The Lady With Goat’s Feet
A pact with the devil, love, and intrigue from the Medieval Iberian world
In a mythical past of the land of Biscaia (a province in present-day Basque Country, Spain), there was a lord who fell in love with a beautiful lady… But she wasn’t just a lady. She was either a magical being or a demon, depending on who you ask. This is their story.
The basic and the Lady’s backstory that I describe are taken from Alexandre Herculano’s version of the tale and not from the medieval manuscripts, presenting some variations. Herculano based his tale, A Dama Pé de Cabra: Rimance de um Jogral (Século XI) (The Lady Goat’s Foot: A Minstrel Romance (11th Century)) (1851), on the Livro de Linhagens of the Conde D. Pedro de Barcelos, but changed the narrator and thus some of the messages intertwined in the story. Additionally, please I must warn you that all the quotes were translated by me from the original Portuguese sources.
The Plot
D. Diogo Lopes, a nobleman from Biscaia was hunting when he was caught unaware by the melodious singing of a beautiful woman. He then offered her his heart and all of his possessions if she married him. The lady promptly accepted, but on one condition: he could never bless himself again. Sometime later, D. Diogo noticed that his new wife had goat’s feet…
