Tinerfe

For the genus of ctenophores, see Tinerfe (ctenophore).

Tinerfe "the Great", legendary hero who was a guanche mencey (aboriginal king) of the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). It is estimated that he lived at the end of the 14th century.

Statue of Tinerfe (Adeje, Tenerife)

He was the son of mencey Sunta, who ruled the island in the days before the conquest of the Canary Islands by Castile. Tinerfe the Great lived in Adeje (like all his predecessors), approximately a hundred years before the conquest of 1494.

Upon Tinerfe's death, his sons divided the island into nine kingdoms. At the time of the conquest the kings of these kingdoms were:

• Acaimo or Acaymo (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Tacoronte).
• Adjona: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Abona).
• Añaterve: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Güímar).
• Bencomo: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Taoro).
• Beneharo: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Anaga).
• Pelicar: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Icode).
• Pelinor: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Adeje).
• Romen: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Daute).
• Tegueste: (mencey (king) of Menceyato de Tegueste).

In the toponymy of the island

The 17th-century historians Juan Núñez de la Peña and Tomás Arias Marín de Cubas, among others, state that the name of the island of Tenerife could come from Tinerfe.^[1]