Jentil

[1] This word meaning gentile, from Latin gentilis, was used to refer to pre-Christian civilizations and in particular to the builders of megalithic monuments, to which the other Basque mythical legend the Mairuak are involved too.

The tradition lives on in the Basque power games of stone lifting and throwing.

The giants were believed to have created the neolithic monuments, such as dolmens, found around the Basque Country.

They disappeared into the earth under a dolmen in the Arratzaren valley in Navarra when a portentous luminous cloud – perhaps a star – appeared, said to have heralded the birth of Christ (Kixmi) and the end of the jentil age.

Only Olentzero remained, a giant who appears at Christmas and is reproduced as straw dolls.