the boi bruador, a bellowing ox which can be heard at night near lakes, a legend first recorded circa 1550. Olláparos are giants similar to cyclopes who sometimes have also an eye on the back of the head. They are related to the Cantabrian Ojáncanu. Bruxas and meigas (witches) can take the form of animals. In particular, the chuchonas ('suckers') can take the form of a blowfly to feed on the blood of babies and children, causing anaemia. Lobishomes (werewolves) are humans who sometimes turn into wolves because of a curse. Manuel Blanco Romasanta was a Galician serial killer sentenced to death in 1853 for thirteen assassinations. His legal defence was based in his condition of werewolf as consequence of a curse. Anciently, there were giant serpents (serpe, there's a mountain range called Cova da Serpe, 'Sepents' dem', so named since at least the 10th century), some of them winged, and dragons (dragón) which could feed on cattle. On the legend of the transfer of the body of Saint James from the Holy land to Galicia, recorded in the 12th century Codex Calixtinus, the local queen, Lupa ('She-wolf'), commanded the disciples of Saint James to go grab a pair of meek oxen she had by the hill known as Pico Sagro ("Sacred Peak"), where a dragon dwelt, with the hope that either the dragon or the oxen (which were actually fierce bulls) would kill them. There were also cocas (cockatrices), which were taken out in procession in certain dates, as attested since 1437. In the town of Redondela this procession is still held each year. The compaña ('retinue'), hoste ('army'), estantiga ( < hoste antiga, 'anciente army'), Santa Compaña ('holy retinue') is the local version of the wild hunt. In its modern form is a nocturne procession of the dead, who, porting candles or torches, and frequently a coffin, announce the imminent decease of a neighbour. This procession can "capture" a living person, who is then obliged to precede the Santa Compaña all night long, through forest, streams and brambles, or until another one takes his place. One can protect himself from being taken by the Compaña by tracing a circle and getting inside it, or by throwing oneself to the ground and ignoring the Compaña while it passes over. A solitary phantom related to the Compaña is the estadea. This myth is also related to the fairy host in