Queen Lupa

Queen Lupa (also known as Raíña Lupa, Raíña Lopa, Raíña Luparia, Raíña Luca and Raíña Loba) is a character from Galician mythology. She is mentioned in both the Codex Calixtinus and the Golden Legend.[1]

Portrait of Queen Lupa from the Museo de la Catedral de Astorga

Background

A widowed noblewoman,[2] Galician tradition holds that Lupa lived along the Portuguese Way in Castro Lupario.[3] She appears in the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus, which contains a story regarding the arrival of the disciples of the Apostle James, Theodore and Athanasius, in Iria Flavia. According to the story, Theodore and his party approached the queen about giving them a place to bury James's body.[4] Lupa chose to trick the disciples and sent them to the King of Duio with the intent of having them killed. The king imprisons them, but they are freed by an angel and return to the queen.[5]

Once again, Lupa tried deceiving them and sent them to Mount Ilicino (now known as "Pico Sacro") to collect some of her oxen to carry the necessary material to build the tomb. She did not tell them that a cave in the mountain was the entrance to hell and was guarded by a dragon. However, the presence of the holy cross protected the disciples from harm and tamed the bulls.[6][7][2] Upon witnessing the miraculous events, Lupa converted to Christianity and helps build the apostle's tomb in Libredon.[6]

Lupa's legacy is subject to multiple interpretations. While her myth is popular among Catholics, others think that Lupa could be the representation of a pre-Christian goddess, perhaps the female version of Lugh.[8] In the Middle Ages, portions of the Galician aristocracy claimed to descend from her.[9]

On 2 July 2016, the opera A Raíña Lupa, with music by the Galician composer Fernando Vázquez Arias and a libretto by Xoán Pérez, premiered at the Teatro Colón in A Coruña.[10]

See also

References
  1. de Voragine, Jacobus (1265). "St. James the Greater". The Golden Legend.
  2. "The Jacobean Legend of Queen Lupa". TranslatioMedia. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  3. "Lupa". xacopedia.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  4. Regional Government of Galicia. "Legends of the Camino de Santiago". Google Arts and Culture.
  5. Pazos, Antón M. (2016). Translating the Relics of St James: From Jerusalem to Compostela. Routledge. ISBN 9781317007173.
  6. Senén, Felipe [in Galician] (5 June 2016). "O "Bosque de Galicia": os bosques animados, Libredón, Ilicino..." La Opinión de A Coruña (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  7. Rodríguez, Eladio (2001), "Boi", Diccionario enciclopédico gallego-castellano, p. 368, ISBN 9788482884288, Rodríguez attributes to this legend the origin of the popular saying "Boi bravo, vente ó carro, que o manda o Señor Santiago" (English Brave ox, come to the cart, sent by Lord Santiago)
  8. Cuba, Xoán Ramiro [in Galician]; Reigosa, Antonio [in Galician]; Ruíz, Xosé Miranda [in Galician] (1999). Diccionario dos seres míticos galegos. ISBN 978-84-8302-363-1. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  9. Gago Mariño, Manuel [in Galician]. "Hai unha muller no corazón mítico de Galicia (Raíña Lupa)". Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via Twitter.
  10. ""A Raíña Lupa" de Fernando Arias". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 2 July 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2020.

Bibliography


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