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Basajaun
A huge, hairy man dwelling in the woods. He protects flocks of livestock since ancient times by whistling and yelling when a storm is coming in order to warn the shepherds. He also was the first farmer, miller and blacksmith and taught skills such as agriculture and ironworking to humans.
Jentil/Jentilak
Ancient race of giants known as the builders of megalithic monuments. The jentil were believed to have lived alongside the Basque people. They were hairy and so tall that they could walk in the sea and threw rocks from one mountain to another. This stone throwing has led to several tales and explanations for ancient stone buildings and large isolated rocks. They disappeared into the earth under a dolmen when a portentous luminous cloud – perhaps a star – appeared, said to have heralded the birth of Christ and the end of the jentil age.
Olentzero
Only jentil who converted to Christianism and last remaining member of his ancient tribe, a giant who appears at Christmas and is reproduced as straw dolls.
Other versions of the legend that consider him a regular human tell that as a new born he was abandoned in the woods and was found by a fairy who gave him the name Olentzero, bestowed gifts of strength and kindness on him and handed him to an older childless couple living alone in the woods. He turned into a strong man and charcoal burner who would leave the forest once per year around Christmas to visit the nearby villages. He is often depicted as a drunk antisocial old man who was dirty from carrying the lots of coal that he sold to the villagers.
Modern stories say that he was also good with his hands, carving wooden toys that he would carry in a big charcoal bag to give to the children of the village. It is said that he died one day saving children from a burning house and that when he died, the fairy who had found him granted him eternal life to continue to bring joy to children and people. That's how he became the Basque equivalent for Santa Claus
