Myth and folktales

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This old legend, which probably has roots in ancient beliefs of the former prehis-
toric inhabitants of Alpine and subalpine regions, is connected with the exceptionally 
good knowledge of the natural phenomena, and with close observation of the stars 
and the sky. The orbits of planets, stars, galaxies, the earth, the sun and the moon 
were often connected to the stories people created about mythical animals, their 
movements and their actions. They were imagined to represent fantastic images of 
dragons, multi-headed snakes, enormous fish, birds, lizards, dogs, centaurs, horses, 
unicorns and also chamois like Zlatorog.
Although Zlatorog has roots similar to that of the unicorn, the tradition of the 
unicorn is older and more widespread. The unicorn is a mythical animal, with first 
a bull-like and later a horse- or a goat-like body, which acquired its name from the 
long straight horn on its forehead. The first representations of a bull with one horn 
originate from four thousand years before Christ on the seal of the ancient towns 
of the Indus, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, where it represents one of the dominant 
revered icons. Preserved to this day is a 4,500-year-old Indus script on a tablet from 
Harappa, and depictions of a unicorn in Mohenjo-Daro.
The symbol of a unicorn was later a key element in heraldry, and was used on 
dynastic as well as on state coats-of-arms. In Slovenian tradition, it is mentioned in 
folk songs and in some sermons. 
The unicorn is frequently mentioned in European medieval mystical texts and 
depicted in medieval fine art. The motif of “The Maiden and the Unicorn” (Hortus 
Conclusius) was also depicted on frescoes, in miniatures and in ornate initials of 
medieval manuscripts. 
Numerous classical authors, for example Apollodorus and Pindar, mentioned 
the stag with golden antlers (Wildhaber 1975: 99). Moreover, the Greek historian 
Polybius also wrote about the unusual cloven-hoofed animal in the Julian Alps as 
if it was a real animal whose description most resembled a moose. In the 34
th
 book 
of his History, he also mentions the gold mines of the Taurisci. Although only frag-
ments of this book have survived, these were preserved by historian and geographer 
Strabo in the Augustan Age (Strabo IV 6.12 C 208) who included them in his books 
(Šašel Kos 1998: 170). It is evident that reports about a moose-like animal and about 
gold mines in the Julian Alps are extremely old, which is why the origin of folktales 
about rich Venetian gold merchants and Zlatorog is partly rooted in the historic and 
geographic circumstances in the period of the Celtic Taurisci.
Tales about the stag with golden antlers can be found in Ireland, in the moun-
tains of Albania, in Greece (Wildhaber 1975: 97), in regions of the South Slavs, West 
Slavs (Bohemia and Slovakia) and East Slavs (Russia). These legends were particularly 
popular in the South-Eastern Alps, where they have survived until today.
Somewhat adapted, abbreviated, and without the love story, Dežman’s folktale 

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about Zlatorog was included among the legends from Friuli and the Julian Alps by 
Anton von Mailly (1922: 55–6, No. 61). In 1965, Milko Matičetov made an audio 
recording of a legend about a chamois with golden horns from Kanin; the story was 
recorded in Osojane in Resia.
The Chamois in kanin had Golden horns
Well, a hunter once went hunting. In fact, there were two of them, and they 
beheld a chamois up there on Mount Kanin. One of them shot it, and the 
chamois fell amidst some rocks. When they found it, the animal was dead, 
and at the sight of its horns they were astonished. You know, its horns were 
entirely golden, real golden horns. They brought it down to Korito. These 
were hunters from Korito. And there, the locals were just as surprised at the 
animal’s golden horns, you know, real golden ones. But do you know what 
that gold was? The chamois rubbed against a rock, and that rock was made 
of gold. The gold remained on its horns. It was rubbing them constantly, so 
the gold rubbed off. 
They brought the chamois down, I know this much. My granny, who had 
lived in Korito, told this story. But people didn’t know where the chamois had 
rubbed its horns; they only saw that they were golden. (Collected by Milko 
Matičetov;
38
 published in: Dapit, Kropej 2004: 17, no. 2).
Numerous folktales about Mount Bogatin and the treasures hidden in the 
limestone walls and precipices of the Julian Alps have also been mentioned by Jože 
Abram. He states the following:
There is a large cave in Bogatin, and possibly it was even the Romans who were 
once digging for ore there. […] The people of Bohinj claim that it is the roža 
mogota that opens up the door to Bogatin’s treasures (Abram 1927; comp. 
Kugy 1938 [1979]: 245–58).
Patterned after Dežman’s folktale and Baumbach’s epic poem, the legend of 
Zlatorog from the period of late Romanticism was published by Drago Gornik in the 
Obisk newspaper in 1942. In his introduction, Gornik mentions that the tale had been 
recounted to him by a deceased hunter named Luka. The story does not mention the 
location of the homestead. Gornik added many details, such as naming the hunter 
Andrej and the tavern owner’s daughter Ančka. He concluded his text with a short 
poem that was written on the cross erected on the grave of the fatally injured hunter:
38 
Archives of the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology of the Scientific Research Centre of Slovenian 
Academy of Sciences and Arts, Milko Matičetov T 21 A, No. 5.

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