Welcome to the 2022 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Gemstone Folklore. Because I love stories about shiny things. Read the introduction to the project here.
GARNET
Garnets have been treasured for their fire-like color since ancient times (especially by the Huns and other people of the Migration Era in Eastern Europe). Many authors believe they are the stone old tales refer to when they talk of "carbuncles", shining gems.
The Goddess Hulda
Tyrolean legend
This legend talks about a cowherd who is lured into the wilderness by a beautiful chamois with golden horns. Trying to hunt it down, the man comes to a hidden doorway high in the mountains, and enters the underground realm of the goddess Hulda. She lives in a palace with crystal walls ornamented with "fiery garnets." She wears another shining garnet (carbuncle) in her crown.
Hulda asks her visitor what he would wish for as a gift, and he chooses the bouquet of blue flowers she is holding in her hand. It turns out to be a wise choice: the flowers are flax, and the goddess teaches the ma how to grow them and turn them into cloth. He grows rich and prosperous with Hulda's blessing, and when he grows old, he returns to her underground palace for good.
Sources:
You can find this story in this book.
Other stories:
There is a Cossack tale where a young man with magic powers turns himself into a garnet ring to get away from the Forest King. You can read it in two versions here and here.
If you entered the realm of Hulda, what is the one gift you would ask for?
I like it when the heroes chose something useful instead of a gem.
ReplyDeleteGarnets remind me of my grandmother. She had a garnet bracelet her husband gave her...
ReplyDeleteHulda's tale reminded me of the casket scene in The Merchant of Venice--all that glitters is not gold.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I love shiny things but I love blue flowers more--I would've gone for the blue flowers too--I hope-:)
The story of the goddess Huda sparked my imagination with the mental image of a garnet for a crown surrounded by crystal walls, holding the blue flax flowers.
ReplyDeleteThe cowherd was a wise man it seems. I have no idea what gift I would ask for is I was in her realm. If the young man in the Cossack tale became a ring, how did he turn himself back? Rings don't seem very animate.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings: YouTube - What They Don't Tell You (and free fiction)
I would expect most who came across her realm would have asked for the gems! I have no idea what I'd ask for. I don't know if that means I want nothing, or want too much to decide!
ReplyDeleteThe flowers were a good choice because they implied a relationship, and generally relationships are more valuable than objects. Still, I have a soft spot for garnets because my very special great aunt left me a garnet ring.
ReplyDeleteG is for Glowing
I love when heroes choose wisely, also I'm happy that the chamois escaped unharmed.
ReplyDeletehttps://steampunkcowunicorn.wordpress.com/2022/04/08/g-is-for-gargoyle/
I'll have to go read the one about the young man who turns into a ring -- I want to know how it ends!
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for the A-Z Challenge My Languishing TBR: G
I'm afraid I would ask for a pair of shiny earrings... I know it's not the wise choice but I would ask for something I couldn't necessary afford/get for myself... So shinies it is. :D
ReplyDeleteI fear since I love minerals and gemstones so much I would be lured by the beauty of the gems - especially considering the photo you show. I do love nature, too, and a blue flower is also very alluring.
ReplyDeleteI am drooling over that picture of the garnet-studded stone. I find lots of stones with small garnets in them near my house (I don't know if that is a regional thing or if they are common everywhere), but I have never found anything like the one in your second picture. If I did, I think I would probably either feel an increased passion for rock collecting or like it was never going to be so awesome ever again so it was time to stop.
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