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Enchanted Lady Moor

Revision as of 16:15, 18 April 2007 by Admin (talk | contribs) (Reverted edit of Janus, changed back to last version by Puck Cousin)
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An Enchanted Lady Moor (in Portuguese, Moura Encantada), is a spirit in the Portuguese folklore.

Leite de Vasconcelos says that there's an unnatural or paranormal force that makes the Moors to stay in a place (like a bridge, a cave or a castle) in a kind of non-awake non-asleep state, until their curse is somehow broken.

In some legends, the moors are the Muslim princesses that were killed when the Portuguese expulsed the Muslims from the place where now is Portugal, and their spirits watch the Muslim treasures that were left behind (some say that they give the treasure to those who break their curse). In other legends, they act like mermaids or nixes, seducting young men, singing and combing their blond or dark hairs.

Variants

  • Snake-Moors (moura-serpente): Moors that can turn into a snake. Some of them are half-human half-serpent, and others have wings.
  • Moor Princesses (princesas mouras): These moors are always princesses and appear in a Portuguese with a definited time and place (a town or a village from Portugal). These moors fall in love with a Christian or a Muslim man. These are legends that say how the city was born. One of the most famous is the legend of the city of Evora, where a Portuguese called Giraldo Sem Pavor (Portuguese for Fearless Giraldo) seducted a moor princess to conquist the city of Evora, and killed the moor and her father (the Evora symbol is Giraldo on his horse, holding the cutten heads of the moor and her father).