King asleep in mountain

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The king asleep in the mountain (D 1960.2 in Stith Thompson's motif-index) [1] is a prominent folklore trope found in many folktales and legends. Thompson termed it as the Kyffhäuser type. [2] Some other designations are king in the mountain, king under the mountain, sleeping hero, or Bergentrückung ("mountain rapture").

Contents

Statue of Ogier the Dane (Danish: Holger Danske) in Kronborg Castle, Helsingor; Ogier is said to sleep in the castle until one day when Denmark is in peril According to a legend linked to Arthurian myth, a Danish king known as Ogier the Dane, was taken to Avalon by Morgan le Fay. He returned to rescue France from danger, then travelled Kronborg castle, where he - panoramio.jpg
Statue of Ogier the Dane (Danish: Holger Danske) in Kronborg Castle, Helsingør; Ogier is said to sleep in the castle until one day when Denmark is in peril

Examples include the legends of King Arthur, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Charlemagne, Ogier the Dane, King David, Frederick Barbarossa at Kyffhäuser, Falanto of Taranto, Genghis Khan, Constantine XI Palaiologos, Kraljević Marko, Sebastian of Portugal and King Matjaž. [3] [4] [5]

The Thompson motif entries A 571, "Cultural hero asleep in mountain", and E 502, "The Sleeping Army", are similar and can occur in the same tale. [1] A related motif is the "Seven Sleepers" (D 1960.1, [2] also known as the "Rip Van Winkle" motif), whose type tale is the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (AT tale type 766).

General features

Frederick sends out the boy to see whether the ravens still fly. Barbarossa01.jpg
Frederick sends out the boy to see whether the ravens still fly.

King in the mountain stories involve legendary heroes, often accompanied by armed retainers, sleeping in remote dwellings including caves on high mountaintops, remote islands, or supernatural worlds. The hero is frequently a historical figure of some military consequence in the history of the nation where the mountain is located.

The stories gathered by the Brothers Grimm concerning Frederick Barbarossa and Charlemagne are typical of the stories told, and have been influential on many variants and subsequent adaptations. The presence of the hero is unsuspected; until some herdsman wanders into the cave, typically looking for a lost animal, and sees the hero. The stories almost always mention the detail that the hero has grown a long beard, indicative of the long time he has slept beneath the mountain.[ citation needed ]

In the Brothers Grimm version, the hero speaks with the herdsman. Their conversation typically involves the hero asking, "Do the eagles (or ravens) still circle the mountaintop?" The herdsman, or a mysterious voice, replies, "Yes, they still circle the mountaintop." "Then begone! My time has not yet come."[ citation needed ]

The herdsman in this story was then supernaturally harmed by the experience: he ages rapidly, he emerges with his hair turned white, and often he dies after repeating the tale. The story goes on to say that the king sleeps in the mountain, awaiting a summons to arise with his knights and defend the nation in a time of deadly peril. The omen that presages his rising will be the extinction of the birds that trigger his awakening. [6] [7]

Examples from Europe

A number of European kings, rulers, fictional characters and religious figures have become attached to this story. Major examples are King Arthur of Britain, Charlemagne of the Franks, and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, as well as [8] [9] Ogier the Dane and William Tell. [9]

Baltic states

Britain and Ireland

Wales

  • Brân the Blessed. Referenced as protecting the Isles and overlooking Britain; his head severed and placed on a mound. Arthur later says he wishes to do the same and in early Arthurian literature both guard Britain together.
  • Owain Lawgoch, Welsh soldier and nobleman (14th century).
  • Owain Glyndŵr, the last native born Welshman to hold the title "Prince of Wales"; he disappeared after a long but ultimately unsuccessful rebellion against the English. He was never captured or betrayed and refused all Royal pardons.
  • An unnamed giant is supposed to sleep in Plynlimon. [14]

Ireland

England

  • King Harold. In Anglo-Saxon legends he survived the Battle of Hastings and will come one day to liberate the English from the Norman yoke. [17]
  • Sir Francis Drake. It is stated that if England is in deadly peril and Drake's Drum is beaten, then Sir Francis Drake will arise to defend England from the sea. According to the legend, Drake's Drum can be heard at times when England is at war or significant national events take place.[ citation needed ]
  • Knights asleep at Alderley Edge in Cheshire. There is an enduring legend of a cavern full of knights in armour awaiting a call to decide the fate of a great battle for England. There is no king named, but there is a wizard involved, who is referred to as Merlin in later versions of the legend. [18]
  • King Dunmail. A Cumbrian King said to be defeated at the hands of Edmund I of England and Malcolmn of Alba. Dunmail's warriors are said to have fled with his crown, climbing into the mountains to Grisedale Tarn below Helvellyn, where they threw it into the depths to be safe until some future time when Dunmail would come again to lead them. Every year the warriors are said to return to the tarn, recover the crown and carry it down to the cairn on Dunmail Raise by the A591.[ citation needed ]

Caucasus region

Armenia

Georgia

  • Legend has it Queen Tamar is not dead, but is sleeping in a gold-wreathed coffin in a mountain. According to it, she will wake up one day and restore the Georgian Golden Age. [20]

Dutch and German-speaking realm

Switzerland

Greek, Hellenistic and Byzantine

Ancient Greece

Byzantine Empire

Hungarians

Italy

Roman Empire

Spain

Sebastian I. With his death, the house of Aviz lost the throne of Portugal. Sebastianists hold that he will return to rule Portugal's Fifth Empire. Alonso Sanchez Coello 009.jpg
Sebastian I. With his death, the house of Aviz lost the throne of Portugal. Sebastianists hold that he will return to rule Portugal's Fifth Empire.

Portugal

Nordic countries

Slavic nations

East Slavic

South Slavic

West Slavic

  • Bolesław the Brave, king of Poland, asleep with a host of knights in a cave hidden somewhere in Giewont, a mountain massif which is itself said to resemble a sleeping knight. Several different versions of the legend exist, sometimes involving a different historical figure or another cave in the Tatra Mountains. [34] [35]
  • St. Wenceslas (Václav) of Bohemia (Czech Republic). He sleeps in the Blaník mountain (with a huge army of Czech knights) and will emerge to protect his country at its worst time, riding on his white horse and wielding the legendary hero Bruncvík's sword. [36]

Examples from Asia

Asia Minor and Middle East

Iran

East Asia

Mongolia

  • A traditional tale of the death of Genghis Khan says he died falling from his horse while being injured, but that whether he died or not is unknown, and he may be merely resting. Every spring and autumn "those who know the secret" of where Genghis is buried are said to put new sets of clothes into his casket and take the old ones out, worn and frayed. Folklore reports another instance of evidence that Genghis would return: every year there is a sacrifice for Genghis Khan in the Ordos and two white horses (the horses of Genghis Khan) appear. In the third year of the Chinese Republic (1914), though, just one horse appeared. When the second horse came, four years later, it had saddle galls. This was taken as evidence that Genghis Khan had been using the horse, and was making ready to appear again. [38]

China

Japan

Philippines

Tibet

  • Gesar of Ling, believed by the Tibetans to return one day and restore order on Earth. [41]

Vietnam

  • The temple of Trần Hưng Đạo, the supreme commander who defeated Kublai Khan's invasions of Vietnam, housed a sword chest that rung if the nation was in peril, but it also foretold victories.[ citation needed ]

Examples from Africa

A king and queen are said to be sleeping in legendary desert city of Zerzura. Trespassers are warned not to wake them. According to the legend they will eventually one day waken.[ citation needed ]

Examples from the Americas

United States

Peru

Brazil

Examples by religion

Judaism

Christianity

Islam

Druze

Hinduism

Sleeping anti-hero and villain

Sometimes this type of story or archetype is also attached to not-so-heroic figures, who are either simple anti-heroes or fully villains, whose return would mean the end of the world, or whose sleep represents something positive. This kind of archetype is known as the "Chained Satan" archetype. [50] Among examples of this are:

In the 2015 video game Undertale, a song associated with the character Asgore plays named Bergentrückung. [51]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Ó hÓgáin (1991), p. 197.
  2. 1 2 Thompson, Stith (1977), The Folktale, University of California Press, pp. 264–265, ISBN   9780520033597
  3. 1 2 3 Ó hÓgáin (2000), p. 92.
  4. Henken, Elissa R. (1996), National Redeemer: Owain Glyndŵr in Welsh Tradition, Cornell University Press, p. 83, ISBN   0801483492
  5. Šmitek, Zmago. 1999. “The Image of the Real World and the World Beyond in the Slovene Folk Tradition". Studia Mythologica Slavica 2 (May). Ljubljana, Slovenija. pp. 178-179. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v2i0.1848.
  6. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Deutsche Sagen (1816/1818), no. 23.
  7. Kaiser Karl im Untersberg (German)
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  9. 1 2 3 Ashliman, D. L. (1999–2020). "Sleeping Hero Legends". Pitt.edu. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. Briggs, Katharine (1978). The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore and Legends. Pantheon Books. pp. 88–89. ISBN   9780394502489.
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  12. "Merlin and Vivien | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  13. Henry Tegner; Ghosts of The North Country, 1991 Butler Publishing, ISBN   0-946928-40-1. p.13
  14. MacKillop, James (2004). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780198609674.
  15. Augusta, Lady Gregory – Gods and Fighting Men (1904)
  16. Ó hÓgáin (1992–1993), p. 59.
  17. The Science of Fairy Tales: An Enquiry Into Fairy Mythology, Edwin Sidney Hartland, 1925 edition, p. 143
  18. Louisa Stanley, "Alderley Edge and Its Neighbourhood", 1843
  19. Mher in the Carved Rock Archived 2010-06-02 at the Wayback Machine , J. A. Boyle, at the Library of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
  20. Georgia's Queen of Queens Tamar the Great [ permanent dead link ]
  21. Rath, Elfriede (1952). "Austrian Märchen" . Folklore. 63 (2): 79–90. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1952.9718105. JSTOR   1257717 . Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  22. Ó Fínneadha, Pádraig (1932). "Ball Dearg ó Domhnaill" . Béaloideas. 3 (3): 359–362. doi:10.2307/20521720. JSTOR   20521720 . Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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  31. Oroz, Tomislav; Škrbić Alempijević, Nevena (2018). "Heroic Topographies. Hero-making and Place-making in Hrvatsko Zagorje.". Heroic Art and Socialist Realism: Monuments, Memory and Representations of the Socialist Past after 1989, 35-55 (PDF). Cultural Arcs Foundation: Cultural Arcs Foundation. p. 36. ISBN   9786197420036.
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Bibliography