The "lights" on Lake Nahuel Huapi (posted yesterday) reminded me of a Patagonian entity that I mentioned in the Spanish version of my book's second edition (I added it after writing and publishing the English version of the 2nd Edition), the Cherruve.
Cherruve is a mythical entitiy of the Mapuche people. It has been described with different features, with sharp contrasts and in different ways depending on the chronicler who depicts it. For some, it was a wild man, like the chilludo (a hairy hominin). But, it had many representations.
Cherruve as a dragon
Lenz, in his Araucanian Studies, also refers to the Cherruve, which appears in various Mapuche folktales adopting different forms. In one case, it is a “sea monster that comes back to life when thrown into the water”; in another, it is a dragon with seven heads.
Lenz believes that the natives fully assimilated tales from “European folk literature” and it seemed to him “beyond doubt that the Cherruve […] is none other than the famous dragon of Indo-Germanic mythology, [sic] that devastates the land until it is vanquished by the hero with supernatural strength whose name and lineage, be it Heracles, Beowulf, Siegfried or Huenchumir, are of little consequence.” and that “the famous volcano monster, the Cherruve: so often was it nothing more than the European giant [sic], dragon or sorcerer in disguise.”
The Cherruv or Cherrufe, according to Guevara, could resemble a dragon that lived near volcanoes. It is also a destructive being: “it almost exterminated [sic], they say, those bread men,” the Kofkeches dwarf people of the Arauco region. However, it also has human traits: a house, a wife, a daughter, a servant, and a flock of sheep. It is a multifaceted being.
As a Fireball - Meteor - Comet
In its most primitive aspect, it was a deity associated with comets or meteorites. Father Félix de Augusta mentions it in his dictionary as “cheurfe, cheurfue, cheurpue, a fiery phenomenon known as a ‘fireball’.”
According to Lenz, in its origin, “this monster corresponds to the will-o'-the-wisp. ” The English name comes from "Will with a wisp", where Will is the name of a folk-figure who was a joker, and wisp is a torch or a bundle of straw. Its Spanish name Fuego fatuo" name originated from the Latin words ignis fatuus (“foolish flame”). This is a natural phenomenon in which small, pale flames are produced by the combustion of gases, such as methane, in contact with oxygen in the air. These gases are produced by the decomposition of certain organic materials, particularly in cemeteries and marshy areas. They are seen more clearly at night, and superstition associates them with goblins or other creatures.
Lenz mentions that Febrés and Valdivia related the cherruve to “the comet and the fiery exhalations seen at night.” Havestadt, for his part, defines it as “Cheurvoe: comet.” Possibly alluding to St. Elmo's fire, a natural phenomenon which can take place during thunder storms or volcanic eruptions, when a strong electric charge excites the electrons in the atmosphere close to the tips of branches, masts on vessels or high spots, creating plasma that shines with a pale luminosity.
Finally, Lenz suggests that “it is evidently a personification of the power of fire, like the Pillan; probably lightning, the fire of volcanoes reflected in the clouds.” In the tales he compiled, he appears with a telluric face: he breathes fire from his mouth, causes earthquakes when he sits on the rocks, and his house is on the summit of a volcano.
It could be linked to the mysterious earthquake lights spotted in the Andes in Patagonia, a tellurian, geologic phenomenon, or to lightning balls.
Before continuing with my series on Denisovans, Neanderthals, and the introgressed MUC19 gene, I will add one more post about a strange ball of light photographed by the University of Magallanes last year, close to Punta Arenas, Chile, close to the ground, which tripped one of their remote, movement-activated trail cameras, which may represent a phenomenon that originated the Cherruve myth.
Sources
Augusta F. (1916). Diccionario Araucano - Español y Español - Araucano. Santiago. Impr. Universitaria. p. 21.
Guevara T. (1925). Historia de Chile: Chile prehispano. Santiago: Balcell. Chapter I.
Lenz R. (1895-97). Estudios Araucanos. Santiago, pp. 222, 235, 256, 271, 277, 326.
Havestadt B. (1883). Chilidúgu sive Tractatus linguae chilensis.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2026 by Austin Whittall ©
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