The island has an interesting folklore with stories, stories and myths. Some have become very popular even internationally, such as the Legend of the Devil of Timanfaya in Lanzarote, in this case we are going to talk about the legend of La Olivina. If you don't know what it's about, you've come to the right place.
In reality, the existence of olivine is a magmatic material that was deposited in El Golfo as a result of the underwater eruption that occurred. The magma mixed with the water and slag was created from the material from the volcano. Today all this is part of this landscape, in which the Green Lake or Charco de los Clicos is located. Olivine is also a stone with therapeutic and magical properties. A stone that shines and throbs. That serves to harmonize our body, soul and spirit and protector of evil spirits and the aura. With these properties it is easy to imagine that there is a legend around it and this environment. Find out with our South, the most demanded tour.
Lanzarote is the land of fire. Its subsoil pulsates and its incandescent interior is constantly on display. The fire of the volcanoes have constantly shaken the life of this island. For this reason, its inhabitants have always sought life by the sea, in search of water and wind. One of them was Tomás el Viejo, a peasant who lived next to Papagayo Beach, in the Puerto Mulas massif. Tomás had a niece named Olivina, an adolescent with dark skin tanned in the sun and deep green eyes, who spent the days with him in the summer to help him with the housework.
Very early every morning, Tomás would take his sheep to graze wherever there was enough food for them, sometimes walking great distances on land depleted by fire. After a long and hot day, Tomás arrived home tired and with a strong sunstroke. The next day, Thomas the Elder was still sick. Despite this, he got up to work. His sheep needed him. Olivina stopped him. She would take care of the cattle that day. Tomás, under other circumstances, would not have allowed Olivina to leave the house, but that day she had no other choice. He allowed Olivina to go out with the sheep and begin the journey that he did every day.
Olivina was a willing and helpful young woman, but very clueless. Thus, along the way, she entertained herself looking for flowers to take to her grandfather. When it was time to return, she counted the sheep to see that none had been lost. It was then that she missed a sheep. She looked around and saw a lamb perched on top of a mountain of rocks unable to move. Olivina did not hesitate for a moment to come to his rescue and return him to the herd. She scaled the cliff and reached the little lamb. When she was going to catch it, the animal got scared and rushed into the void. Olivina heartbroken by the loss of the animal, she hurried back in search of the rest of the herd.
Next to the sheep, on the seashore, Olivina burst into tears. Tears of the same color began to flow from her green eyes that fell on the sea water and remained on the surface in the form of drops. That suffering and crying of the young woman came to the knowledge of the goddess Timanfaya, who, moved by that scene, ordered a group of seagulls to go down to the beach and pick up those green tears with their beaks and mix them with the volcanic stones that had on the beach. Stones and tears came together to form olivine, as a symbol of human kindness, which we know today.
Later, after the eruptions of 1737, a group of fishermen found those strange green stones when collecting their fishing nets. Admired by their beauty, they began to collect them, thinking that those precious stones would make them rich. That finding caught the attention of many other fishermen who came to that area in search of more stones like those. A short time later, an old fisherman came to the beach in search of the origin of those strange stones. It was then that he contemplated that green lagoon located at the foot of the ancient volcano. He hurried back to his companions, who were still collecting those stones with their nets, and shouted at them to stop instantly.
– Stop! Let the earth weep in peace!
Before those strange words, his companions asked him what he meant.
– Look at solid ground. The volcano is crying and you can see the puddle at its feet. What you are collecting are the tears of the goddess Timanfaya…
They all looked towards the mainland and, dumbfounded and frightened, understood that the old sailor was telling the truth. Immediately, they began to return the stones one by one to the ocean. A fisherman looked at the older man and asked:
– And why is Timanfaya crying?
The old fisherman looked at his companion and replied:
– He cries remembering the destruction he has done and the lives he has taken. For the misery it has created and for the havoc it has produced.
Today, tradition tells us that we have to wear one of those Timanfaya tears in memory of those people and those towns that the volcano devastated.
Did you like this story? We hope so and that you have learned something more about the magical history of this volcanic land. We invite you to discover Olivina with our expert guides.
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