Ancient Bohemian Legends

"Ancient Bohemian legends" ("Staré pověsti české" in Czech) is a book by Alois Jirásek written in 1894. It includes legends such as "Maiden's War", "Libuše and Přemysl", "Krok's Daughters" and "Bohemian Arrival".

"Bohemian Arrival"

According to myth, some Slavic people from an area between the Vistula River and Carpathian mountains set off in search of plentiful lands to the west. They were led by Forefather Čech and his brother, Lech. After a long time (maybe years) traveling, they arrived to busky land. Forefather Čech climbed Říp mountain and looked around the land. Then he allegedly said: "Oh, comrades, you endured hardships along with me, when we wandered in impassable woods; finally we arrived at our homeland. This is the best country predestined for you. Here you won't miss anything, but you'll take pleasure of permanent safety. Now that this sweet and beautiful land is in your hands, think up suitable name".

The Bohemians named their homeland after their leader and forefather, Čechy. "Čech" means "one of us".

Touched, Čech replied: "God bless our Promised land, by thousandsfold wishes wish-ful from us, save us scatheless and breed our issue from generation to generation, amen". Then some Slavs around Lech rose up and left Bohemia; they settled in Poland. Čech has been duke ("vojvoda" - judge)of his land for a long a time. There was peace in his land, nobody thieved etc. But after Čech's death, morals hardly worsened.

"Krok's Daughters"

Krok was the ruler of a Bohemian tribe, that today would be located in the Kladno district. He was just and kept his tribe at peace. When Bohemians recognized his wisdom and fairness, they elected him as their new judge.

Krok and his wife, Niva (literally "Lea, Mead") had three daughters: the eldest daughter, Kazi, knew every herbaceous plant and was a healer, a pythoness and Fate; their second daughter, Teta, taught Bohemians how to worship their deities, idols, and nymphs; the youngest daughter, Libuše, was a prophetess. She was so chaste and kindly that Bohemians elected her as judge after Krok's death.

"Přemysl and Libuše"

Libuše was a wise and just judge for several years. Once, two men came to Libušin (Libuše's seat) with a dispute - they were in disagreement as to where one's lot ended and the other began.

Libuše judged them, but the loser was angry and exclaimed: "Why must we have a female judge? Every nation is ruled by man - what a shame! Long hair means short reason!"

After that, almost everyone demanded a male judge. They elected Lemuz Přemysl (The Lemuzes were a peaceful and largely agrarian Bohemoslavic tribe in the Ore mountain foothills). He married Libuše and became first Duke of Bohemia (connected Čech's tribe with Lemuzes).

"Maiden's War"

So long as Libuše lived, women in Bohemia had many rights. But once Přemysl came into power, he started promoting male rights at the expense of female rights. This led Vlasta (Libuše's lady of the bedchamber) to rebel against Přemysl.

Most women started conspiring, and they murdered men and waged war against them. The best-known tale is about Šárka, the noble maid, who baited a trap on Ctirad. She pretended to refuse to join Vlasta, tying her to a tree and leaving her in the centre of a deep forest. Ctirad then untied her and drank Šárka's poisoned mead. He fainted and Šárka captured him. After he woke up in the maidens' base, they tortued him to death. This provoked Přemysl to storm their castle and end the horrific war.

Seven mythical dukes

Nezamysl was a son of Přemysl (literally "opposite of Přemysl - one who thinks"). His son was Mnata ("one who doesn't forget"). His son was Vojen (literally "the soldier"). His son was Vnislav (unknown meaning). Vnislav's son was Křesomysl - most wealthy and powerful of the Seven (he discovered silver mines in borderland). His son, Neklan, was a weakling.