The Dolomites and their legends

The Dolomites, a range of mountains in the Southern Alps, are widely celebrated for their bizarre rock formations, light colour hues, and pristine nature. It is no coincidence that UNESCO declared the Pale Mountains a World Heritage Site and that, every single year, they attract tourists and nature enthusiasts from all around the globe. This enchanting mountain landscape, which is oftentimes cool and forbidding, has left an indelible mark on its inhabitants. Their veritable treasure trove of myths, legends and mystery stories is an integral part of the rich cultural heritage of the Dolomites: the older generation has always passed down this heritage to a wide-eyed audience comprised of both the young and the young-at-heart. This compilation by Karl Felix Wolff (1879-1966), probably the most prominent regional writer-explorer of legends, contains well-known tales like 'King Laurin and the Alp-Glow' and 'The Kingdom of the Fanes' in addition to lesser known stories such as 'The Nightingale of the Sasslong', 'Iron Hand' and 'Merisana's Wedding'. This book is a unique collection on your perspective of the Dolomites.

Karl Felix Wolff is born in 1879. It was an elderly nanny from the Fassa Valley who first recounted the Ladin legends to Wolff. He became a journalist and writer, and wandered unceasingly all over the Dolomites in search of forgotten legends. The importance of Wolff's work in preserving the ancient Ladin myths simply cannot be overstated. He died in Bolzano in 1966.