Forests of Euskal Herria
The origin of agriculture in Euskal Herria.
Martín Txiki y los Secretos del Basajaun
The clever hero who brought wheat to humankind
Quick facts
- • Place: Bosques de Euskal Herria
- • Nombre en euskera: Martin Txiki
- • Seres implicados: Martín Txiki, Basajaun
- • Motivos: astucia, robo de conocimiento, civilización
- • Cronología: Mito etiológico ancestral
The legend
Martin Txiki was a young man small in stature but immense in ingenuity. In those times, humans still lived without knowing agriculture or metalwork, while Basajaun jealously kept those secrets in the depths of the forest.
One day, Martin Txiki challenged Basajaun to a jumping contest over a heap of wheat. The forest giant, confident in his strength, accepted. Martin deliberately lost every round, letting Basajaun mock him. But while jumping, grains of wheat slipped into his shoes.
Returning to the village with his feet full of seeds, Martin Txiki was able to teach humans how to cultivate grain. But that was not all: on another occasion, hidden behind a tree, he heard Basajaun explain to another being how to forge iron and make tools.
Thus, thanks to Martin Txiki?s cunning, human beings learned agriculture and the forge, passing from hunters and gatherers to builders of civilization. The legend teaches that intelligence is worth more than brute force.
Associated places
Cultivated valleys
The value of cunning against brute force.
Related creatures
Sources and documentation
- J.M. Barandiaran (1972): Mitología Vasca
- R.M. Azkue: Euskalerriaren Yakintza
- Tradición oral de Gipuzkoa y Navarra
San Martin Txiki, the bold benefactor of agriculture
The transition from nomadism to settled life.
The domain of Basajaun where Martin Txiki stole the secrets.
The great challenge of the immemorial secrets of wheat
The lands where humans sowed the first wheat.
Basque folklore gives pride of place to heroes who appear modest and unthreatening but possess extraordinary wit. Martin Txiki stands at the summit of this gallery: he does not crush the giant, he outmaneuvers him.
The theft of wheat
His importance lies in what he represents: the moment when humankind leaves mere survival behind and enters culture. By stealing wheat and the forge, he changes the destiny of the whole community rather than seeking personal glory.
The great challenge of the immemorial secrets of wheat
In the most famous versions, the Basajaun alone possess wheat and the knowledge needed to grow it. Martin understands that to free that knowledge he must not fight directly, but provoke a situation in which the secret clings to him almost against the will of the giant.
