In Italian folklore, the Befana (a lexical corruption of Epiphany, from the Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epifáneia, through bifanìa and befanìa) is an elderly lady who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on the eve of Epiphany (the night of January 5), similar to Santa Claus or the Magi; she is a figure linked to the Italian Christmas season. In Christmas folklore, the Befana visits all the children in Italy on the eve of Epiphany to fill their stockings with sweets, candies, dried fruits, and toys if they have behaved well. Otherwise, those who have misbehaved will find their stockings filled with coal or garlic.
In many poorer parts of Italy, especially in rural Sicily, a stick was placed in a stocking instead of coal. Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before leaving. For some, “sweeping away” means sweeping away the problems of the year. The child’s family usually leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with some bites, often regional or local, for the Befana. She is usually depicted as a witch flying on a broomstick, wearing a black shawl and covered in soot because she enters children’s homes through the chimney. She often smiles and carries a bag, sack, or basket full of candies, gifts, or both.
History of Befana
The origin was perhaps connected to a set of pagan propitiatory rites dating back to the 10th–6th century B.C., concerning seasonal cycles linked to agriculture, related to the harvest of the past year, now ready to be reborn as the new year, spread in northern, central, and southern Italy through an ancient Mithraism and other related cults, such as the Celtic one, linked to the boreal winter. The ancient Romans inherited these rites, associating them with the Roman calendar and celebrating the temporal interregnum between the end of the solar year, essentially the winter solstice, and the recurrence of the Invincible Sun. The twelfth night after the winter solstice marked the death and rebirth of nature through Mother Nature.
The Romans believed that during these twelve nights (whose number would represent both the twelve months of the innovative Roman calendar in its transition from purely lunar to lunisolar, but probably also associated with other numbers and mythological symbols), female figures would fly over cultivated fields to propitiate the fertility of future harvests, hence the myth of the “flying” figure. According to some, this female figure was initially identified with Diana, the lunar goddess not only associated with hunting but also with vegetation. According to others, she was associated with a minor deity called Sàtia (the goddess of satiety) or Abùndia (the goddess of abundance). Another hypothesis connects the Befana to an ancient Roman festival, also held in winter, in honor of Janus and Strenia (from which the term “strenna” also derives), during which gifts were exchanged.
According to widely accepted interpretations in central and northern Europe, it would refer to the Celtic figure of Perchta, a female figure widespread throughout Europe with vaguely similar names: Bertha in Great Britain, Berchta in Austria, Switzerland, France, and Northern Italy; Holda or “Frau Holle” in Germany; and Frigg in Scandinavia. It is always a feminine personification of winter and is often depicted as an old, hunchbacked woman with a hooked nose, disheveled white hair, and abnormal feet, dressed in rags and worn-out shoes.
Already in the 4th century AD, the then-Church of Rome began to condemn all pagan rites and beliefs, defining them as a product of satanic influences. These overlaps gave rise to many personifications, which culminated in the late Middle Ages. The broom is thought to be a representation of the pyres, where the handle represented the pole to which the condemned woman was tied and the twigs represented the stack of firewood, but the flying broom was also an ancient symbol representing the purification of homes (and souls) in anticipation of the rebirth of the season.
Condemned by the Church, the ancient pagan female figure was gradually accepted into Catholicism as a kind of dualism between good and evil. Already in the time of the theologian Epiphanius of Salamis, the Epiphany celebration itself was proposed on the date of the twelfth night after Christmas, thus absorbing the ancient pagan numerical symbolism. In 1928, the fascist regime introduced the celebration of Fascist Befana, where gifts were distributed to children from less affluent classes. After Mussolini’s fall, the Fascist Befana continued to be celebrated only in the Italian Social Republic.
In more recent times, countless and widely spread are the Italian representations of Befana and the festivals dedicated to her; often it is a performer who descends from the bell tower of a town square, or elderly women disguised to distribute gifts to children. Tradition depicts her as “old” to indicate the end of a cycle: with the winter solstice, we transition from the old to the new, from cold and endless nights to the lengthening of the period of light; furthermore, on the legal calendar level, with the end of the year, we enter the new Gregorian year; even liturgically, the strong liturgical, Christmas season concludes, and the Ordinary Time begins. That is why on the day of Epiphany, when Befana is also celebrated, the saying goes, “Epiphany, all holidays take away.”
Features of Befana
The Name
The name “Befana,” referring to the female figure displayed on the night of Epiphany, was already widespread in the popular dialect of the 14th century, especially in the lands of ancient Etruria (Tuscany and Tuscia in present-day northern Lazio). It was first used in Italian by Francesco Berni in 1535 and later by Agnolo Firenzuola in 1541. Since, by tradition, the Befana leaves gifts in a stocking hanging by the fireplace, in Dovadola in the Forlì Apennines, they prepare the sock defined as “the longest in the world.” There are still some rare places where the term “Pefana” has remained in popular language, such as in the town of Montignoso, in the rest of the Province of Massa-Carrara, in La Spezia, as well as in Garfagnana and Versilia, with traditions not in line with the usual Epiphany celebrations.
A religious version, on the other hand, tells that the Three Wise Men, on their way to Bethlehem, asked an old woman for directions and insisted that she go with them to bring gifts to the Savior. The old woman refused, but shortly after, repentant, she prepared a sack full of gifts and set out in search of the Magi and baby Jesus. Not finding them, she knocked on every door and delivered gifts to children, hoping to be forgiven for her refusal.
The Character
The Befana evokes the religious tradition of Saint Lucy (Santa Lucia), who dispensed gifts to children before her, as St. Nicholas did before the advent of Santa Claus. She is not evil; she is only annoyed with adults and grumpy with those she doesn’t like because they try to be clever. But with children, she is indulgent and understanding, a little grandmother full of care and gifts.
Befana’s Physical Appearance and Symbolism
She is not a beautiful, young, and charming woman; on the contrary, she is an old lady hunched by the ailments of age and cold, with few teeth, a wrinkled face, and sometimes, but not always, a very prominent nose to emphasize her old age and lack of beauty due to age.
The old appearance derives from a symbolic representation of the old year: once truly concluded, it can be burned, as happened in many European countries where there was a tradition of burning effigies dressed in worn-out clothes at the beginning of the year (see, for example, Giubiana and Panevin or Pignarûl, Casera, Seima or Brusa la vecia, the Falò del vecchione held in Bologna on New Year’s, as well as the “sparo del Pupo” in Gallipoli, or the bonfire of Veggia Pasquetta, which opens the carnival every year on January 6 in Varallo, Piedmont). In many parts of Italy, the practice of burning or sawing into pieces a puppet in the shape of an old woman (in this case filled with sweets) was instead part of the rituals at the end of Lent. A similar thing happens in Salento with the puppet of Caremma, adorned with iconographic symbols reminiscent of the ancient Fates. In this perspective, the use of gifts would again take on a propitiatory value for the new year.
Clothing and Shoes
To adequately shield herself, the Befana wears long, worn, and cheerfully patched skirts; she often wears an apron. Additionally, she uses heavy, anti-cold stockings and comfortable shoes, but not the high boots more suitable for fairytale witches. On her sometimes hunched shoulders, she always has a shawl made of heavy and colorful wool, not a fluttering cloak, as seen in some images on the internet.
The Kerchief
One must not confuse the Befana with the witches of Anglo-Saxon tradition. A genuine Befana, in fact, does not wear a pointed hat, as often depicted on many websites, blogs, and even in some television commercials. Instead, she exclusively uses a heavy fabric kerchief (the pezzóla) or a large woolen scarf knotted prominently under the chin.
The Broom
She carries a broom, often used for support or for brief flights. In the imagination, Befana rides the broom differently from depictions of witches, holding the twigs in front of her. Even in this aspect, the specific iconography of the Befana is not entirely comparable to that of witches.
The Stocking
Another frequent “image” mistake about the Befana concerns the sack of gifts. In reality, the true Befana carries her gifts and her coal and garlic in worn and loose jute sacks that take the form of enormous stockings or in wicker baskets, depending on the locality and tradition of the celebration.
The Coal
According to oral tradition, the Befana delivers gifts to good children or coal and garlic to mischievous children. The coal, or even ashes, initially a symbol of ritual bonfires, were originally placed in stockings or shoes along with sweets in remembrance of seasonal renewal and burned effigies. In the moral Catholic perspective of subsequent centuries, only coal and/or garlic were placed in stockings and shoes as punishment for children who had misbehaved during the previous year.
Epiphany Celebrations in Italy
In Veneto, on the night between January 5 and 6, the tradition “Se brusa a vecia” takes place, where a straw effigy shaped like the Befana is burned in the fields. It is a propitiatory ritual to burn away the troubles and negativities of the past year. The direction in which the sparks and smoke will go is also significant: “Faive a ponente panoce gnente, faive a levante panoce tante…” It is also a way to bring the community together in a moment so crucial to rural life: people drink vin brulè and eat pinza, a typical Venetian dessert.
In Liguria, Bazâra (pronounced basâra), the origin of the word Befana is different from Italian. In Genoese, it means “dirty and unkempt old woman.” One might think of Iberian languages for the etymology of the word “basura,” which similarly means a dirty and unkempt person. The Bazara celebration is still called “Pasquetta” today. Unlike in Italian, in Liguria, Pasquetta does not refer to the day after Easter but to any holiday (Pasqua means the main holiday, and Pasquetta means a secondary one).
Not only does the word change, but so do some traditions. For example, children receive “ciapellette,” small shoes filled with chocolate, chestnuts, garlic, and mandarins, or alternatively, “marenghi d’öo,” chocolate coins. Traditionally, children would leave their shoes outside the window, and the hovering spirit of Bazâra in the night would fill them. According to legend, Bazâra was assumed to have broken shoes and needed new ones, leaving a reward for all the children willing to leave a pair as a gift outside the window. This celebration marks the first holiday of the year when, traditionally, fish and lasagne without eggs, called “bianche” or “Epifagna Gianca Lasagna” (meaning White Epiphany Lasagna or Mandilli de Sea), are eaten. In the past, girls would leave olive leaves on the hot ash of the fireplace to draw love prophecies.
In Urbania, a Official House of the Befana is traditionally set up. Every year, the “National Festival of the Befana” is celebrated there, a tradition now two decades old and known throughout Italy. Similarly, in Barga in Lucchesia, for twenty years, an association that “protects” the folkloric tradition of the Befana places the official house of the old lady in the woods adjacent to the village, with various events and initiatives culminating in the days of January 5 and 6.
Also in Tuscany, in the province of Grosseto, there are the “Befani” (on the island of Elba, they are called “Befanotti”), men who, on Epiphany day, go along with the Befana through the city streets of the towns, performing traditional Maremman songs and wishing “buona Pasqua” (Easter wishes tied to the Epiphany liturgy when the “announcement of Easter day” is read in the Church). In Capezzano Pianore, a fraction of the province of Lucca, the festival is particularly felt on January 5, with the participation of groups accompanying Befanas with traditional songs and music, bringing gifts and sweets to the hamlets of the village until late at night. On January 6, the festivities culminate with the liturgical procession carrying the statue of the child Jesus.
In Corsanico, a small hillside hamlet in the province of Lucca, the night of January 5 is celebrated. The Befana arrives at “Dalla Stagina” (a wooded area of the village) and reaches the homes of all the children to scare those who have behaved badly and bring gifts to those who have been good, usually accompanied by her unsettling and corpulent helper (Mrs. Trude). The Befana of Corsanico and her assistant wear long black robes, a large pointed hat decorated with ivy, and a black stocking to cover their faces. In Corsanico tradition, the Befana is anything but a reassuring figure.
Parents and grandparents usually prepare the children in early December, warning them that the arrival of the old witch is imminent and encouraging them to behave well and not be capricious. A custom linked to the Corsanico Befana is the “candy waterfall from the fireplace,” reciting the following formula: “Befana befana, you are my lady, you are my bride, throw me down something, a little apple, or a little pear, or a piece of Befanino” in front of the fireplace from early December until January 6.
In many cases, children can witness actual cascades of sweets, traditional cookies (Befanino), or dried fruits falling into their homes, directly from the fireplace. Another figure to mention is that of “Alca vecchia,” the very old mother of the Befana, who passes over the roofs of houses on the night of January 6 to check that the good children who received gifts continue to behave well even the day after receiving them. In the best-case scenario, she will come down the chimney to retrieve the gifts; in the worst case, in addition to the gifts, she will try to take home the naughtiest children. In Corsanico, there is also a significant tradition related to Befana songs, verses, stanzas, and playful lyrics specifically written to make fun of the most peculiar and talked-about figures in the village.
In Sardinia, the Italian “Befana” is instead an introduction that, although not indigenous and relatively recent, has eventually supplanted traditional festivals on the island, such as Pasca de sos tres Res or de is tres Urreis (“the feast of the three kings”), analogous to the Spanish festival de los reyes magos. The Carta de Logu, drafted in the Sardinian language and remaining in force until 1827, refers to Epiphany as Pasca Nuntza, as this is the day established for the correct definition of movable feasts, including Easter (known in Sardinian as sa Pasca Manna, “the big feast”).
The Traffic Policeman’s Befana
An important separate tradition in Italy was that of the traffic policeman’s Befana. It started in the first half of the twentieth century and exploded in the early ’50s, first with the advent of mass mopeds and then cars. It involved physically placing gifts at the sides of the platforms from which traffic police directed traffic. The tradition slowly waned in the ’60s due to the advent of traffic lights and the rapid change in Italians’ habits with the economic boom (although it is the subject of some revivals today).
Nursery Rhymes and Folk Legends
“Oh Befana Befanina
Fill the stocking, make it fine-a!
Pay no mind to whims so small
Bring dolls and candy for all!”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn and not a sight
With patches on her skirt so grand
Hooray hooray for Befana!”
From which the variant originates:
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a funny sight
With a nose like a Roman’s might
(Or: with a hat like a Roman’s might)
(Or: with a dress like a Roman’s might)
Hooray hooray for Befana!”
This is a variant common in Tuscany:
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, it’s quite a plight
She crosses all the roofs in flight
Bringing dolls and candy so bright”
Or:
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a sorry sight
Buys a new pair, that’s right
With pen and ink, she sets it right”
Calabrian Variant:
“Oh Befana Befanuzza
Leave the squash, don’t cause a fuss-a!
Pay no mind to candy so sweet
Bring bread and treats we can eat!”
Other variants:
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a funny sight
Dressed in a trullallà way
Here comes the Befana, hooray!”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a lovely sight
Dressed all in blue so true
Here comes the Befana, through and through”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a sight
Dressed in a big underskirt array
Hooray hooray for Befana!”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a sight
Dressed in a bandana so fine
Here comes, here comes the Befana!”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a funny sight
And they’re torn at the top, so high
The poor Befana, oh my oh my”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a sorry sight
Bringing wind and northern light
Hooray hooray for Befana!”
“The Befana comes at night
With stockings all torn, not tight
Dressed in a Spanish delight
Passing through, just one time, all right!”
“The Befana comes at night
With shoes all torn, a fight
With a dress all tattered and so
With a laundry basket in tow
Filled, filled with lovely gifts
For the children who are swift!”
According to a “Christianized” version of a legend dating back to the 12th century, the Wise Men, on their way to Bethlehem to bring gifts to the Baby Jesus, couldn’t find the way and asked an elderly lady for directions. Despite their insistence on her following them and visiting the baby, the woman did not leave her house to accompany them. Later, regretting not having gone with them, she prepared a sack full of gifts, went out of her house, and tried to find them without success. So, she stopped at every house she found along the way, giving gifts to the children she encountered, hoping that one of them was the little Jesus. Since then, she has traveled around the world, giving gifts to all children on the night of January 6th, seeking forgiveness.
In some versions, she is said to be the wife of Santa Claus, or in others, a friend or relative. In yet other versions, it is said that they are in slight conflict, as the man in red would spread the word of the non-existence of this old lady. In still others, it is narrated that the Befana has a very old husband (Il Befanotto), so ugly as to terrify children upon his arrival, while accompanying his old and dilapidated wife.
Serenades
In some areas of Italy, there has been a longstanding tradition of singing and playing serenades and songs about the Befana on the evening and night between the 5th and 6th of January.
Literature
In the 18th century, the learned Florentine Domenico Maria Manni wrote “L’Istorica notizia delle origini e del significato delle Befane” (The Historical Account of the Origins and Meaning of Befanas). In 1549, the writer Agnolo Firenzuola mentioned her in his poems. “La freccia azzurra” is a children’s story written by Gianni Rodari and published by Editori Riuniti in 1964. An animated film was adapted from this story, directed by Enzo D’Alò. Giovanni Pascoli wrote a poem titled “La befana.”
Filmography
- “La freccia azzurra,” an animated film by Enzo D’Alò (1996)
- “Miacarabefana.it,” directed by Lodovico Gasparini – TV film (2009)
- “S.O.S. Befana,” directed by Francesco Vicario – TV film (2011)
- “La Befana vien di notte,” directed by Michele Soavi (2018)
- “La Befana vien di notte II – Le origini,” directed by Paola Randi (2021)
- “Nuovo Santa Clause cercasi,” Disney+ series (2022-present) – The character of Befana appears, played by actress Laura San Giacomo.
