Brazilian Mythology

The term Brazilian mythology is used to describe a series of cultural elements of diverse origin that are found in Brazil, comprising folk tales, traditions, characters and beliefs regarding places, peoples and entities. It is a subset of the Brazilian folklore. The term was originally restricted to indigenous elements, but has been extended to include:

• Medieval iberic traditions brought by the Portuguese settlers, some of which are forgotten or very disminished in Portugal itself; as well as other European nations folklore, such as Italy, Germany and Poland.
• African traditions brought by Africans to Brazil as slaves during the colonial times—including their religious beliefs;
• Lives of Saints and other devotional elements propagated by the Catholic Church which were appropriated by the folklore;
• Elements originated in Brazil by the contact of the three different traditions;
• Contemporary elements that are re-elaborations of old traditions.

Because Brazil is a melting pot of cultures, many elements of Brazilian mythology are shared by the traditions of other countries, especially its South American neighbors and Portugal.