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?
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