Swiss Folklore Collection
Tales from the Alps
A curated collection of Swiss-German folklore tales, translated and annotated with locations, mythological entities, and scholarly classification.
5
Stories
18
Locations
13
Entities
All Stories
Hans Michel
People often hear, from the Rotental and across the Scheidegg, the roar of the raging host, the Wütisheer. It is worst around the holy Christmas season, when it carries on its haunting most fiercel...
K. Freuler / H. Thürer
When a man from Nidfurnen finds his clock has stopped, he simply checks the time in Schwanden—so near is the neighboring place with its tall factory chimneys that he does not even need to put on hi...
Josef Müller
A goatherd boy once found a book—the "Clerical Shield"—and put it in his trouser pocket. In the evening, as he was about to go to bed, he remembered the book and began to read in it. After he had r...
Josef Müller
"Up on the mountain"—at Seelisberg—three poor brothers lived, hungry little boys. One day they came by an old magic book, on the Ruossdiele or goodness knows where. With it they made themselves inv...
Josef Müller
A man owned the "Clerical Shield." When he once went to confession, the priest demanded that he hand over the magic book; but he would not give it up. He claimed he needed it only in times of need,...