The myth of the tooth-fanged vagina in three folklore tales about acts with the devil on the northern and southern coasts of Peru

Viera-Mendoza S. · Boletin de Literatura Oral (2026) · DOI: 10.17561/blo.v16.9846

Resumen

This study aims to explore how the folkloric narratives “The Devil Outwitted”, “The Devil Who Built the Bridge” and “Bringing an Unknown Animal” (ATU 1191, ATU 1091, and ATU 810A*) have generated three variants with distinct narrative trajectories in the oral tradition of Peru’s northern and southern coasts, which differ from other cycles involving the devil. Among the collected versions circulating in the country regarding the pact with the devil and the outwitted devil, these three versions stand out, in which the devil is defeated thanks to feminine cunning and the riddle of the “two mouths”. The new meaning and connotation of these three versions, titled “The Deal Between the Devil and the Farmer”, “The Story Goes That the Devil Went With a Band of Demons” and “The Story of Montero as It Has Been Told to Me”, allow us to establish their thematic links with the myth of the toothed vagina and with the symbols of supreme religious power in the pre-Hispanic world: head and tail.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia