters and myths, but these are among the most interesting ones.

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