Gigiàt

Lombardy · The Alpine arc
Val Masino (province of Sondrio), with extensions into Valchiavenna and Bregaglia

Gigiàt — enormous creature, an indefinite hybrid of ibex, deer and chamois, with very long hair, crossing a valley in a few bounds.

Variants and dialect names

Gigiàt, Gigiàtt

What is told

Enormous creature, an indefinite hybrid of ibex, deer and chamois, with very long hair, crossing a valley in a few bounds. Benevolent towards those who respect the mountain, punitive towards those who profane it.

What it was forthe author’s reading

Supernatural sanction of the Alpine pastoral code — do not waste, do not kill beyond need — and explanation of anomalous noises at altitude.

Where it is attested

Roberto Corbella, Creature del mistero, 2004. Local Valtellinese websites and almanacs.

Caution

Weak entry. No nineteenth-century ethnographic collection, no attestation earlier than the advanced twentieth century. The etymology has not been verified against dialect dictionaries. There is a concrete risk of contamination with the burlesque strand of the Franco-Swiss dahu.

The grade says how well the entry is documented, not how interesting it is. How the grades are assigned.