Kralj Matjaž

Kralj Matjaž is a legendary hero in Slovenia, possibly based on a real life king Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. The legend says that he is asleep under the mountain Peca in the Alps. When his beard grows seven times around the stone table, he shall awake and bring a golden era to Slovenes.

The legend

King Matjaž was a good king. Everyone that came was welcome and King Matjaž was ready to help. He also gave to coin his money. In his time there were gold times for Carinthia. But other kings were very envious of his power so they united their armies against him. With only a hundred of his surviving soldiers he had to hide in a cave that opened under Peca. The cave hid them from the enemies. In the cave Matjaž sat at a table, the others around him and they fell asleep. The legend says that when his beard has grown nine times around the table he will wake up. At the same time a linden tree will grow in front of his cave in middle of the winter. From midnight till one in the morning it will blossom then it will wither. At this time King Matjaž will come out of his cave and defeat all his enemies, banish away injustice and again reign the Slovenes. This is how there will again be golden times in Carinthia.

The origin

In the 1920s, the Transmuran ethnologist Avgust Pavel advanced the hypothesis that the legend of King Matjaž is a reference to the Hungarian king Mathias Corvinus who reigned over most of the Slovenian lands (Carinthia, Styria and Carniola) for a short period in the Late Middle Ages. Although this theory has been rebutted by most scholars, it gained a widespread popularity among the lay public and it is still frequently quoted as a reference.

ee also

*King in the mountain
*National symbols of Slovenia

References

* http://www2.arnes.si/~jutro19/kmatjaz.htm