Brazil is a beautiful land, with a rich history and culture that mixes the heritage of pre-Columbian and indigenous peoples with the influence of European cultures. There are many Brazilian myths and legends that have emerged over time, which seek to explain the world, reality and the different phenomena and events that worried or amazed its people.

In order to exemplify and show the folklore of this land, throughout this article we will see a dozen of different Brazilian legends .

A dozen Brazilian legends

Below we present you with a dozen Brazilian myths and legends, many of them dealing with the origin of natural elements and/or phenomena such as the rainbow, nightmares, some fruits or animals or even elements typical of the religious beliefs of their natives.

1. The Birth of the Night

One of the phenomena that has always attracted the attention of all cultures and about which they have always sought an explanation is the arrival of the night, and the pre-Columbian legends of the tribes that populated Brazil are no exception.

The legend says that at the beginning of time there was only day, but one day the daughter of the Big Cobra told her husband that she wanted to see the night . Although her husband told her that it did not exist, she insisted that it did and that her father kept it. The husband sent his employees home with the Large Cobra in search of the night.

The Cobra Grande decided to satisfy its daughter’s will, giving her employees a tucuman coconut in which she was housed but warning them not to open it or else everything would get dark. However, on the return trip, curiosity overcame them and they did not follow the god’s recommendation, opening the coconut and causing the darkness to appear .

Along with her would appear the creatures of the night and various animals. Only the daughter of the Big Cobra would understand what had happened, deciding to end the darkness by pulling out a hair and passing it through her: this action would separate the light from the dark and make the day return, but with the result that from now on half the time would be day and the other half night, the current succession between both moments being born. In addition, the employees were punished, being transformed into monkeys.

2. The Iguazu Falls

There are also numerous legends that tell us about the history of the emergence of different geographical features of Brazil . One of them is the legend of the Iguaçu Falls.

This legend tells us that the giant Boi snake inhabited the Iguazú River, which the Guaraní natives offered in sacrifice to a young girl who was thrown into the river. However, on one occasion a man named Tarobá fell in love with the young Naipí, who was to be the sacrifice of that year.

Tarobá, who had previously tried to convince the village elders not to sacrifice her, decided to take a canoe and kidnap the young woman to save her. The great serpent, furious at the kidnapping of the one who was to be their sacrifice, pursued them and ended up hitting the river, dividing it in two so that Tarobá and Naipí were caught and creating together with them the Iguazú Falls. The waters that fall from them are the hair of the young woman, while Tarobá would end up being transformed into a tree . The great snake watches over them from the bottom, but when the rainbow is formed in the falls, both young men meet again.

3. The Legend of Ajuricaba

Some of the legends originating in Brazil also refer to very important historical phenomena, such as the indigenous population’s experience of the arrival and the conflicts and struggles with the first Europeans, and specifically in this case the Portuguese. It also tells us the story of one of the best known indigenous leaders of the Manaos tribe, Ajuricaba.

The legend says that Ajuricaba was born in front of the Rio Negro, being predicted by his grandfather that he would become the leader of his people and that he would always be protected by the river goddess, Maori. His exploits and warrior spirit were remarkable even as a young man. However, one day the great ships of the first Europeans arrived to the shores of Brazil, commanded by Belchior Mendes and with a much superior weaponry. Soon conflicts broke out between the two peoples, which continued for years.

The Portuguese withdrew up to five times, but knowing that they would return, Ajuricaba’s grandfather would give him the command of the fight. Ajuricaba would use multiple ambushes and fight bravely, but in one of the battles he would finally be taken prisoner and chained by the Portuguese, who planned to use him as a war trophy and take him to Portugal. However, before that, Ajuricaba decided to die: he threw himself into the river, in the hands of the goddess that his grandfather predicted would protect him. It is said that on nights with a full moon a white canoe can still be seen in the river , in which Ajuricaba travels.

4. The legend of the Amazon River

The Amazon is the longest and most abundant river in the world, being an important source of water and life for the territories it passes through, including Brazil. In this land there is also a legend regarding its origin.

Legend has it that at a time when animals could not yet speak, the Sun and the Moon fell in love with each other. However, soon both became aware that their love was impossible , since their closeness caused the destruction of the other: while the Moon extinguished the Sun it melted the Moon.

And not only that, but their union would cause floods that would end the Earth. It would finally make them decide to separate, something that would cause the Moon to weep in dismay for days. Their tears reached the planet, but the fact that they were fresh water would make them be rejected by the sea, so that they would end up transforming into a gigantic river: the Amazon.

5. Curupira, the guardian of the forest

The Brazilian indigenous tribes greatly valued the importance of the forest and woods, which have their own protective creature/deity. We are talking about the legend of the Curupira, typical of the Tupi.

This powerful being is small in size but has great strength and speed , it is often described as bald or redheaded and with big ears and one of its most distinctive characteristics is the fact that it has its feet inverted (i.e. looking at the back instead of the front).

He is a protector of trees, animals and nature, often making those who invade and harm him get lost and forget their way back as punishment.

Hunters and woodcutters are usually their enemies, interrupting their activities (although tolerating hunting in those who carry it out because of hunger). Due to the inversion of their feet, their footprints are also extremely confusing, something that makes it difficult to find them. It is also said that children are sometimes taken into the woods to teach them to love them, returning them to their families when they are seven years old.

6. The Pisadeira

One of the legends of Brazil tells us about the creature known as the Pisadeira, which is considered the physical representation of nightmares .

This creature has the body of a skeletal old woman, with long yellowish nails, a hawk’s nose, and an open mouth from which only horrible laughter arises that only those she chooses can hear. It is said that this creature stalks people from rooftops , jumping on the chest of the sleeping (especially after sleepiness after dinner) and generating an asphyxiation that paralyzes its victim.

She is aware of what is happening, but she is not able to move or react and often has the feeling of being drowned and about to die when she wakes up. The Pisadeira may find the situation more amusing the more afraid the person is, being able to prolong and repeat their attack.

7. The Legend of the Guarana

Among the many myths and legends that exist in Brazil, we can find many that refer to the origin of food from these lands. One of them is the one that tells us about the Guaraná.

The legend says that a couple of Indians from the Maués tribe had been living together for years and wanted to have children , not having succeeded in begetting. On one occasion they asked the god Tupá to grant them this grace, something to which the god responded by giving them a healthy and good child that as time went by grew.

But the god of darkness Jurupari began to envy the child and his strength, peace and happiness , making the decision to kill him: in a moment that the little boy went to collect fruit the god turned into a snake and bit him, killing him with his poison. The parents were devastated, but the god Tupá sent a storm that the mother understood as an indication that she should plant his eyes: from them would be born a plant capable of giving strength and vigor. In doing so, the bereaved parents discovered that from their son’s eyes would be born the guarana, whose seeds in fact reminded them of those in human eyes.

8. The legend of the Açaí

Although not very well known in the West, the açaí is the fruit of a palm tree of great importance for the people of the Amazon and of great significance in the territory of Brazil. This fruit has been consumed since pre-Columbian times, and there is a sad legend regarding its origin.

The legend tells us how a long time ago a tribe located on the Pará River suffered a time of great scarcity, so that the continued growth of the population was a serious danger to survival. Due to the critical situation the leader, named Itaki, would agree with the tribal council that from now on every baby born would be sacrificed . However, one day his daughter Iaçá became pregnant and would give birth to a girl. The council demanded that the agreement be fulfilled, something that Itaki would agree to despite Iaçá’s pleas.

After the death of little Iaçá she would spend days locked up in her tent, praying to the god Tupá so that the village leader would learn a way to fix the situation without more children having to die. At night, the woman heard a cry, which she followed to a palm tree. There she saw her daughter, smiling, rushing to embrace her. However, when she touched it she only found the palm tree, something that would make her cry sadly in her arms.

However, the next day the woman woke up, still hugging, dead but happy as she looked at the palm leaves. Seeing the body and the direction of her gaze, her father Itaki discovered some small fruits, the açaĂ­, from which wine could be obtained. The birth of these fruits made food available to his people, which in turn would stop the sacrifices being unnecessary. The fruits were named after the leader’s daughter, Açai.

9. The legend of the uirapuru

One of the birds whose origin has been represented by the legends and myths of the native peoples of Brazil is the uirapuru. This beautiful singing bird was taken by a magical and supernatural being , to the point that its feathers are a lucky charm as far as love is concerned.

According to the legend that tells us of its origin, there was once a tribe in which two women had fallen in love with the same chieftain, who had to choose one to become his wife. The cacique decided that the one chosen would be the one with better aim, establishing an archery test from which one of them was the winner. The other woman, named Oribici, wept disconsolately and prayed to the god Tupá to transform her into a tree so that she could continue to see her beloved without him knowing it.

The god made her that way, something that made it possible for Oribici to witness little by little how his beloved was happy and deeply in love with his wife. The young woman decided to leave for the north, where seeing Tupá her sadness made her small and gave her the gift of singing in order to help her alleviate her pain. Thus, he transformed her into the uirapuru.

10. Iasah and the origin of the rainbow

This legend tells how a young girl from the Cashinahua tribe, Iasah, was so beautiful that the god Tupá fell in love with her , something to which she corresponded and the two became a happy couple in love. However, the demon Anhangá would also take notice of the girl, and in order to prevent her from committing herself to Tupá and obtain his love, he would go to the woman’s mother to ask for her hand in marriage, offering in exchange all the food she would need for the rest of her life if she were granted it. The mother agreed to the deal, and then Iasá was to marry the Anhangá and separate from Tupá.

Iasah asked her future husband to grant her wish to see her beloved Tupa again before agreeing to marry and live in the underworld. The demon accepted but would make one condition: to cut himself in the arm so that the blood would create a path for him to follow.

Knowing this and in order to mislead Anhangá, Tupá would try with the help of the gods of the Sun, the Sky and the Sea to create different strokes of different colors (yellow, sky blue and sea blue respectively) that would make the demon lose track of Iasá. The woman, however, would lose strength as she lost blood, to the point of falling to the ground and dying on the beach, never to be reunited with her beloved. The mixture of her blood and the dust of the sand that would arise from her collision with the ground would also form orange, violet and green lines. All these traces would form the first rainbow.

Bibliographic references:

  • GĂłmez, A.M. and Palma, V. (2011). Legends of the Brazilian Amazon. ColecciĂłn Orellana, 22. SecretarĂ­a General TĂ©cnica. Ministry of Education. Spanish Embassy in Brazil.