The legend of the Lizard of La Malena conveys cultural values such as bravery, ingenuity, and solidarity. It is an example of how oral tradition preserves a people's identity, reflecting their customs, fears, and symbols. It also teaches us that local culture is nourished by stories that serve both educational and symbolic functions, in which people overcome danger through intelligence and ingenuity. These stories become part of their heritage and collective identity.
Pre-Legend Activities
Starting Point: Ask students questions.
- What is a lizard?
- What would you do if you found a lizard? What if it were very, very large?
- If the lizard represented a threat to the city you live in, what would you do to make it disappear?
Cultural Eye
We design the sculpture of the Lizard of Jaén and analyze it using Prown's method in a large group.
Geographic location of the legend: Jaén
- Location on the map
- Comparison (Jaén, 17th and 21st centuries)
- Number of inhabitants
- Architecture of the houses
- Basis of the economy of the city's inhabitants
- Photo Comparison
"Journey through the magic words"
Vocabulary related to the legend:
Lizard, legend, Jaén, fountain, church, cistern, monster, fear, sacrifice, brave, prisoner, shepherd, bait, lamb, bread, explosion, ingenuity, tradition, culture, symbol, sculpture, myth, heroism, bravery, water, people, story, transmission, popular, identity, heritage.
Legend Activities
"Explorers of Legends: Reading to Discover"
The legend is presented to the students in a short story format for reading. This will be done in small groups (three people). Afterward, we will highlight the most important details that will lead us to the main idea of the text. A summary will then be read to the entire class, who will assess whether any relevant information is missing.
"Explorers of Legends: What the Objects Hide"
Objects related to the legend of the Malena Lizard, such as the Magdalena fountain, urban sculptures, or traditional illustrations, not only give visual form to the story but also allow us to travel back in time and gain a deeper understanding of Spanish culture. Through them, we discover how fear, courage, and popular justice were expressed in a society where legends helped explain the unknown.
These elements also reflect how art, oral tradition, and local identity intertwine, keeping this story alive in the collective memory of the city of Jaén and, by extension, in the popular culture of Spain.
Objects from the legend of the Malena Lizard and their cultural value:
The lizard
- Represents collective fears and the forces of nature
- Symbolizes how folklore transforms real or imagined dangers into stories with values
The fountain or cistern
- Reflects the importance of water as a vital resource in Mediterranean culture
- Common feature in legends and daily life, linked to village life
The bread and lamb (lizard bait)
- Allude to traditional food and the symbolic use of sacrifice as a form of protection
- Bread is also a key element in Spanish culture, both in daily life and in religious observance.
The Church of La Magdalena
- Highlights the presence of religion and sacred art in urban life
- Illustrates how folk tales are set in real, historically significant spaces
The stone or figure of the lizard (present-day)
- Symbolizes collective memory, how the myth becomes a cultural symbol of the city
Post-Legend Activities
"Between legends and traditions: guaranteed fun!"
- Comparison: If that situation had happened today, how would we have acted?
- Puppet Theater
- Make a plaster or cardboard lizard figure.
- Create a puzzle with the lizard figure.
- A quiz will be conducted using Kahoot. We can create a variable where students can create questionnaires to review content with their classmates, promoting participation and active learning.
- Word search with vocabulary words from the legend
