The legend of the source "Friorosa"

Nowadays, The legend of the source of Sa Friorosa has been telling emphatically and with great participation. It has its roots in the extraordinary importance that water has always had for Sardinian people.


The term "friorosa" means chilly and so was named the third daughter of a shepherd of Isili. She was so named precisely because this poor girl, unlike her sisters, suffered always of cold chills, in summer and winter; she was weak, exhausted, sick, powerless, unfit for any work.


The little girl could not be helpful in any way, because every little move cost her a lot of efforts and that inability her great discomfort.

In a beautiful summer day the young girl, together with her sisters and a relative, took a trip not far from the village. They walked looking for a little country church at whose side a stream gushed. After a few hours of walk they found no trace of either the church, nor the spring. The scorching sun of August was hot and the poor guys were desperate looking for a little water to drink to cool off a bit.


This desperate search of water lasted for long time, but the streams were all dry and there were no springs or streams nearby. More and more they tried, so, their thirst increased. The Friorosa did not have the strength to help the sisters in research and poured on the ground, next to a rock, exhausted. She caught the distress of the others and in that secluded place she found the energy to apply a final prayer, asking desperately to be transformed into a spring to save the lives of her sisters. She wanted, for once in her life, to help the others. She wanted, in a nutshell, melt like snow in the sun and turn into water.


Her wish was granted, and the miracle was accomplished. The Friorosa had become really a spring. From the rock gushed a vein of fresh water and saved the lives of sisters and of the cousin, that could finally drink.
The young girl immolated herself and her act was not been in vain. She had finally been helpful to her family.

The interesting aspect in this beautiful legend of Sarcidano is given by the sacrifice and the meaning that it had. It was common belief that the sacrifice was an essential element for the continuation of life. We know the enormous importance that the water had for the Nuragic Sardinian people.


It was considered to all effects a divinity and the prevalence of the worship of water in Nuragic Sardinia underscores its extraordinary importance.
Thus the ritual of water has always represented one of the most fascinating events of religiosity of the ancient Sardinians, in a land where drought was a constant and the water supply has always been a problem. The valuable sacred wells are the direct architectural consequence of this archaic form of worship. In periods of drought, therefore, there were also made human sacrifices in hopes of getting water.


The legend of Sa Friorosa is important because it captures the most pitiful of sacrifices. A spontaneous sacrifice, ardently sought, a burst of altruistic donation, which deviates from the tragedy of sacrifices violence, typical of other legends of Sardinia.


In this legend they talk about a voluntary sacrifice, focused on a very precious good, essential for life, past and present. Even today there are those who are willing to ensure that in the countryside of Isili, there really is a small spring of water, topped by a large rock, from where water flows pure, just as the soul of the young "friorosa".