Myth and folktales

64
I set off
To kill some chamois.
But God has told me
It’s me who has to die.
I’m Andre Komac.
Pray to God for my
Pious soul. Amen 
(Gornik 1942: 189–91).
The lore about Zlatorog, the treasures in Mount Bogatin, and the yellow flower 
with healing properties that grows from the golden dust from the animal’s horns 
(Cvetek 1993: 43, No. 22) has been preserved in Bohinj to this day. 
THE WILD HUNTER
A comparison between Zlatorog, a stag with a cross on its brow, and the unicorn 
was made by Jože Glonar (1910: 41), who also mentioned in this connection an Old 
Church Slavonic song titled Jager na lovu šraja (The Hunter Hollers on the Hunt). 
Glonar analysed in detail paragraphs from both older and more recent literature and 
showed how elements that were the result of the fusion of ancient texts and Christian 
symbolism (Archangel Gabriel hunting a unicorn) seeped into the original motif of 
the wild or eternal hunter.
Particularly widespread in the Alpine region is the motif of the Green Hunter 
persuading a young man to shoot at the animal with golden horns. In the legend,  the 
Green Hunter personifies the devil. He is also similar to the nocturnal hunter who 
was punished with death because he had violated a taboo: he was hunting on Sunday 
or on Ember Days. If his transgressions were extremely grave he was even sentenced 
to eternal hunting. A shot at the golden-horned animal denotes a violation of a taboo. 
The young hunter had forgotten that Zlatorog was a sacred animal. His shot had the 
same consequences as if he had shot at the Sun, the crucifix, or at Jesus Christ.
The hunter in the tales about Zlatorog is a parallel to the mythical poacher 
Jarnik, who was an ambivalent character. Jakob Kelemina established that Jarnik 
(jar = wrathful, angry) is the half-brother of Zeleni Jurij (Green George) who is his 
opponent (Kelemina 1930: 13–14). His act of shooting at the celestial animal char-
acterizes him as a lunar, nocturnal, and winter demon that plays an prominent role 
in the restoration of the cycle of life. In Slovenia, it was believed that the poacher led 
the Divja Jaga (Wild Hunt) during the twelve days of Christmas in which mysterious 
horses thundered beneath the firmament (Kropej 1998: 165).
The motif of shooting at a sacred animal is pronounced in the Slovene folk song 
Nesrečni lovec (The Unfortunate Hunter). The poem has preserved the memory of 
belief in the ban on hunting on certain days, only in this case on Ember Days and 
Sundays. It also tells of the punishment for those who violate this taboo:

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65
The unfortunate hunter
“Arise, arise, you hunter young!
Today is Ember Sunday. 
We all are going off to mass,
So off you go as well.” 
The hunter, though, is fast asleep
Upon his bed of white.
Once again his mother calls:
‘Arise, arise, you hunter young!
Today is Ember Sunday. 
We all are going off to mass,
So off you go as well.’
The hunter, though, is fast asleep
Upon his bed of white.
His mother calls him for the third time:
‘Arise, arise, you hunter young!
Today is Ember Sunday. 
We all are going off to mass,
So off you go as well.’ 
But when his mother went away
He quickly donned his suit of green.
Now off he’ll go to mountains high
To shoot at the wild deer. 
So he arose and off he went,
And when he came too far 
A frightful deer was standing there,
With priest’s robes upon its back,
A golden chalice on its brow.
The hunter swiftly turned back
And quickly reached his home.
He said then to his mother:
‘Fetch me a confessor fast,
Go fetch a priest for me, 
A priest to bless me now.’

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66
So she hurried to fetch a priest.
Yet when she returned
She found him dead already.
Upon him were two dogs of black
They ripped him in the middle
And took him to the foot of hell.
39
The poem and the legend share a common core. Both tell of a young hunter 
who sets out to a mountain to shoot deer on Ember Sunday. By doing so, he breaks 
the prohibition and beholds a terrifying stag wearing a priest’s robes on its back 
and a golden chalice on its forehead. In addition to violating the taboo of hunting 
on Ember Sunday, the young hunter also took a shot at Jesus Christ. The lore of the 
Wild Hunter is therefore closely connected with the heritage of Zlatorog, which is 
also evident from the symbolism that contains elements of Christianity. According 
to an old German saga, recorded in the 17
th
 century, King Odin hunts a stag with 
golden rings, which lures him into Hulda’s kingdom. 
Another version of this folk song The Unfortunate Hunter confirms its connec-
tion with the legend of Zlatorog:
The unfortunate hunter and the Girl
The beau was setting on a trip 
And he packed his travel bundle. 
His sweetheart rose up early and
Urged him to go to mass.
He did not listen to her words
Nor cared too much for mass.
He took his gun, set off to mounts,
To shoot wild animals.
He goes to shoot some does
And stags, and also bear.
Beneath the mount his sweetheart waits
And washes skeins of yarn.
As she is washing the first skein
A hat comes floating by.
39 
This song is from the manuscript of Matija Valjavec, and was sent to Fran Miklošič in Vienna. Š I: 
293–4, no. 239

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67
It is in tatters, drenched in blood,
Belonging to her sweetheart.
The second skein she starts to wash.
A coat comes floating by.
It is in tatters, drenched in blood,
Belonging to her sweetheart.
The third skein she starts to wash.
Along the river Sava,
Her sweetheart’s body is floating by.
All torn apart, and drenched in blood.
She drops the wool,
Wades in the river.
She rolls him on her shoulder.
A grave she digs in the garden.
“Over him I’ll plant some flowers,
And always will I weep
When I shall weed the flowers;
My love will come no more.”.
40
 
This song refers to the part of the folktale about Zlatorog that tells of the love between 
a hunter and his sweetheart. Instead of his mother, in this case it is the girl who tries 
to persuade the hunter to go to Sunday mass. But grabbing his gun, he sets out to hunt 
for deer and bear. While the hunter shoots at the deer, his sweetheart washes the skeins 
of yarn she had spun. Yarn and the act of washing possess the symbolism of female 
chores that are connected with a female deity, and as such with the creation and with 
giving birth. This aspect of Zlatorog legend is enhanced by the image of White Ladies 
(or Fates) who watch over a herd of white chamois and a magic mountain garden, and 
help women give birth to their sons (Dežman 1868: 326). The Fates are mythical beings 
who, according to folktales, predict a new-born’s fate. The first one sets the yarn of life, 
the second spins it, and the third cuts it at the time of death, which is why their attributes 
are the yarn and the distaff (Mencej 2011: 55–84). In the legend about Zlatorog, they are 
favourably disposed to the young man. They take him under their wing, thus helping 
his poor widowed mother, and show him healing plants that restore her eyesight. 
40 
The song is from Gorenjska and was collected by Valentin Vodnik at the beginning of the 19th 
century. Š I: 295–6, No. 240

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