Anthology of Portuguese Legends

by Alexandre Parafita

The ‘Anthology of Portuguese Legends’ includes 70 stories collected by Alexandre Parafita from all regions of the country, where the real and the imagined intertwine to preserve the Portuguese oral tradition.

Genres: Mythology

235 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2025

About the author

Alexandre Parafita (natural de Sabrosa, 1956) é um escritor português, com raízes transmontanas, com extensa obra publicada sobre o património e tradição oral portuguesa, bem como no domínio da literatura infanto-juvenil. Professor universitário, é doutor em Cultura Portuguesa e mestre em Ciências da Comunicação (especialidade de Antropologia da Comunicação)

Reviews

[Giorgia Mazzei · Rating 2 out of 5]

C’est mon premier livre en français.
Je dois dire que ce n’était pas trop difficile, juste un petit peu ennuyeux par moments

[eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

while the collection includes many many myths, they are only 2 pages long on average which I think is very short

[Dave Maddock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this at Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal. The collection is haphazard and the tellings are short and workman-like. I do not recommend this book nor the Livraria Lello bookstore. If you are a bookish person and traveling to Porto, this store will be marketed to you. You will be disappointed. It exists solely to extract money from vapid women who want to take photos of themselves on a cool staircase.

You can put your ticket price towards a book purchase, which they say is to deal with the freerider problem of tourists who take pics but don't buy. Except, that only applies to their self-published reprints which is effectively the entire stock of the store anyway. You almost have to begrudgingly respect the scam. At any rate, this book is one of the hastily-written excuses to make the whole enterprise work, like the terrible beauty products sold by a multi-level marketing scheme.

[Lorna Dykstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to the myths, folklore, culture and traditions of Portugal. This anthology consists of 70 short legends that collectively construct the identity of the Portuguese people. From castles to chapels, heroes to villains, catastrophes to miracles, this book was a great way to learn a bit more about this country that I visited for the first time this year. Admittedly, some of the legends felt repetitive but that's inherent in their nature as they usually survive by being retold across centuries, so while heroes and events may change slightly, the gist remains the same.

[Bryan Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were to spend an extended period of time traveling in Portugal, this book might serve you well as a guide to the lore of various points of interest. Failing that, though, it’s fairly a academic and pedestrian text. Lots of legends that seem so similar to one another that they are almost indistinguishable.

[Caitlin Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of women get beheaded in this! Also a lot of odd cruelty that doesn’t follow traditional folklore patterns, which was interesting but not my cup of tea. Most of this is also just about Catholicism and there were almost no fun magical creatures. But my copy of this is very pretty!

[Laurie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I have seen criticism that some of the legends in this book are quite similar. While this is true, I think these instances are relatively few and far between. The author gives great context into why different versions of legends are included.

Overall a very pleasant read.

[Marc Ferreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beaucoup de légendes très brèves et un grand nombre liées au catholicisme. Les plus intéressantes sont souvent les plus longues.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series of short legends and stories across many Portuguese villages. Most hail from the times of the Reconquista or early Medieval years.

[Angeliki · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Interesting collection of folklore short stories, written in a weird, archaic and dry way (maybe it's the English translation). Very formulaic. As a folklore collector I will keep it.