Bágy: Walnut Body Armor (Small Town Legends A to Z)

This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns in and around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!

Bágy (Bădeni) is a village in Hargita county, Romania, with about 200 inhabitants. Up until the 19th century there used to be a castle on the hill by the village, but its ruins have long been mined out for building materials. Yet, the castle still exists in legends. Here is one of them:

During a Tatar invasion in the 1640s, people fled from the neighboring villages up to the Bágy castle. However, the castle was besieged, and with that many refugees provisions were beginning to run low. Bágy and its area were known for walnut trees and fruit orchards. People used to spread out their harvest to dry in the attic of their houses.

It is said that there was a teacher from Bágy up at the castle who had a lot of children. When everyone began to starve he convinced the captain to let him out at night for food. He managed to sneak down into the village and up to the attic of his own house. He tied his shirt and pants at the ankles and wrists, and filled all his clothes with walnuts; he wanted to move fast so he didn't plan on carrying a bag. Once he was all stuffed up with walnuts, he started back up to the castle... but he was caught by a Tatar patrol. They attacked him, but when they hit him, all the walnuts made an eerie rattling sound - and the man did not go down. This made the Tatars think he was some sort of a supernatural creature. They started yelling "Djinn! Djinn!" And they ran away. The teacher got back to the castle safely with all the walnuts.

Legend says the Tatars were so scared of djinn guarding the village that they gave up the siege and left.

(Story from this book)