Tradition / Region: Malta Mythology
Alternative names: Il-Gawgaw
Category: Zombie
The Myth
The Gawgaw is a terrifying undead-like being from Maltese folklore, feared as a cursed creature that wanders through villages and fields during the night of Christmas Eve. It was believed to be connected to people born on December 24th, who were thought to have “stolen the Lord’s birthday” by entering the world on that sacred night.
According to the belief, anyone born on Christmas Eve carried a hidden curse. Every year, on the night of their birth, they would fall into a deep unnatural sleep and unknowingly transform into the Gawgaw. Their body or spirit — depending on the version of the tale — would leave the house and roam through the darkness until dawn.
The Gawgaw was described as a horrifying figure with long tangled hair covered in slime, twisted claws, and a staggering corpse-like walk. It moved through empty streets groaning hoarsely and terrifying anyone unlucky enough to encounter it. Some stories claimed it could slip through tiny cracks and openings to enter homes unnoticed.
Another tradition described the Gawgaw not wandering the roads, but furiously laboring through the countryside all night long. Dragging a massive harrow called a xatba behind it, the creature tore through fields making tremendous noise from midnight until the first church bells rang around four in the morning. Only then would it return home exhausted and resume human form.
Those cursed by the transformation supposedly remembered nothing upon waking, though their bruised bodies, exhaustion, and muddy clothes revealed what had happened during the night. Some wives even claimed their husbands physically vanished from bed every Christmas Eve before mysteriously returning by morning.
To prevent the transformation, the cursed person was required to remain awake the entire night. They occupied themselves by endlessly counting grains of rice or the holes of a sieve until sunrise, since falling asleep meant surrendering to the curse.
Old beliefs also claimed the Gawgaw could predict the end of winter. If, during its nightly wandering, its whiskers touched damp ground or dew, winter was considered nearly over. If the earth remained dry, cold weather would continue.
Children were warned that the Gawgaw hunted misbehaving youths. It was said to kidnap them during the night and carry them away to distant lonely places where they would perish from hunger and abandonment.
On the island of Gozo, folklore also spoke of the Mleika, the wife of the Gawgaw. She crept into houses on New Year’s Eve, bringing either good fortune or misfortune depending on the cleanliness and order of the household she visited.
Sources
Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Gavgav. Retrieved May 17, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/gavgav/