Other names: “Lord of the Black Magic,” “God of the Danger that Lurks in the Gloom”

Etymology – “of the night” or “He of the night”

There’s a lot of ancient Basque mythology that didn’t survive the arrival of Christianity between the 4th and 12th centuries C.E. Most of what is known and has survived is from the study of place names and the scant historical references of pagan rituals practiced by the Basques.

In Basque mythology, Gaueko is often depicted as a great black wolfhound who sometimes walks upright like a human. He is also known to appear as a bull, monster or a gust of wind. Gaueko is also known for eating shepherds and their flocks. Gaueko’s howls can often be heard on cold winter nights.

Gaueko is the male personification of the Night and all of its dangers. In Basque cosmology, the day is for humans and the living and that the night is for the spirits of the dead. As a spirit of the night, Gaueko would appear to people at night, uttering the words: “Gaua Gauekoarentzat, eguna egunezkoarentzat” or “The night for Gaueko, the one of the night, the day for the one of the day.” The idea being that he would urge a person to return home until morning came.

A slight variation to this sentence goes: “The day for the people of the day and the night for the night creatures.”

Now this is where it gets murky; later Christian influences tend to demonize Gaueko as a demon who is quick to punish those who don’t heed his warning to return home at night and stay there.

In trying to place Gaueko in a more positive light, he can be seen as more of a guardian or protector. He warns people to go home so that any wandering spirits of the dead won’t take out revenge or anger upon the living. Now, if the person goes home and stays where they’re safe, then it seems that Gaueko can protect them from the wrath of the spirits of the dead. And if a person chooses not to remain home where they’re safe, likely any “punishment” is the result of running afoul of vengeful, wandering spirits.