Su Guardianu ‘e S’Orcu

The figure holding the beast tied with a rope is the Guardian, and represents the man who tries to tame the animal by tugging it with a whip and stick for the duration of the journey, and finally killing it. In the past, when the women of a family died, widowers, in order to show their greatest sorrow, used to wear an orbace coat, fasten it up to their necks, put the hood over their heads and darken their faces with soot. This was because they lost a vital figure: the female, the wife, the mother, and so fertility had died in that house.
In Carnival symbolism, this loss is associated with the death of the earth which, only after the sacrifice of the animal, will return to bear fruit.
The Guardian’s rattles were used to ward off evil spirits from the countryside and the rope had a deep connection with the water that was asked to the God.
In the Ancient Carnival of Siniscola, in which everything revolves around the death and rebirth of the earth, the guardian represents the grief of widowers.