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The Heathen Castles

by Theresa König last modified 2007-11-08 10:11

The people of the Montafon call the few castle ruins in the area “heathen castles” and know all kinds of stories about them.  These castles once belonged to powerful bailiffs who oppressed the farmers.  They built their castles on high, hard to reach cliffs so that they could see each other on one or both sides.  This made it possible for them to send signals to each other if they had an emergency.  Violence, robbery and arbitrariness made them so hated that the people made an oath to take revenge.  Through deviousness and daring they overpowered all of the castles in one night and destroyed them completely.  Only the owner of the castle on the Valkastiel in Vandans was able to hold on to his fortress because of its hard to reach location.  In the end, the attackers were able to bribe a maid into letting them into the castle.  The bailiff was in the habit of making this particular maid check his hair for lice every day after lunch and then he would take a nap.  The maid told this to the enemy who convinced her to help them get into the castle, capture the bailiff and destroy the fortress. 1

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1 Beitl 1982: 259f

Audiofile

P09-2_The Heathen Castles.mp3
 


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