Rübezahl, the Spirit of the Mountains – a Karkonosze legend

High in the Karkonosze, above the forests and meadows, there has reigned since time out of mind the Spirit of the Mountains – the capricious lord of the peaks whom the Poles called Liczyrzepa, the Germans Rübezahl, and the Czechs Krakonoš. He can take any shape: a monk, a charcoal-burner, an old huntsman with a staff – and when angered, he can raise a storm, send down fog and hail. To honest folk he is kind; the proud and the mocking he punishes. Most of all he cannot bear to be laughed at over his name – and that name has a story.

They say that long ago the Spirit of the Mountains saw a princess of Świdnica bathing in a mountain pool and fell hopelessly in love. He carried her off to his underground, enchanted garden deep in the mountains, where flowers bloomed in every season and treasures gleamed. He gave her all she desired – but the princess pined for home and for human company.

To cheer her, the Spirit gave her an enchanted wand with which she could turn ordinary turnips from the field into living companions. But each of them withered and wilted like a vegetable pulled from the soil. Then the cunning princess hit upon a plan.

„Go to the field," she asked him, „and count for me every single turnip, so I may know how many companions I can still have."

The Spirit, eager to please her, dutifully went out and began to count: one turnip, a second, a third... And as the turnips were beyond number and some kept slipping from his reckoning, he began again and again from the start. Meanwhile the princess turned one of the turnips into a swift horse and galloped from the mountains towards home. When the Spirit at last finished his count and returned – the chambers were empty.

He flew into a rage that shook the peaks. And the people in the valleys, hearing how the mighty lord of the mountains had stood counting turnips in a field, gave him a mocking nickname: Rübezahl – „the one who counts turnips". From it, many centuries later, the writer Stanisław Bełza coined the Polish name Liczyrzepa. And that is why, to this day, the Spirit of the Mountains cannot abide being called so – whoever wants his favour should speak of him with respect: the Lord of the Mountains.

Other tales of the Spirit of the Mountains

There are hundreds of tales about Rübezahl – they were written down from the 17th century on both sides of the Karkonosze, and wandering storytellers carried them across all of Europe. Most follow the same pattern: the Spirit of the Mountains puts a person to the test, then repays them as they deserve.

They tell, for instance, of a poor herb-woman who was gathering herbs in the mountains for her sick child. A storm caught her, and out of the mist stepped an old huntsman with a staff, wrapped her in his cloak and led her to a safe path. In farewell he poured a handful of ordinary beech leaves into her basket. The woman did not dare throw them away – and in the morning she found pure gold in the basket.

A rich merchant fared differently: riding across the pass, he mocked the „turnip-counter" aloud and boasted that he feared no spirit. He did not get far. A wind rose, fog thick as milk covered the paths, and his horse reared above a precipice. The merchant wandered all night, and when the fog lifted at dawn he stood at the very spot from which he had set out – grey with fear, and humble ever after.

It was also said that when hunger or plague ruled the valleys, the Spirit of the Mountains left healing herbs and bread at the doors of the poor, and sent lost wanderers a small light that led them home. Capricious and dangerous to the proud, to people of good heart he was – and reputedly still is – the best steward of these mountains.

Where to look for him today? Closest to Śnieżka, the highest peak of the Karkonosze, which the old tales make his throne. But old folk say you can meet him on any path – all it takes is mist, silence and a little humility.