O dry body is a legend of Brazilian folklore which speaks of a deceased who was cursed to roam the Earth after being rejected by God and the devil. The reason for rejection would be the evils he would have committed in life, making him such a disgusting being that not even the Earth wanted his flesh. It's a popular legend in Southeast and South from Brazil.
Accessalso: Curupira – the legend of the guardian of the forest, according to Brazilian folklore
Location
Brazilian folklore is very rich, and many of its legends have regionalized contours, being very strong in certain parts of the country and unknown or little known in others. This is the case of the dry body, a well-known legend in the South and Southeast, especially in the states of They arePaul, Minesgeneral, Paraná and SantaCatherine.
Despite being well known in these states, the dry-body legend can also vary in them, assuming forms peculiar to a region. This legend is from european origin and was brought to Brazil, possibly, by the Portuguese. Scholars say it can be found in other regions of the country, such as the
North East.Accessalso: Saci-pererê, one of the best known legends of our folklore
Who is the dry-body?
The dry-body is a cursed being, a kind of undead who is doomed to roam the Earth terrorizing people. He is a corpse that was returned by the earth, which does not accept him because of the evils he performed in life. The evils of the deceased who are transformed into a dry body are so great that neither God nor the devil wanted to receive his soul.
As the soul of the deceased was not accepted in heaven and hell and the earth refused to devour the body, the dead it returns to the plane of the living and, in the condition of neither alive nor dead, it will terrify the living who pass by by him. As it is not dead, its body does not rot, but as it is not alive, it is not fed either, so the dry body literally has the bodydried up, with just the bones and the leather.
Dry body still has huge hair and nails, because they never stop growing. This feature made it known also as nail in some regions.
Why was the dry-body cursed?
The dry-body was cursed because of the evils he committed in life. Traditional legend has it that he tortured and murdered his own mother. However, regional variations of the narrative indicate that dry-body was a man known for committing numerous evils against family members and strangers. Other variations point to him as the one who made a promise to God and didn't keep it.
What does dry-body do?
The dry-body is a cursed being, but its only action, according to the legends, is terrorize those who see it. A variation of the legend relates it to the shouter, another folkloric narrative about a lost soul that wanders through the night, invading people's properties and emitting frightening sounds.
Thus, the dry-body would be the physical abode of the shouter, the lost soul. According to anthropologist and folklorist Luís da Câmara Cascudo, this convergence of the two legends is present in the state of Paraná.|1|.
|1| CAMERA CASCUDO, Luís da. Geography of Brazilian Myths. São Paulo: Global, 2012.
By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher
