PALE MOUNTAINS

Carlo Signorini

The name Dolomites is a recent one, given in honour of the French researcher, Dèodat de Dolomieu, the first real researcher who was able, in 1789, to de-fine the composition of the special rock which this mountain group is made of: double carbonate of calcium and magnesium. Their former name was Monti Pallidi (Pale Mountains), so called due to how pale they often appear to the viewer. At dusk, during clear days, the whiteness of the stone takes on a pinkish-purple hue (Enrosadira), which transforms these peaks in a unique and unforgettable spectacle for those experiencing it. The Pale Mountains are valued all over the world, so much as to be considered one of the major natural wonders of Earth. This fact also entails some negative aspects: with the increase in the demand and prices, some inconsiderate financial ventures tend to interfere indiscriminately upon this environment, thus jeopardising its natural equilibrium.Unfortunately, these places are appreciated almost exclusively for their natural beauties which are often addressed to mere frivolity…The beauty of these valleys and mountains could also be expressed in their very ancient history, manifesting in this way their glorious and epical past which, nowadays, has almost been completely forgotten. The knowledge of one’s own cultural roots represents an enormous wealth, it could be a different way to attract tourism (economy), valorising the territory without having to alter it from its wonderful whole.After the Ice Age, the place was covered by a very dense forest which reached the thousand metres. From there and up to the beginning of the mountainous peaks’ rocks, there was a strip of green meadows in which herds of wild animals abounded during the warm season. Prehistoric nomad hunters were the first recurrent inhabitants of these mountains. In a later period, during the Iron Age, some populations who knew how to manufacture iron came down from Northern Europe. They were the first people of the Reti and of the Celts cultures, whilst the ancient Etruscans came up from the South. The first really permanent settlements were made up by miners who settled high up, even up to two thousand metres of altitude. Kingdoms were established upon these high places, each with its own distinct name, language, and culture. They were not big kingdoms, perhaps today they would be rather regarded as settlements, but they were very powerful however because they possessed the knowledge which made them the masters of iron, regarded as priceless in those times. They were admired and feared at the same time because, considered sorcerers, they were able to enter by violating Mother Nature’s secrets. They were also masters of fire and, thanks to it; they were the only ones who were able to extract iron from the mineral’s stone. They knew the magic of turning metals into liquids and combining them in correct proportions to create new and highly resistant alloys. For all this work they needed large quantities of firewood which they derived from the dense forests surrounding them. With the passing of time, their disforestation resulted in large meadows in which shepherds started to settle themselves with their chalets.It wasn’t gold, but metals and their alloys which have created the Golden era in the Pale Mountains. Many of the places or mythical characters contain gold in their names: Aurona, Val Laurina, King Laurin and more.Alliances or wars were often created amongst the various kingdoms because of the necessity of expanding one’s own dominion. Some of these were: The Kingdom of Fanes, the Kingdom of Bedoyères, the Kingdom of Landrines, the Kingdom of Catubrènes, the Kingdom of Peleghètes, the Kingdom of Lastojères, the Kingdom of Cajùtes, the Kingdom of Duranni.The myth of Aurona appears during these civilisations’ most archaic phase. Aurona is described as a city completely made of gold and of precious gems. The legend states that Aurona was an underground city, closed from outside by a large metal door. Its inhabitants were miners who had made a pact with the underground gods: they would never go outside and would keep on living in the dark tunnels and, in exchange of this vow; they would continue to receive enormous quantities of jewels. Things then changed because of the love which blossomed between a young foreigner and the daughter of the miner’s king. After several adventures, the youth managed to break down the heavy door and escaped with his beloved. Without the bulky metal door, the inhabitants of Aurona suddenly found themselves faced with the wonders of nature and the sun’s splendour. Overcome by enthusiasm, they abandoned the tunnels and escaped, scattering everywhere. There are some people who instead believe that the miners never went far away from the mountains, some of them have taken refuge in the Swiss Alps where one can still meet them, wearing dark clothes, dark like their eyes, their hearts devoid of any feeling for the human fate, and they continue to accumulate riches, enclosed in secret meanders of bank institutes; are these just rumours perhaps?After the miners’ escape, the Kingdom of Aurona fell into total abandon, so much that no one remembers the entrance that takes to this place.The saga of the Fanes and of the war between the populations of the Dolomites takes place during the middle part of history, between the Bronze and Iron Age. Characters with great magical powers are described in it, like Spina de Mul and his sister Tsicuta. The former was certainly a shaman covered by a mule’s hide, half skeletal and half alive.Usually, the figure of the shaman possesses the ability to perform psychic journeys, in order to make contact with the kingdom of the dead and then return to the kingdom of the living. The character of Spina de Mul, represented as half skeletal and half living, fully expresses this concept.The female figure of his sister Tsicuta represents the archaic testimony of the feminine religion, antecedent to the male one, and tied to the cults of the Great Goddess or Goddess Mother. This woman, with an ugly appearance but not completely malignant, still exists today as the figure of the Befana (a figure found in Italian tradition of an old woman who brings gifts on the day of the Epiphany) who bestows gifts (mostly edible ones) to deserving people. The legend of King Laurin and of the Rosengarten group is collocated in a more recent era: Between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The ancient epic saga that took place in the Pale Mountains comes to an end with this legend; it narrates King Laurin’s valiant fight for the defence of his own underground kingdom against the treachery of mankind and, in the end, defeated by human evilness, he shuts himself away in his underground kingdom, never to resurface again.The more ancient Saga of the Fanes also ends with the underground escape of the Princes and of the survivors still waiting for the moment when human greed will cease.While, in very far away places from these, the myth of Eldorado has not been forgotten and is, still today, sought after by various researchers, here, the memory of Aurona has been completely forgotten and totally abandoned.One could try to look for archaeological remains, interpret the meaning of certain toponyms to try and assure the validity of some facts enclosed in ancient legends, in an attempt to piece together the history of the ancient civilisations which have inhabited these mountains, because this is everyone’s history and is one of the real riches which the Pale Mountains still enclose inside their appeal.

CARLO SIGNORINI herbalist