Krakonoš’s dwelling

The highest mountain in Bohemia and Moravia (1,602 m) has long been regarded as the home of Krakonoš, also called Rýbrcoul, ruler of the Krkonoše Mountains. B. Balbín writes in his Miscellanea that a spirit in human form sits at the summit of Sněžka, swinging its legs over the sheer cliffs and crying out monotonously. It was sometimes considered diabolical in nature. Reports that the mountain spirit no longer appeared after Count K. L. Schaffgotsch completed the chapel on Sněžka in 1667 were taken as indirect evidence of this. People also imagined him as a giant with a garden full of healing herbs and magical plants in Obří důl beneath Sněžka. His enormous appearance is often explained by a peculiar mountain phenomenon in which enlarged shadows of people on summits are projected onto the mist above the valleys. According to legend, golden pillars lie buried in Rýbrcoul’s garden. As the recognised ruler he appeared in many places throughout the Krkonoše, even in their foothills, and in many different forms. (See Rýbrcoul in Part I.)