6 Fantastic Legends of the Midwest Region

The Midwest region has legends that reflect the local nature, such as large rivers, forests and fauna.

Beings that protect the water or houses destroyed because of the greed of the residents are some of the stories that circulate in the region, which is formed by Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás.

Discover these legends and learn about the rich Brazilian folklore!

1. Legend of the Golden Mother

The Mãe-do-Ouro is a mythical being that lives in the regions of the gold mines in the heart of the Brazilian hinterland.

She is a beautiful woman who protects metal deposits and hidden treasures so that they are not found by the wrong people. She also guards wives who have been abused by their husbands and anyone else who suffers injustice.

It is said that an enslaved black man, whose master was evil, wept bitterly on the day he found no nugget of gold. The Mother-of-Gold took pity on him and ended up indicating a place where he could extract a large amount of the metal. In return, he could not reveal where she had found that wealth.

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When taking the gold to the master, the master was delighted and immediately demanded that the slave tell where all that metal was. As he refused, the master ordered him to be flogged and, faced with the punishment, the black revealed where the gold mine was.

Once there, the slaves began to dig the ground. However, there was a great bang that sounded like an earthquake. A landslide killed everyone there, including the evil lord.

2. Arranca-Línguas Legend

The woods and paths of the sertão are populated with frightening creatures. They are monsters and beings from another world that walked through the fields almost always at night.

One of them is Arranca-Línguas, a being that lives on the banks of the Araguaia River, which bathes the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Pará. He is a monstrous creature, which looks like a big gorilla and is on the lookout for its victims who can be human beings, animals and all those who have a tongue!

To attract his victims he uses a very unique resource. It is said that he disguises himself as a leafy tree or a fallen trunk so that people can lean back and rest.

Just when the tired traveler is resting, peacefully on the riverbank, he attacks him, kills him and rips out his tongue.

3. Legend of the House of 365 Windows

Commander Joaquim was one of the richest men in Goiás in the 19th century. He had so much money that he had a beautiful house built with 365 windows, one for each day of the year. To build it, he didn't look at expenses, he used the finest woods, he used gold finishes and the lamps were made of a very pure crystal.

The house had meeting rooms, a ballroom, bedrooms, alcoves for travelers, a kitchen, pantries and everything else that meant comfort in those times. There was no prettier abode and all who passed through those fields approached to contemplate it. The mansion's fame was so great that even artists who had never seen it painted paintings about it.

One fine day, the Commander died and left no heirs. Therefore, the people entered the house, searched all its corners in search of the hidden treasures that the commander had. Those who couldn't take the golden glasses or the soft sheets, ripped off pieces of the wooden floor and also the beautiful windows that were the jewel of that construction.

Legend has it that several pieces of the house were used to build others in Goiás and, therefore, you can hear the Comendador's footsteps through the streets looking for parts of his old house from the 365 windows.

4. Legend of Minhocão from Pari

Every fisherman has a case to tell about his fishing trips. Generally, the fish that escaped was the biggest in the world. However, fishermen also tell stories of creatures that jealously guard the freshwater inhabitants.

The oldest say that in the Cuiabá river there was a creature that looked like a snake that watched over the waters. It was so big and strong that several riverside people, during the night, crossed the river walking on its back, thinking it was a tree trunk.

The animal was furious when it encountered fishermen who caught fish during the breeding season and, therefore, turned over the canoes of those who did not respect the time of spawning.

The strength of the Minhocão do Pari was so great that the banks of the rivers did not contain the movement of the waves. Hence they were getting wider and wider. Today the creature no longer appears to protect the fish and they say it left in the great flood of 1974.

5. Legend of Nego d'Água

The legend of Nego d'Água appears in several places in Brazil that are bathed by rivers. Thus, those who live on the banks of rivers, such as the Caiapó, in Goiás, know this character, also called Negrinho d'Água. It is a black boy, bald, with the hands and feet of fins who lives in the depths of the river.

Nego d'Água doesn't like to be mocked or disturbed by his domains. Protect the fish by cutting the line of the nets and removing the hook from the mouth of those who are caught.

Therefore, some fishermen throw a little cachaça into the river's waters to escape punishment. Others always have some tobacco on hand to give you if they find it. As all prudence is little, there are fishermen who paint stars on the hull of their boats in order to confuse the Nego d'Água.

Only when Nego d'Água sees that there are white-legged women inside a boat does he change his strategy. He walks around the boat and does everything to knock it down and thus kidnap some of them.

6. Legend of the Bottle Foot

Pé de Garrafa is a man who lives in the forests, whose feet are shaped like a bottle, the body is covered with hair, except for the navel which is white and is considered his weak point.

His footprints are very curious and don't look like any animal's. For this reason, more than one hunter has had the misfortune to get close to Pé de Garrafa.

The creature walks through the woods, emitting a shriek and drawing hunters into its domain. These should not challenge Pé de Garrafa, as the animal usually kills them or imprisons the soul of the unfortunate in a bottle.

The only way to escape its clutches is to hit the monster's white navel squarely. However, just in case, the best thing is to escape from Pé de Garrafa!