Emperor Barbarossa and his sons, Henry, King of Rome and Frederick, Duke of Swabia
Grimm’s Saga No. 23 Frederick Barbarossa at Kyffhaeuser
Many stories
have circulated about this Kaiser which assert that he is not really
dead but shall live until Doomsday. Also no other rightful king shall ever come
after him. Until then he sits concealed within the Kyffhausen Mountain and when
he emerges he shall hang his shield on a barren branch, whereupon the tree
shall sprout and better times shall come. Sometimes he speaks to the people who
arrive at the mountain. At other times he shows himself to them. Often he sits
on a bench by a round stone table, holds his head in his hand and sleeps. He
bobs his head and blinks his eyes. His beard has grown long; some say it has
grown through the stone table. Others have said his beard winds around the
table in such a way that it must go around three times before he wakes up. But
until now his beard has only encircled the table twice.
A
farmer from the village of Reblingen wanted to transport his corn to Nordhausen
in 1669 but he was stopped by a man of diminutive size and led into the
mountain. There he was instructed to empty his sack of corn and fill it with
gold instead. This farmer saw the Kaiser sitting but he did not move.
A
gnome also once led a shepherd into the cave. He was whistling a song that the
Kaiser enjoyed, whereupon the Kaiser stood up and asked “Are the ravens still
flying around the mountain?” When the shepherd replied yes the king cried out: “Now
I must sleep one hundred years longer.”
FairyTaleChannel.com
FairyTaleChannel.com
