Trasgu, the kobold with the hole in his hand

The Trasgu is a spirit of northern Spanish folk tradition.

The mischievous household kobold with the hole in his left hand.

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Trasgu

The Trasgu is the household kobold of Asturias and northern Spain, an ambivalent duende familiar with a red pointed cap and a hole in his left hand. He is mischievous and troublesome, but at heart not malicious.

Treated well, he is remarkably tidy and watches over house and animals; treated badly, he breaks crockery and steals. Anyone who wants to get rid of him completely has only one reliable way: an impossible task, on which the otherwise tidy kobold fails in shame.

At a glance: Trasgu

Type: Ambivalent household spirit of attic, stable and hearth
Origin: Northern Spanish folklore, attested from the 17th century
Texts: Father Feijoo, Cabal, de Llano
Period: 17th century to the present
Appearance: small dark kobold with red cap and hole-ridden left hand

Textual history

Period of the Texts

Northern Spanish folklore, already attested in literature in the 17th century by Father Feijoo; around 1900 Cabal documents the Trasgu as a fading ancestral belief.

Area of Diffusion

Its core area is Asturias, along with León, Cantabria and eastern Galicia; in Galician the kobold is called trasno or trasgo.

Sources

Well documented: the folklore collections of Constantino Cabal and Aurelio de Llano, along with the early literary attestation by Father Feijoo.

Name and variants

Asturian: trasgu, probably from Latin transgredi, to transgress, fitting for a rule-breaker; Galician trasno or trasgo.

Being and effect

Appearance

The Trasgu is a small duende with dark or brown skin and a red pointed cap, often limping, with a tail and sometimes horns, and always with a hole in his left hand. Horns, limping and devilish traits are Christian overlay, not the oldest part of the tradition.

Effect

As a house spirit of the attic, stable and hearth, he makes noise, hides and moves things about, and startles the livestock, yet at his core he is not malicious. Treated well, he is remarkably tidy and watches over house and animals; treated badly, he breaks crockery and steals. He briefly withdraws when pious invocations are spoken.

Profile: Trasgu

The key aspects of the house sprite at a glance.

Tradition

Ambivalent house spirit of northern Spanish folklore with an old, orally attested core, traceable in literature from the 17th century onwards.

Responsible for

House, attic, stable and hearth: there the Trasgu makes noise and bustles about, acting as a nuisance or a secret helper depending on how he is treated.

Depiction

A small dark kobold with a red pointed cap, often limping, with a tail and sometimes horns, always with a hole in his left hand.

Function

Treated well, he watches over house and animals and keeps things remarkably tidy; treated badly, he breaks crockery, steals and startles the livestock.

Forms of Warding

An impossible task: gathering scattered grain that trickles back out through the hole in his hand, carrying a basket full of water, or washing a black kid goat white.

Parallels

The German Kobold is the closest parallel, along with the Brownie and Boggart, the Leprechaun, the Korrigan, the Follet and Lutin, and within Spain itself the Trasno and the Duende.

From rule-breaker to fading ancestral belief

The name probably derives from Latin transgredi, to transgress, fitting for a rule-breaker; in Galician he is called trasno or trasgo. The Trasgu is already attested in literature in the 17th century by Father Feijoo, and around 1900 by Cabal as a fading ancestral belief.

His core area is Asturias, along with León, Cantabria and eastern Galicia. What is regarded today as the canonical image owes much to the folklorist collections of the 19th and 20th centuries, which ordered and interpreted the orally transmitted material.

From farmhouse spirit to icon of Asturias

The Trasgu is an icon of Asturian identity, present in illustrations by Álvarez Peña and in the song Trasgu by Víctor Manuel; he also appears in literature by Ana María Matute, Torrente Ballester and Rafael Dieste.

From the perspective of religious studies, the Trasgu is an ambivalent house spirit with an old, orally attested core. Three points of clarification: much of today’s canonical image stems from folklorist collections of the 19th and 20th centuries, whose Celtic-Romance continuity theories are interpretation. The horns are a Christian overlay. And the sharp distinction between the Trasgu and related beings is in part only an analytical ordering imposed later.

Getting rid of him through the impossible task

Moving house does not help, since the Trasgu comes along. The only reliable way to get rid of him is an impossible task: carrying a basket full of water, washing a black kid goat white, or gathering scattered grain that trickles back out through the hole in his hand. Ashamed, the otherwise tidy Trasgu gives up and leaves. In the Galician variant, one throws him grains to count, at which he loses track.

Kobolds from Asturias to Britain

The closest parallel is the German Kobold; also related are the British Brownie and Boggart, the Irish Leprechaun, the Breton Korrigan, and the French Follet and Lutin. Within Spain, he corresponds to the Galician Trasno and the Duende.

Frequently asked questions about the Trasgu

What is a Trasgu?

The Asturian house kobold, an ambivalent duende with a red cap and a hole in his hand. His core area is Asturias, along with León, Cantabria and eastern Galicia.

How do you get rid of him?

Through an impossible task, such as gathering scattered grain that trickles out through the hole in his hand. Ashamed, the tidy kobold gives up; moving house, on the other hand, does not help.

Is he malicious?

No, he is mischievous and troublesome rather than malicious; treated well, he is even remarkably tidy and watches over house and animals.

Further links

Literature (selection)

Further standard works in the bibliography.

As an Asturian house kobold with a hole in his hand, the Trasgu is the friendliest face of the duende familiar type: a spirit who torments but also protects, and who can only be driven away by an impossible task.