Tradition: Austrian Mythology
Alternative Names: Heimo, Heime, Heimo the Giant, Thürse, Tyrschen
Category: Giant
The Myth
Heimo and Thürse were two enormous mountain giants from the folklore of Tyrol, associated with the origins of Wilten Abbey near Innsbruck, Austria. According to legend, they lived during the period when Christianity first spread into the remote valleys of the Tyrol. Heimo was a cruel and savage giant whose extraordinary height forced him to raise the roof of his house so that he could stand upright. The surrounding inhabitants feared him so greatly that they offered him as much land as he desired in exchange for sparing their farms and homesteads.
Heimo declared that all the land he could encompass would belong to him if he carried a gigantic rock around it on his shoulders. He seized the stone and travelled along the River Sill, around the Patscherkofel mountain, through Igels and around Wilten, before returning to his starting point and hurling the rock westward. He then began constructing an enormous stronghold near the meeting of the Sill and Inn rivers, transporting massive stones from the surrounding mountains.
Another giant, Thürse, lived on the plateau of Seefeld, above Zirl and behind the steep peak of Solstein. He was even taller and stronger than Heimo and had cultivated the plateau where the hamlet of Tyrschenbach would later stand. Thürse hated Heimo and repeatedly sabotaged the construction of his stronghold. When Heimo discovered who was responsible, he armed himself with light armour and an enormous sword and went to confront his rival. Thürse took up a massive wooden beam, and the two giants fought with such violence that the earth trembled and enormous rocks broke away from Solstein and rolled into the valley. Eventually, Heimo’s superior weapons allowed him to defeat and kill Thürse.
After the battle, Heimo heard a Christian monk preaching in the valleys of the Sill. Regretting that he had killed Thürse, he repented of his former savagery, converted to Christianity, and was baptized by the Bishop of Chur. He subsequently built a bridge over the River Inn, traditionally associated with the origin of Innsbruck’s name. Abandoning his plans for a stronghold, he instead founded a monastery at Wilten, which became Wilten Abbey.
The devil, angered by Heimo’s conversion and the construction of the monastery, sent a gigantic dragon to obstruct the work. Heimo fought and killed the dragon, cutting out its enormous tongue. In traditional representations, Heimo holds this tongue in his hand, and the legend claims that the preserved tongue was kept at the monastery. Heimo eventually became a monk at Wilten and lived a pious life until his death. According to the tradition, he was buried in a stone coffin measuring twenty-eight feet and three inches long, which was preserved at the monastery alongside an inscription recounting his story.
Sources
Von Günther, Amalia, Countess. Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.