Chilean mythology

thumb|Duendecitos by Francisco Goya, 1799 thumb|Model of a duende

thumb|200px|right|1840s (fanciful) illustration of a Patagon chief from near the Strait of Magellan, bedecked in costume of war; from ''Voyage au pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie...'' by French explorer [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]] The Patagons or Patagonian giants were a mythical race of giant humans rumoured to be living in Patagonia described in early European accounts. They were said to have exceeded at least double normal human height, with some accounts giving heights of or more. Tales of these people maintained a hold upon European conceptions of the region for nearly 300 years.

thumb|220px|Modern representation of a golden Alicanto. The alicanto, in Chilean mythology, is a nocturnal flightless bird of the Atacama desert, which is said to run at night with glowing outspread wings, glittering in the gold or silver color deriving from the precious ores it supposedly eats. Some say it has strangely shining eyes. If the bird can be successfully detected without being noticed, it will lead the miner or prospector to a mother lode of gold or silver. But if the bird detects a human, it is said to extinguish its illumination, then disappear into darkness, or worse, lead the h

Mythical city in South America