Hungarian legends

Before spring we worked on a special topic, to present some of our legends in written or with pictures.
These legends are from old times but characteristically they are the part of our traditons at present. They are told young children as well as schools, kindergartens or at home.
The legend of Lake Balaton

Sió, the accursed fairy

The legend of Sió
There was a fairy named Sió. She was the fairy of Lake Balaton. She was beautiful, and she had long, gold hair. Every man fell in love with her, who saw this beautiful girl. But she didn’t love any of them, only played with them. The wizard, named Kamor, lived in he Bakony’s forest. His son deadly fell in love with Sió. The girl asked him to prove his love. The boy had to bring lime flower’s nectar, from the Bakony’s highest peak. The hero got the nectar, risking his life, but when he walked to the lake, he saw the fairy in another man’s arms. He was so sad, that he jumped of the rocks of Tihany, and he died. His dad, the old wizard wanted to take a revenge on Sió. He visited the fairy dressed as a shepperd. He gave her a little bottle, saying this is the nectar. Sió opened the bottle, and suddenly a lot of snakes covered up her head. Kamor cursed her, saying she will have the snakes on her head until the true love absolves her. Finally a young couple’s love freed her. Sió was so happy, that she directed her healing water to Füred. Since then healing springs are born in that area.

The legend of Tihany's goats' snails

The legend of Tihany’s goats’ nails

A well-known legend connected to Lake Balaton is about the stones that look like goats’ nails.

According to folk legends, the Tihany peninsula was uninhabited, only an old woman lived there. She had a nice healthy flock of goats. She was very proud of them, and often shouted to the Lake: „My goats are the most beautiful in the world, aren’t they?” The Tihany echo repeated her sentence so the old woman was very angry.

One day a young girl appeared on the island with a flock of goats, which had golden fur and horns and marble white hooves. The old woman was very jealous, and she wanted to get the girl’s goats. She drew a deep groove with her oxen around the girl to separate her from her flock. Then came a huge storm and the waves of Balaton flooded the girl, the goats and the old woman. The girl became a fairy but the goats drowned. Their hooves can be seen as marble white stones.