Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: –
Category: Dwarf
The Myth
Deep beneath the forest near Forsteck Castle lived hundreds of dwarves with long beards and blue coats. They worked in an enormous golden chamber hidden beneath the mountain, carrying baskets of gold and breaking the precious metal from the walls. At the center of the cavern stood a huge furnace where the gold was melted, flowing out in glowing streams while the dwarves hammered away at the surrounding rock.
A young Baron von Hohensax once became lost while hunting in the forests around his castle. Hearing the voices of his companions nearby but unable to reach them, he wandered deeper into the woods until he discovered a cave he had never seen before. He entered and eventually came to an iron door. When he opened it, a brilliant light blinded him for a moment, and beyond it he discovered the vast golden hall filled with the busy dwarves. They seemed completely unaware of him until the baron, overcome by the gold dust filling the cavern, suddenly sneezed. The sound echoed through the chamber, and the dwarves immediately became frantic. A great rumbling began beneath the earth, growing louder until a tremendous thunderclap shook the cavern. An invisible force seized the baron and hurled him through rocky passages until he was finally thrown into deep water.
Struggling to remain afloat, the baron eventually saw a bucket descending through the darkness. He climbed into it and desperately clung to the rope as it began rising. The faint light above slowly grew from a tiny point into a round opening, until at last the bucket emerged into the open sky. To his astonishment, the baron found himself sitting in the very well in the courtyard of Forsteck Castle. An old castle maid had unknowingly lowered the bucket into the well and pulled him back up, believing she was simply drawing water. The baron escaped the bucket and told no one exactly what had happened. He later returned to the forest with hunting companions who eagerly searched for the golden cavern, hoping to take some of the dwarves’ treasure, but the mysterious cave could never be found again.
Yet the dwarves were not entirely forgotten. Between the end of May and the end of August, strange ringing can sometimes be heard around Forsteck, resembling the clatter of stones during a winter sleigh ride. Some say it is the sound of the dwarves breaking gold from the underground walls, while others believe it is the music of the dwarves celebrating one of their hidden festivals. The people of the region call this mysterious sound the “mountain ringing.”
Sources
“Sodbrunnen.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz. Reproduced by SAGEN.at.
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/sodbrunnen.html