Description
The Malena Lizard (corruption of Magdalena, the oldest neighborhood in Jaén and where its mythical lair was located), is the most famous legend of the capital, possibly constituting the most outstanding creation of popular literature.The influence of this legend is such that the lizard has become a symbol of the city, being present in its urban space (statue of the lizard), concerts (Lizard Rock), on the coat of arms of the Cathedral Chapter, etc. So much so that the legend of the Malena Lizard is one of the ten Treasures of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Spain. But who better than Juan Eslava Galán to tell us the story of the lizard: (…) The hotel concierge told me the story: a monstrous lizard, bigger than a crocodile, lived in the Magdalena spring, in the center of medieval Jaén, and devoured people and flocks. The population was so terrified that they began to emigrate. Then, a man condemned to death offered to kill the monster if his life was spared. The authority agreed, freed him and made the necessary means available to him, but he rejected the weapons they offered him and only asked for a horse and a lamb. He ate the lamb on the eve of the feat in the company of the prison chaplain. (…) The next day, at dawn, he got on the horse and headed to the spring. Arriving at the edge of the stream, he shouted a few times and, as soon as he saw the monster come out, he threw the lamb skin stuffed with very dry tinder, which he had previously lit, at it. The lizard took him for a live lamb, swallowed him whole, the tinder burned his insides and he burst. (…) The Templars and Solomon's Table. Chapter 1.
