The Legend of the Kingdom of the Fanes

While Dorothy and I were on holiday in the Dolomites, we went for a walk by the river near St. Vigilio di Marebbe, where we were staying. Alongside the path were information boards telling the Ladin, Legend of the Fanes. The noticeboards were in German and Italian and whilst I struggled to understand them, I understood enough to make me want to find out more.

Two sections of the noticeboards

The legend was gathered and transcribed around the end of the 19^th Century by Karl Felix Wolff, the author of the collection of legends titled “The Pale Mountains”. He gathered together a number of fables that had previously been passed on orally. In order to gather together stories that sometimes contradicted each other Wolff did make some additions. However scholars feel that originally they were about the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

In 2005, a film about the saga was produced, entitled “Le Rëgn de Fanes”, which won Best International Score prize at the Garden State Festival in 2008.

Wood Carving at the beginning of the walk

Below is my version of the legend based on sources described at the end of this blog:

The Legend of the Fanes

The Fanes lived in the Dolomites and their prosperity was due to a secret alliance with the Marmots. Only the King of the Fanes new about the pact and, in exchange for protection and care, the Marmots supplied their knowledge of natural resources and their digging skills, which were crucial for the kingdom's economy.

The day came for the princess of the Fanes to wed a foreign prince. On the wedding day, as tradition commanded, the secret of her people was revealed to her: their ancient alliance with the marmots. Ashamed that such humble creatures were their allies, the princess resolved to say nothing to her husband and to gift him the kingdom. Thus the foreign prince became King of the Fanes and she became the Queen.

One day while out hunting, the new king captured an eaglet. Suddenly an eagle that could spit fire from its beak and had golden talons, descended upon him. The eagle said “Return my child, and I will make you the mightiest man in the Land of Mountains. However, when you have two children, one shall be mine.” The king agreed, and the pact was sealed, unbeknownst to the queen!

In time, on Mount Nuvolau twin daughters were born to the Fanes queen. They were Dolasilla, fair as the sun, and Lujanta, radiant as the moon. As per the pact, the queen entrusted Lujanta to the Marmots and received a snow-white baby marmot in return. At the same time, the king sent a servant to Mount Nuvolau with the task of delivering a princess to the Eagles, but the servant was overwhelmed by the beauty of the marmot and took it instead of Dolasilla.

When the servant returned to the castle he heard a terrible cry. It was Spina de Mul, a sorcerer who can assume the aspect of a half-rotten mule carcass and cannot be wounded by weapons. The servant sought refuge among the Splutes, the border guardians.

All of a sudden, from the darkness, a young man approached, declaring: “I come from the land of the Duranni, seeking adventures to earn a warrior’s name”. The guardians, replied sceptically: “If you defeat Spina de Mul, you will win your name, but his scream will kill you first.”

A sound like a thousand stones was heard and Spina de Mul arrived. The youth hid behind a rock and hurled stones with all his might, striking the sorcerer again and again until Spina de Mul cried, “Who are you? What is your name?” The youth answered, “I am a Duranno, and my name will be born with my warrior’s fame.”

“From this day you are Ey de Net - Eye of the Night - for you struck me in darkness”, replied Spina de Mul, and fled.

As he left, he dropped the Raietta, the stone he had stolen from the Fanes that brings light to the darkness and gives hope. Ey de Net decides to give the stone to the baby Dolasilla, declaring “She is the princess of the Fanes. The stone is hers by right.”

Years passed by and Dolasilla grew into a beautiful young woman. One day the king met a minstrel singing of Aurona, a splendid underground kingdom rich in gold and gems. Enchanted, the king set out with Dolasilla to seek the treasure. They reached the Silver Lake, where they found precious jewels and a mysterious silver box. Suddenly three dwarfs emerged from a cave, weeping and begging the king not to take the treasure. He refused and gave the box to Dolasilla. However, pity moved her, and she returned the box to the dwarves.

Smiling again, the dwarfs gave her ermine fur and magic powder. From the lake emerged a casket containing a silver bow and arrows, infallible weapons that always struck their target, and the raw material to forge an invulnerable armour and to make several silver trumpets. Thanks to these gifts, Dolasilla became a legendary archer, winning victory after victory for the kingdom and Dolasilla was triumphantly crowned with the Raietta.

After a great battle, Dolasilla crossed the field among the fallen, lying like cut flowers. Among them was the body of a young prince. She had seen him smile during the fight; now he lay lifeless, his armour adorned with red poppies, pierced by her arrows. Sorrow seized her heart; she gathered the poppies and bid him farewell with a kiss.

That night the prince appeared in a dream, holding thirteen silver arrows and singing a strange song: “You are daughter of the marmots - forget the battles.” At dawn, Dolasilla asked her parents what it meant and for whom she must truly fight. They gave no answer and her destiny as a warrior was set.

Even though he had lost the Raietta a long time ago, rage still consumed Spina de Mul. To reclaim the stone, he sought allies. None would war against the Fanes - until he reached the land of the Duranni and heard of an undefeated hero: Ey de Net - the very youth that he was once defeated by, and that he had once named. Spina de Mul inflamed Ey de Net with tales of the king’s riches and of Dollasila’s beauty. Ey de Net vowed: “I will fight with you against the Fanes - but Dolasilla must be spared and taken from the battle unharmed.”

The Duranni lined up for war with their allies. At their head stood Ey de Net; beside him, Spina de Mul, firing arrows from a faerie bow. At the sound of trumpets the Fanes appeared, led by Dolasilla in her white armour. Ey de Net was enchanted, staring at her even as battle raged. Spina de Mul, treacherous, loosed an arrow at Dolasilla, who fell. The Fanes, seeing their princess struck, hurled themselves furiously at the enemy while Dolasilla was borne away. The Duranni were defeated, and Ey de Net and Spina de Mul fled, blaming each other. Ey de Net accused the sorcerer of betraying the pact; because of him, Dolasilla was wounded and the Fanes had triumphed.

After the battle, Ey de Net wandered in despair. His chance to see Dolasilla again seemed lost. He sought the Anguane, who know past and future. One told him that Dolasilla pined for the warrior who had, in childhood, given her the Rajetta, and that she was fated to vanish with her kingdom. To learn how to protect her, Ey de Net went to see an old man called Vögl delle Velme who in turn, sent him to seek Tsicuta, a sister of Spina-de-Mul’s

For seven days and nights Ey de Net waited, until Tsicuta appeared - beautiful, cruel and hating the King of the Fanes for betraying her love. She had been betrothed to the Fanes’ king before he married the Fanes’ queen. Tsicuta revealed the future: “The kingdom of the Fanes is condemned, and you cannot save it. You may guard Dolasilla with a special shield, but you cannot prevent her from meeting her destiny.”

While Ey de Net wandered, Dolasilla lay wounded at the castle. The king sought counsel on how to protect her and was told to obtain a special shield made by the dwarfs of Atemar. He brought the shield, but it was so heavy no one could bear it - until a youth arrived and raised it with one hand. It was Ey de Net. The king made him Dolasilla’s squire, and they became inseparable.

Ey de Net went to the king to ask for Dolasilla’s hand; the king scornfully refused, caring only to enlarge his realm. He had struck a bargain with the Caiutes to the South: he would give them dominion over the Fanes in exchange for the riches of the subterranean kingdom of Aurona. To keep Dolasilla from defending her people, the king banished Ey de Net, because Dolasilla had sworn not to fight without him and the protective shield that only he could carry.

Following this treacherous pact, the enemies of the Fanes readied their attack. Only Dolasilla could save her people, yet she had pledged not to fight without her beloved squire.

Far away, Ey de Net, tormented by dark thoughts, learned among the Salvans that Dolasilla had finally decided to take up arms again, and was enraged at her broken promise. Tsicuta goaded him, but a Salvan secretly advised him to seek the Mjanines, the water nymphs, who revealed that Dolasilla was about to die. Ey de Net hastily mounted a horse to go and save her.

At dusk, heavy-hearted, Dolasilla visited the Salvan acquaintance of Ey de Net and found out that he was coming to save her. At dawn, on the way home, she met thirteen scruffy children with silver bells on their ankles; they pawed at her and begged. Frightened, Dolasilla handed them her thirteen enchanted arrows, not knowing they were demons sent by Spina de Mul. Back at the castle, she saw her breastplate had turned dark..

Before resuming the war, Dolasilla had received a warning from the dwarfs of the lake: if her armour ever lost its white colour, she must not fight. Ignoring the warning in order to save the kingdom, the princess donned the now dark armour beneath a cloak, and the Rajetta shone on her brow. Trumpets sounded as the clash began, and at noon, the thirteen enchanted arrows struck her. With Ey de Net’s name upon her lips, Dolasilla died.

The King of the Fanes, waiting in hiding, learned that his daughter was dead and that he would have neither the kingdom nor the promised riches. Remorse and grief turned him to stone - into the rock overlooking Falzarego Pass.

The Queen mourned Dolasilla with the survivors when a radiant maiden appeared: Lujanta, the twin once given to the marmots, who recovered her sister's bow and arrows and, thanks to her armour and her obvious courage, repelled the invaders, making them believe that Dolasilla had been resurrected.

Lujanta told her mother the Queen, to repent for betraying the pact with the marmots and for making a foreigner king of the Fanes. Only by renewing the pact could the kingdom be reborn. The Queen agreed and descended into the underground kingdom of the Marmots, guided by Lujanta, to prepare for the realm’s return and to lead her people to safety in the tunnels beneath Lake Braies.

Even today, it is said that on a full moon night on Lake Braies, the queen and Lujanta can be seen rowing in a black boat, waiting for the sound of the sacred silver trumpets that will proclaim the redemption and resurrection of the Kingdom of the Fanes.

What Fanes looks like today

Sources

A lot of work has been done by Adriano Vanin, uncovering and explaining the Legend of the Fanes. He created a website at www.ilregnodeifanes.it. Unfortunately, something seems to have happened to the site. However, thanks to The Internet Archive, it can still be found here.

I have also relied heavily on this telling of the story on Substack. This includes some very nice Art Nouveau pictures.