The fairy tale of Chaplain Schlunz, or “Hang your Hat on a Sunbeam,”

 The fairy tale of Chaplain Schlunz, or “Hang your Hat on a Sunbeam”

Chaplain Schlunz lived in Glis from 1833 until his death in 1882. In his outward appearance he was of great simplicity, but inwardly he was a zealous and pious man who could also achieve much more than others. To this day in almost every part of Upper Valais, people still recount the many strange tales about him. Once the clergymen of the deanery gathered the priests for a conference. Some mocked the simple clergyman from Glis and deliberately occupied all the places to hang up their hats and coats. When Chaplain Schlunz entered the conference room a bit later, he looked around in astonishment, then calmly took off his hat and pressed it lightly against the smooth wall. "So you are holding fast!” he said.  Others claim he hung his hat on a single sunbeam streaming through the window. In any case, he thoroughly put his mockers to shame. In doing so, he is also said to have exclaimed: "Oh, how many masters, but how few real clergymen!" 

A fairy tale from Brig, Switzerland 

St. Patrick Banishes the Snakes from Ireland

                    Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Ash of the World Yggdrasil

Germanic tribes believed that humans came from trees. They imagined creation to be a giant ash tree that reached into the heavens. This world tree they named Yggdrasil. The world tree had three strong roots. One reached into Midgard where humans dwelled. The other to Jotunheim to the giants, and the third reached down into the underworld.

Every kind of evil threatened the tree. At the root growing deep into the underworld, Ridhogt, an evil dragon, gnawed incessantly, as did other hideous creatures. Four deer and the goat Heidrun feasted on the leafy foliage of the ash tree. A huge eagle sat on the top of the tree, and a nimble squirrel ran ceaselessly back and forth between it and the dragon gnawing at the root.