King Karl the Fifth, called "Karl
the Great", once fought a fierce battle at the foot of Odin's Mountain. So
much blood was shed here that it wore down deep furrows in the ground. Often
these have been dammed up, but always the rain washes them open once more.
Karl fought boldly and eventually was victorious. Those streams of blood flowed
together and eventually poured out into the River Besse. In the evening after
the battle the mountain opened up - Karl and his exhausted warriors went within
the mountain which then closed its walls once more. But not all tales of these
events agree.. Some say Karl fled from his enemies and when he got to Odin's
Mountain he prayed that the god would allow him and his host to enter into
the mountain - which opened up allowing both Karl and his men to go inside
before it closed behind them. King Karl is said to rest from all his heroic
deeds within the mountain. He promised to return once either every seven or
every hundred years. And when this time comes, one can hear weapons clashing
in the air, the neighing of horses and hoof beats, the clamour of drums
and bugles. Then it is thought that Karl the Fifth and his warriors are leaving
their underground home. This procession goes to Glis Spring, and here the
horses drink. Then the march continues its round and eventually returns to
the mountain. Children who were born on Sunday between two churches have often
seen this procession. Most of the warriors are wounded badly; here one has
lost an arm while another is missing a leg or an ear. Many have gaping and
bloody holes from their wounds. At one time a group of people went to Odin's
Mountain. They could hear the sound of drums but they could not see anything.
Then a wise man among them made a circle by with his arm against his body
and told them to, one at a time, look through this circle. This they did and
saw a host of warriors training with their weapons, all around Odin's Mountain.
Inside the mountain, oats are grown for the horses. "The Quint" throws out
all the excess oats not needed for the steeds. Each day the warriors prepare
the oats and store them in chambers beneath the mountain. A swine-herd one
noticed that a sows he kept would always run away from the rest of the herd
whenever he brought them to Odin's Mountain. But she always came back full
and fat. So one day he went after her. The sow ran through a hole and into
the mountain. Here there was a great store of oats. Every seven years Odin's
Mountain opens. Anyone who finds the way in is very lucky as great treasures
lie inside. But the passage opens only for a quarter of an hour. Anyone still
inside when this time is up must wait for seven years to pass before they
can return. Yet those who stay within the mountain do not grow older during
this time, staying just as they were the moment the mountain shut behind them.
Until recently no one would go near the mountain without shivering in fear
of Karl the Fifth. Children who gathered nuts and strawberries nearby were
warned by their parents, "Watch out or the Quint will get you!". Mothers often
controlled their offspring with the dire warning "The Quint will come and
get you!"
Source: Karl Lyncker, Deutsche
Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen (Kassel:Verlag von Oswald Bertram, 1854),
pp. 5-7. - Retold here by Shaun D. L. Brassfield-Thorpe
Notes : Odin's Mountain (Odenberg)
is close to the town of Gudensberg, which is south of Kassel in central Germany.
For more place names related to Odin in this ara see "Wuodensberg und
Odenberg" in Karl Lyncker's work cited above. The theme of looking through
a hole such as that appearing naturally in stones or trees, or man-made as
with a ring, is a common motif in folklore and magic. The "hole" allows sight
into hidden realms. Things (including people) passed through such a hole may
be protected or cured from various conditions. Hands were sometimes clasped
through such a hole to bind an agreement. This moif is also found in relation
to Odin in Orkney (see "Folktales of the Northern Traditions" Volume 1 - "The
Stone of Odin"; Volume 2 - "The Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Moon
and Wodden's Stone"; and Volume 3 - "Sworn on the Odin Stone" - future
volumes will offer other examples. Karl the Great, better known as "Charlemagne"
was born circa 742 and died circa 814. Karl / Charles was crowned "Emperor
of the West" in 800 by Pope Leo III. It is common for German Catholics to
call him Karl the Fifth, or simply "the Quint." ("Fifth").