Anbotoko Mari

Anbotoko Mari, Mari Urraca, la Dama de Anboto ("the lady of Anboto") and the possibly distinct Dama de Murumendi ("lady of Murumendi") was a goddess — a lamia — of the Basques. She was married to the god Majue. Legends connect her to the weather: that when she and Majue travelled together hail would fall, that her departures from her cave would be accompanied by storms or droughts, that which cave she lived in at different times would determine dry or wet weather: wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she was elsewhere (the details vary). Other places with where she was said to dwell include the chasm of Murumendi, the cave of Gurutzegorri (Ataun), Aizkorri and Aralar, although it is not always possible to be certain which Basque legends should be considered to pertain to the same lamia.

The belief in Oñate was that the weather would be wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she was in Aloña. In Zeanuri, Bizkaia, they say that she would stay seven years in Anboto, then the next seven in a cave in Oiz called Supelegor. A similar legend in Olaeta, Bizkaia substitutes Gorbea for Supelegor.

Another legend from Otxandio, Bizkaia has it that she was born in Lazkao, Gipuzkoa, and that she was the evil sister of a Roman Catholic priest. In other legends, the priest is her cousin Juanito Chistu, rather than a brother, and is a great hunter. She was said to take a distaff by the middle and walk along spinning, and leaving storms in her wake.

In Elorrieta, Bizkaia, it was said that she would be in her cave, combing her hair, and not even a shepherd could draw near to her. It was also said that her malign power did not extend to those who were innocent of sin.

Folklorist Resurrección María de Azkue ties Mari Urraca to a legend about a princess of the Kingdom of Navarre, widow of a 12th-century nobleman who lived in the Tower of Muncharaz in the valley known as the Merindad de Durango. She vanished at the time of his death and was said to have headed for the cave of Anboto. According to Azkue, Iturriza tells this story in his Historia de Vizcaya; Labayru in her Historia de Vizcaya doubts it.

Legends attached to the Lady of Murumendi, according to Azkue, include that she had seven brothers and was changed into a witch for her disobedience, that the weather would be warm (or that it would be turbulent) when she walked about. In Beizama, Gipuzkoa, they say that if she stays in her cave and if on the day of the Holy Cross appropriate spells are cast, hail can be prevented. They also say that she and her husband once went to church in a cart and that upon leaving church she rose into the air saying "Domingo, Domingo el de Murua, siete hijos para el mundo, ninguno para el cielo" ("Domingo, Domingo of Murua, seven children for the world, none for the sky").

References

• This derives from articles in the Enciclopedia General Ilustrada del Pais Vasco Encyclopedia Auñamendi, which in turn cite Euskalerriaren Yakintza, Tomo I "Costumbres y supersticiones", by folklorist Resurrección María de Azkue (1864–1951) and also mentions that further legends are recorded by José Miguel de Barandiarán and Juan Thalamas Labandibar
• The first known written citation of the Dame of Amboto was made by Charles V's chronicler Esteban de Garibay Zamalloa in his Memorial histórico español: colección de documentos, opúsculos y antigüedades, Tomo VII.