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THE LEGEND
OF KING LAURIN |
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One of the most
picturesque legends of the Dolomites explains why these mountains
are tinged with pink at sunset.
The bowl-shaped hollow on the Catinaccio, where a large snowy patch
can now be seen well into Spring, is said to once have been the site
of the palace of King Laurino, with its magnificent rose garden
(this explains the German name for the Catinaccio, Rosengarten – or
rose garden).
King Laurino reigned over a people of dwarves who mined the bowels
of the mountain for crystals, silver and gold, and owned two magic
weapons: a belt that gave him the strength of twelve men and a cape
that made him invisible.
One day, the King of the Adige decided to marry off his beautiful
daughter Similde, and invited all the noblemen from the surrounding
area to a jousting competition, but did not invite King Laurino. |
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Laurino decided to take part
nonetheless, but as an invisible guest. When he set eyes on Similde
on the jousting field, he was struck by her beauty and fell in love
instantly, so he bundled her up onto the back of his horse and
galloped away with her.
The combatants immediately gave chase to bring back Similde, and
burst into the Rose Garden.
King Laurino cried out ‘you have ruined my garden – I will make you
pay dearly for this outrage!’, he then put on the belt that gave him
the strength of twelve men and joined the fray. When he realised
that in spite of his belt, he was about to lose the fight, he donned
his cape and began leaping around the garden, convinced that he
could not be seen. But the knights could see where he was from the
movement of the roses as Laurino tried to hide underneath. They
caught him, cut off his magic belt and threw him into prison.
Enraged by his misfortune, Laurino turned towards the Rosengarten,
which had betrayed him, and cursed it – neither by day nor by night,
he said, would any human eye ever see it again, but he forgot about
the sunset and the sunrise.
Ever since that day, when the sun rises between the peaks and sets
behind the rocky spires, the Catinaccio lights up with the colours
of a garden of unparalleled beauty. |
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