Primarily based in Paraguay, significant Guaraní populations also exist in Bolivia and Brazil. Though their pre-colonial history is based on oral tradition and not all that well documented, much of Guaraní folklore has survived up till today, no doubt in part because the myths and legends are so strikingly beautiful: take, for example Irupé, a woman who was turned into a giant lily because she fell in love with the moon; or how about Manimbi, the hummingbird, who ferries good spirits that live in flowers back to Tupá, the creator, "so he can cherish them"; then there’s also the Isondú, or glow worms, which are the reincarnations of certain people, and a whole host of pombero, goblin or elf-like spirits who dwell in the forest, the most famous of these imps being Yasi Yateré, which one legend describes as a "handsome, thickly bearded, blond dwarf" who goes about in the nude and lives in tree trunks, and another claims is an "ugly, lame, old man," who has backwards feet and loves honey. Read Less