Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: Lightning Maiden
Category: Flame
The Myth
Maiden Lightning is a beautiful supernatural woman who appears during violent thunderstorms. She is completely naked, with fiery red hair and a body that glows so brightly that light radiates from her skin. Her arrival is accompanied by crashing thunder and flashes of lightning, and she can vanish in an instant, leaving behind a blazing flame.
One day, an elderly woman from Mugrau was gathering berries in the forest when a terrible storm approached. Seeking shelter, she climbed inside a hollow maple tree. As she peered outside, she saw the glowing maiden standing before her. Concerned that the stranger would get soaked, the old woman invited her to share the shelter. The maiden refused, explaining that she could not enter because the woman possessed the mysterious Lightning Thread.
At that moment, thunder roared and a spark ignited a nearby tree, sending a bright flame shooting upward. The maiden disappeared, leaving the old woman alone in the hollow tree. Had the bailiff not been carrying the Lightning Thread, the fire would have engulfed her shelter. The encounter revealed the maiden as a powerful spirit of lightning, whose fiery presence could ignite trees during a storm.
Sources
Hans Watzlik. “Jungferblitz.” In Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/jungferblitz.html