Case file · Fairy lore
Mouras encantadas
Enchanted Moorish maidens who guard treasure at springs, castles and dolmens of northern Portugal and Galicia; José Leite de Vasconcelos collected their tales in Tradições Populares de Portugal (1882).
1882 CE · 41.80, -7.80 · status: legend
The account
A moura appears combing her hair with a golden comb on St John's Eve and offers a choice that can break her spell. Hundreds of place names in Portugal recall them.