The rune mountain
The Runenberg is a story (fairytale novella) by the romantic Ludwig Tieck . It appeared in the Taschenbuch für Kunst und Laune in 1804 and in Phantasus in 1812 .
content
A melancholy young hunter named Christian meets a stranger in the mountains who accompanies him for a while. On the way he talks about his origins. His father, a gardener in a castle, is disappointed because his son does not show similar interests, but rather lets himself be guided only by his longing for the mountains and nature. Christian finally leaves home and learns the hunter's profession from an old forester.
After a while, the two go their separate ways. On the advice of the stranger, Christian climbs the rune mountain doubtfully and fearfully, but at the same time as if possessed. After a while he comes to a window through which he takes a look. He sees a singing woman undressing. The naked beauty presents him with a strange, jeweled plaque with signs that disappeared when he woke up.
In the morning the young man can only vaguely remember what he experienced and finally convinces himself that it was a dream. A short time later he comes to a small village and is relieved to finally be around people again. In the village church he meets his future wife, the beautiful Elisabeth, for the first time. In order to be close to her, he takes up a job as a gardener with Elisabeth's father.
Now Christian works hard, after six months he takes his beloved as his wife. The two are very happy and will soon be starting a family. After a long time Christian decides to visit his homeland again and meets his father in the mountains at the foot of the fateful Runenberg. After Christian's mother died, Christian's mother was very lonely and therefore also went to look for his son. The father moves in with Christian's family, their life is carefree. One day a stranger comes by and settles in with Christian and his family. After three months he decides to go on an indefinite reputation and leaves a large sum of money. Christian should take care: If the stranger doesn't return within a year, so be it.
A year goes by and the riches pass into Christian's possession. He is now increasingly suffering from paranoia - the gold has spoiled him, according to his father. He wanders aimlessly until he meets an old woman in the forest. This gives him back the missing tablet, which pulls him completely under its spell.
He disappears into a mountain shaft and is believed to be dead by his people. Only after many years does it reappear completely neglected. In the meantime, his father and in-laws have passed away. Elisabeth is remarried and has given birth to more children, but her family and possessions experience a relentless decline. Christian shows his impoverished wife a sack of worthless stones, which in his eyes seem to be precious stones, and returns to his forest woman.
Symbol language
The Runenberg takes up the motif of the Venusberg from Der getreue Eckart and the Tannhauser with a similar symbolic meaning: In the sounds and colors of the inhospitable mountains, with their beautiful, but hard and immortal rock, the devilish madness dwells. This area is opposed to the godly domestic life in the fertile, bright plane and the love for the ephemeral, which is expressed in the flowers. The Hunter exceeds the limit set here by the Ausreißung the mandrake , a plant, which forms the transition between the worlds with their human-like root. According to popular belief, their sound when pulled out leads to madness or death. So here the hunter follows her voice, which shows him ordinary life as dead and the stones as alive.
In Novalis ' novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1800) mining also occurs, but with a different evaluation, the miner says that the gold cannot harm him because he keeps none of it for himself. The witch in the forest is a common fairy tale motif, u. a. in Jorinde and Joringel (1777).
literature
- Dieter Arendt: Ludwig Tieck: "The Runenberg" (1802/1812 - 1816). Or: "Wonderful, immeasurable treasures [...] in the depths of the earth". In: ders., Fairy tale novels or the end of romantic fairy tale dreams . Francke, Tübingen 2012, pp. 36–43. ISBN 978-3-7720-5444-0 .
- Claudia Stockinger, Ronald Weger: Tieck Bibliography: In: Ludwig Tieck: Life - Work - Effect . Edited by Claudia Stockinger and Stefan Scherer. Berlin [among others]: de Gruyter, 2011, pp. 697–807, here 795–797 [45 studies on Runenberg ]. ISBN 978-3-11-018383-2 , e- ISBN 978-3-11-021747-6 .
- Sandra Schött: Epilogue. In: Ludwig Tieck: The blonde Eckbert. The rune mountain. Fairy tales [ed. with afterword, timetable, word explanations and bibliography by Sandra Schött.] Husum / Nordsee 2011 [each after the second versions in “Phantasus” (1812)], 39–41.