Tradition: Liechtenstein Mythology
Alternative Names: Fairy of Gutenberg
Category: Fairy
The Myth
The Fairy of Gutenberg appears as an extraordinarily beautiful woman dressed in flowing white robes, with long blond hair and gentle, soulful eyes. She is an enchanted princess who has been trapped for hundreds of years and is bound to a treasure hidden near Gutenberg Castle. Every hundred years, on a particular day, she is allowed to return to the earthly world with her treasure, but she must remain there guarding it until the time passes.
One morning at sunrise, a peasant boy walking past Gutenberg Castle notices a dazzling gleam above the castle wall. Climbing the slope, he discovers countless snail shells scattered through the grass, but these are no ordinary shells: they are made entirely of gold. As he admires the treasure, the fairy appears and tells him that he can gain both her freedom and the treasure if he has enough courage. He must take her in his arms and swing her around three times without speaking or letting go. The boy eagerly agrees. He succeeds with the first turn and then the second, while the fairy sighs with growing happiness. During the third and final turn, however, he suddenly feels cold snakes in his hands. Horrified, he cries out and releases her. The snakes vanish, leaving his hands empty.
The boy has failed at the final moment. The fairy mourns that she must now guard Gutenberg’s treasure for another hundred years, and she disappears into the morning sunlight like mist. At the same instant, the golden treasure vanishes, leaving only ordinary snail shells scattered through the grass. The boy searches through the undergrowth but finds nothing and eventually returns to the road without the fortune he had imagined would buy him a farm, cows, horses, and an alpine pasture. Yet the encounter leaves him wondering whether another opportunity might await someone who passes the castle again a century later.
Sources
Dino Larese. “Die Fee von Gutenberg.” In Liechtensteiner Sagen. Basel, 1970, p. 52. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/larese/fee_gutenberg.html