"All of the regions of the world have their legends. Some richer, some more simple, but always related to their mythology or their past.
Sometimes these come from actual facts, happenings from a time in the remote past, that, with the passage of time, on being told and retold, are transformed and enriched with magical elements and acquire dimensions beyond reality.
On other occasions they represent the symbolic or idealized expression of the desires of primitive societies. These, that remain beyond possibility and knowledge, are made real in figurative form through symbolism and legend.
In the end, they originate from the expression of fear in the face of circumstances or happenings that gravely affect the lives of a people and that man cannont prevent or avoid. The feared event, the possible menace, are transformed then into a legend.
In these last two types we find some common legends in societies that are far from one another and that have never had any contact with one another. Icarus, the mythological Greek being who flew with wings that were attached with wax, and the bird-man of Polynesia; the Ghost Ship of Nordic mythology and El Caleuche of Chiloé.
Chile has innumerable legends; some from before the Spanish conquest, that form part of the aboriginal myths; others that reflect the contact of those aboriginal myths with the conquerers; and finally, those that are born in the superhuman drive to occupy and dominate a territory that included some enormous unknown regions.
In this collection are gathered some of these legends, which embrace the regions from the northern desert to Tierra del Fuego in the south, as a small demonstration of the extremely varied mythical and legendary heritage of the country."

From the Prologue of "Leyendas Chilenas" (Chilean Legends) compiled by Fernando Emmerich and published by Editorial Andres Bello.