Myths & legends from South Tyrol

According to the legend from Eggental, the dwarf king Laurin had a hard-working people, mountains full of precious ore and a beautiful rose garden of which he was very proud. He lacked only one thing: a wife. When the king on the Etsch was looking for a groom for his daughter Similde, Laurin wanted to take part in the knight tournament organised in her honour. However, all noblemen of the environs were invited, excepting King Laurin. Enraged, he went anyway – but by means of a magic hat as an invisible guest.

As the dwarf king saw Similde, he immediately fell in love with her. Without further ado, he abducted her. Together with some knights, Prince Dietrich of Bern set out to save the princess. With a magic belt that made him as strong as twelve men, King Laurin awaited them in his rose garden. But his was still not strong enough to beat Dietrich of Bern, and so he once again used the magic hat. However, the knights saw where Laurin was jumping around by the movements of the roses. So, they finally succeeded in capturing the dwarf king.

Laurin felt betrayed by his rose garden, and so he cursed it: No one should ever see it again – neither by day nor by night. But he had forgotten about twilight in his curse. This is why King Laurin’s rose garden can always blossom anew at sunrise and sunset – in the form of the alpenglow, which is also called "Enrosadira" in this country.

Once there was a king’s son who had everything you can imagine. Nevertheless, he had one cherished wish: He wanted to travel to the moon. One night, when he was lost in the forest, he came across two little old men in a shimmering metal box. They were from the moon, they said. So, the prince begged them to take him to the moon too, and after a while they agreed and fulfilled his dream.

The prince was overjoyed and immediately fell in love with the daughter of the Moon King. The bright red alpine roses he gave her delighted the Moon Princess so much that she fell in love too. On the moon, all flowers were white – just like everything else. However, the king’s son began to go blind from all the white. He could no longer stay on the moon, and so he took the princess with him to earth. She brought some white flowers with her. Enchanted by their bright colour, people later called them "Edelweiss".

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the Moon Princess fell ill on earth. She feared that the huge black mountains around her would come closer and closer and crush her. So, she returned to the moon. The prince was devastated and turned away from everything – until he met a dwarf. The latter promised to help the king’s son if he would grant him and his dwarf people a land to live on.

And this is how it happened: At night, the dwarfs began to spin the moon. They plucked luminous threads from the moon and wrapped the entire mountain range in them – until it glowed white. So, the Moon Princess could return, and they lived happily ever after. The Dolomites, the "pale mountains", have kept heir bright colour until today.