Amalur
Basque · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Amalur (Ama Lurra, 'Mother Earth'; bare form Lur/Lurra/Lurbira) is the great Earth of Basque cosmology — the womb from which the Sun (Eguzki) and Moon (Ilargi) are born and into which they and the souls of the dead return. She is sometimes conflated with Mari in the literature (kept distinct here per the corpus). Documented by Barandiarán and Caro Baroja (secondary).
Children
Domains
- earth mother and cosmic womb
- underworld abode of the dead
- fertility and vegetation
Powers
- Bring forth the Sun and the Moon and receive them back nightly into her womb
- Receive the souls of the dead into the subterranean earth
- Create the eguzkilore, the sun-thistle that guards human doorways from night-evils
Relations
- mother of: EguzkiThe Sun is Amalur's daughter, returning into her womb at sunset.J. M. Barandiarán, Mitología vasca (1960): Eguzki/Eki, daughter of Amalur (secondary)
- mother of: IlargiThe Moon is Amalur's daughter; she was made first, before the Sun. (Reciprocal mother-relation should be added to the existing basque_ilargi.)J. M. Barandiarán, Diccionario de mitología vasca, s.v. Ilargi: the Moon as daughter of the Earth (secondary)
Sources
- existence: J. M. Barandiarán, Diccionario ilustrado de mitología vasca; Mitología vasca (1960), s.v. Lur / Amalur (secondary); J. Caro Baroja, Los vascos (1949); Mitos vascos y mitos sobre los vascos (1985) (secondary)
- mother-of-the-sun-and-moon: J. M. Barandiarán, Mitología vasca (1960): Eguzki and Ilargi as daughters of Ama Lur returning into the earth (secondary)