LEGENDS AND TALES
OF THE
HARZ MOUNTAINS.
TOOFIE LAUDER,
(Maria Elise Turner Lauder)
AUTHOR OF "EVERGREEN LEAVES."
London:
HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
27, PATERNOSTER ROW,
MDCCCLXXXI.
UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTM AND LONDON.
Dedicated
(BY SPECIAL PERMISSION)
TO HER MAJESTY
MARGHERITA,
QUEEN OF ITALY.
CONTENTS.
[LEGEND OF THE ROSSTRAPPE]
[THE GOLDEN CROWN IN THE BODE KESSEL]
[THE SEVEN SPRINGS OF THALE]
[LEGENDS OF THE TEUFELSMAUER]
[THE WUNDERSTEIN]
[CHARLOTTE OF BLANKENBURG, PRINCESS OF WOLFENBÜTTEL]
[THE GRAVE UNDER THE LINDENS NEAR BLANKENBURG]
[LEGENDS OF THE REGENSTEIN]
[THE LOST SKETCH-BOOK OF THE REGENSTEIN CHAPEL]
[THE FLOWER OF THE LAUENBURG]
[THE WHITE STAG]
[THE FISHERMAN OF TRESEBURG]
[LEGEND OF VOLKMARSKELLER]
[REINHILDE OF THE KÖNIGSBURG]
[THE TWELVE KNIGHTS IN THE SCHÖNEBURG]
[THE GEGENSTEINE]
[THE THREE CRYSTAL GOBLETS AND THREE GOLDEN BALLS OF SCHLOSS FALKENSTEIN]
[TIDIAN'S HÖHLE, OR CAVE]
[THE MÄGDESPRUNG AND MÄGDETRAPPE]
[SAGE OF SCHLOSS QUESTENBERG]
[BARBAROSSA AND THE KYFFHÄUSER]
[THE BURGFRÄULEIN OF OSTERODE]
[THE KEY-FAIRY OF THE GÜNTERSBURG]
[LEGEND OF THE DEVIL'S MILL]
[THE ORIGIN OF THE RAMMELSBERG MINE, NEAR GOSLAR]
[LEGEND OF THE HOPPELBERG]
[THE WHITE LADY]
[THE CHAPEL OF ROSES]
[PRINCESS ILSE]
[PRINCESS ILSE AND THE DELUGE]
[THE ILSENSTEIN]
[A DREAM UNDER PRINCESS ILSE'S FIRS]
[THE RED-HAIRED TRUDE]
[THE WILD HUNTSMAN]
[THE ORIGIN OF THE PHILIPPINE]
[GRAF ARNO'S CAPTURE]
[THE PEBBLE]
[THE MONK AND THE SPRING]
[HILDEGARD AND THE HAINERBURG]
[THE THREE STONE PARTRIDGES]
[THE FORESTER AND THE ENCHANTED CASTLE]
[THE STEINKIRCHE AND THE HERMIT]
[THE NYMPH RUMA AND THE WEINGARTEN HÖHLE]
[LEGEND OF THE SCHILDBERG]
[LEGEND OF SILBERHOHL]
[LAUTENTHAL]
[EVA VON TROTTA]
[THE WEINGARTEN HÖHLE AND THE THREE MEN]
[THE BELL-FOUNDER OF STOLBERG]
[THE COLT'S CAVE]
[LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER]
[THE MAIDEN'S CAVE IN THE SPATENBERG]
[THE THREE BROTHERS OF ZELLERFELD]
[THE RAVEN OF CLAUSTHAL]
[THE BERGMÖNCH AND WILDER MANN]
[THE NIMROD OF THE REHBERGERKLIPPE]
[THE TANZTEICH BEI ZORGE]
[THE DWARFS OF THE SACHSENTEIN]
[THE BURGGEIST OF THE HAARBURG]
[THE THREE WOOD-FAIRIES]
[THE SHEPHERDS' TOWERS]
[THE TREASURE-HUNTERS OF THE SIEBERTHAL]
[THE ENCHANTED MAIDEN OF THE ZORGE]
[THE ACCURSED MAIDEN OF LICHTENSTEIN]
[THE GREAT HALL IN THE PETERSBERG]
[SPAR-DIE-MÜH]
[THE DWARF-KING HIBICH]
[THE KING OF TIPPLERS]
[THE NEEDLE'S EYE]
[LEGEND OF ST. HUBERTUS]
[BATHILDE VON BALLENSTEDT]
LEGENDS AND TALES.
Legend of the Rosstrappe.[[1]]
[[1]] Ross, a steed; Trappe, a footprint.
Ages ago there ruled a king in Bohemia whose castle stood on a lofty mountain, where the thunder and the eagle found a home.
This king had a daughter, the golden-haired Brunhilda, the fame of whose marvellous beauty was spread far and wide.
Mighty rulers and the sons of kings sought the hand of the lovely royal maiden, and among the numerous wooers came the son of the king of the Harz, who won her heart; and after the lovers had sworn everlasting fidelity, the Harz Prince returned to his father to announce his betrothal and make arrangements for the nuptials.
After his departure, there arrived a new suitor for Brunhilda's hand, whom her father feared to reject. This was one of those terrible giants who inhabited North Europe. They were invincible, and wherever they appeared, all yielded with terror to their might.
This dreadful lover brought the Princess costly gifts of gold, amber, and precious stones. The father, after three days' Bedenkzeit, promises the Giant his daughter. Brunhilda throws herself horrified on her knees before her father, weeping and tearing her hair; but the king, though moved with pity, assures her the Giant has power to destroy him and his kingdom.
From this hour Brunhilda appeared composed. She neither wept nor complained, but met her destined bridegroom with a solemn dignity. Of a truly kingly character, she constrained her agony to silence, but hoped ever for deliverance through the return of her Harz lover; still he came not.
Now the Giant had two steeds—giant steeds—one white as the snows of the Northland, his eyes shining like stars; the other, the Giant's body-horse, black as the night, with eyes like the lightning, at whose running his hoofs resounded like thunder, and the earth trembled and shook. Both these steeds seemed in the chase to overtake the storm, and keep time with the lightning.
Brunhilda saw these giant steeds, and the thought of flight occurred to her.
Was success possible? She had never mounted the snowy steed.
Great was the Giant's joy when Brunhilda begged to ride with him. She mounted daily the terrible animal, and soon could ride a race with the Giant on the mountains.
At last the evening before the nuptials arrived, and Brunhilda, having arrayed herself in white robes, a golden crown, and a long white veil floating behind her, and the amber and diamonds, the Giant's gifts, welcomed the numerous guests who thronged the royal palace, and looked lovingly upon the Giant Bräutigam,[[2]] who was overwhelmed with an unheard of bliss at the lovely vision.
[[2]] Bräutigam, bridegroom. Used only during the engagement.
At length the Princess rose and retired, the Giant remained to drink of the costly wines. Suddenly he heard the snorting and stamping of his war-steeds! He sprang up and looked down into the courtyard.
There sat Brunhilda in her glittering robes, the golden crown still upon her head, her white veil and golden hair fluttering in the wind, in her fearless courage and queenly beauty, upon the snowy steed before the open gates.
At sight of him she let loose her reins, and the mighty steed shot forth, swift as the storm-wind, like a streak of light, into the darkness of the night.
The Giant uttered a cry of fury that shook the castle to its foundations, seized his battle-axe, and mounted his war-horse, crying: "If she flee to the Nidhöggar[[3]] in the Schlangengrund[[4]] I will bring her hence!"
[[3]] Nidhöggar, the dragon in the old German water-hell.
[[4]] Schlangengrund, valley of serpents.
And now begins the fearful race. Through meadow and forest, over mountain and ravine, flee the pursuer and pursued, the white steed always in advance, fleeing swift as a meteor through the heavens; behind, the black steed, like a spirit from the eternal darkness.
All through the night lasted the terrible ride. The earth groaned and thundered, the forests trembled, the birds and beasts fled in terror, long streaks of fire swept through the grim darkness, and the snorting of the steeds was like the roar of the Northwind.
At length dawn reflects her rosy blush over mountain and wood. Brunhilda utters a cry of joy and triumph! There before her lies the Harz, her lover's mountain home and future kingdom! That distant peak is the Brocken!
She spurs on her noble steed till she reaches the Hexentanzplatz,[[5]] when suddenly he Stops, rears, and plunges, and refuses to advance. Before her yawns the terrible rocky abyss of the Bode Valley, behind she hears the deadly foe advancing, uttering the most dreadful curses!
[[5]] Hexentanzplatz, witches' dancing-floor.
What shall she do? Forward over the wild abyss? Backward is to fall into the arms of the enemy.
The choice is not difficult. She turns his head to the fearful chasm, and spurs him on.
Like an eagle, the noble animal leaps the yawning abyss, lands safely on the other side, and impressing its giant hoof-print in the granite, sinks exhausted, but the Princess loses her goldene Krone in the gulf beneath the Bode Kessel!
The Giant in rage and fury spurs on his dusky steed to leap after her, but falls and is broken on the rocks, and ever since, transformed into a hell-hound, he guards the golden crown in the Bode Kessel.
The Princess, saved, dances for joy, and her footprints are still to be seen in the solid granite.
The mountain has ever since been called the Rosstrappe, and the Giant Bodo[[6]] gave his name to the valley and river.
[[6]] Bodo—the final o has been corrupted into e, Bode.