October brings autumn to Asturias. Days grow shorter, temperatures fall and the rains return, though mild days are still possible. Some leaves change colour and fall in the forests; damp paths invite a slower walk.

The month: stories at dusk

As darkness comes earlier, home becomes a place for conversation again. For generations, stories were told aloud: someone began with an encounter on the road and others listened, asked questions or added details. There was no printed version to fix the tale; each voice made it its own.

The mischievous voice: the Diañu Burlón

The Diañu Burlón is a character in Asturian stories who tricks, frightens or confuses those who meet him. “Diañu” means devil in Asturian, but in these tales he is a popular, mischievous figure, not necessarily the devil of Christian doctrine. A traveller may think the way is familiar, then discover something has led them astray: the fright becomes a story when told back at home.

Oral tradition lives because it is told and changes. Asking older people which version they remember also preserves the voice, place and occasion on which they learned it.

Cantlos, song and caution

Cantlos appears in the Coligny calendar, a Gaulish inscription found in France. It has been linked with singing, though the interpretation is uncertain. It does not prove that October was a month of song or that the Diañu Burlón shares a Celtic origin.