Madremonte

Overview

In Misael Devia Morales’s Tolima account, Madremonte is a tall, powerful woman wearing green and a conspicuous feathered hat. She defends woodland and property boundaries, confusing trespassers until even a small grove seems impossible to leave. This account connects her anger with storms and damaged farms, and particularly with neighbours who dishonestly move fences.

Tomás Carrasquilla’s La marquesa de Yolombó gives her a darker place in the imagined world of Antioquian mining. Moss and decay cling to her body, and her bathing at river sources is blamed for polluted water and illness. She also appears in a comic exchange as a disguise adopted by someone teasing a neighbour. These contrasting uses show how the same name moves between an ominous landscape presence, social rules, and everyday humour within identifiable regional writing.

Origins & earliest records

Carrasquilla’s novel began appearing in serial form in 1926, according to the National Library’s edition introduction. Devia’s folklore writing circulated in the Revista Colombiana de Folclor during 1962–1965 and was reissued in 2013. These are documented literary and collection witnesses, not dates for the oral figure’s first emergence.

Records & interpretation

The inspected novel preserves both a fearsome description and a joking impersonation, while Devia provides a Tolima collector’s regional account. The National Library’s Itinerancias project also credits María del Carmen Cardona of La Plata, Palestina, Caldas, as a living narrator. Her catalogue attribution was checked, but the linked video was not watched or transcribed.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   La marquesa de Yolombó

   Tomás Carrasquilla · 1926

   Initial serial publication year; forest-being passages and a joking Madremonte impersonation inspected in the National Library’s 2015 digital edition.

2. 02

   Folclor Tolimense

   Misael Devia Morales · 2013

   University reissue of writing originally published in 1962–1965; Madremonte on printed pp64–65.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textLa marquesa de Yolombó — Biblioteca Básica de Cultura ColombianaResearch access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary textFolclor Tolimense — original PDF, Ediciones UnibaguéResearch access: 2026-10-05
3. CommunityLa Madremonte — Itinerancias, María del Carmen CardonaResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.