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Legends of Prague

Prague is filled with facinating legends and folklore. Here are just a few of them.

The Origins of Prague

Before Prague was founded the Czech lands were ruled from the hill of Vyšehrad by the Slavic prince Přemysl and his wife Libuše, a woman of great beauty and wisdom who possessed prophetic powers.

One day Libuše had a vision. Whilst standing on a cliff overlooking the Vltava River, she pointed to a forested hill across the water, and proclaimed: 'I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars.' She instructed her people to go and build a castle where a man was building the threshold (in Czech 'práh') of a house. 'And because even the great noblemen must bow low before a threshold, you shall give it the name Praha', or Prague, as it is known in the west.

The Story of Horymír and Šemík

When the Czech lands were ruled by prince Křesomysl, a farmer named Horymír lived in the village of Neumětely. He had a white horse of extraordinary intelligence called Šemík. Due to Křesomysl's obsession to find treasures that were said to be hidden underground, people were encouraged to abandon farming and to become miners. Horymír was unhappy with Křesomysl's rule and warned that neglecting farming would result in famine. His protests were not liked by the miners who one day set Horymír's property on fire. Horymír and his followers in turn burned down the miners' village. Horymír was punished and sentenced for execution. When he was asked his last wish, he requested one last ride around the castle grounds on his beloved horse Šemík. His wish was granted. When Horymír got on his white horse, he whispered something in his ear. Šemík ran to the ramparts, jumped over them and slid down the cliff. When the on-lookers got to the ramparts, they were astonished to see Horymír and Šemík on the other side of the Vltava, galloping towards Neumětely.

The miraculous jump exhausted Šemík. The dying horse spoke to Horymír in a human voice and asked for a tomb to be built for him. Horymír did as the horse wished. The tomb has since disappeared but Šemík is said to be sleeping in the Vyšehrad rock, ready to come out when his help is needed again.

Prophecies of the Clock

One day a prisoner, looking at the famous astronomical clock, noticed that a sparrow was caught in the mouth of Death. The unlucky man believed that sight to be a bad omen and thought that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. But, as the next hour stroke, the clock started moving again, the jaw of Death opened and, to the prisoner's great relief, the sparrow set itself free and flew away. A few days later the convict was released from prison and was free again.

The Legend of Dalibor (Dalibor's Violin)

The name of the Tower of Dalibor (Daliborka) at the Prague Castle is connected to one of Prague's best-known legends, which was also made into an opera by Bedřich Smetana in 1868.

According to this legend, a man called Dalibor from Kozojedy, a small town near Litoměřice, was sentenced to death and imprisoned in this tower for giving shelter to some rebellious peasants. While waiting for the fatal day, Dalibor would play his violin and his music was so beautiful that all the people of Prague were moved and enchanted and the local authorities didn't dare announce the date of the execution. People knew that the generous Dalibor was dead when his violin fell forever silent.

The Silver Fish

A legend says that a wealthy man called Myslík was forced to run away from Prague after the battle of the White Mountain. He gathered all his precious silver and melted it in a fish-shaped clay mould. Before leaving his beloved Prague, Myslík hid the silver fish inside a wall of his house. Many years later a new tenant was living in that house. One day, this man was ordered by the city counselors to tear down the old building and build a new one. The poor man fell into despair at the news as he didn't have the money to do that. He was about to leave his house when Myslík's silver fish fell out of a broken wall. The precious object allowed the man to restore his old house. This legend is still well known in Prague and the moral of this story is that someone's misfortune may always turn into someone else's good luck and so we should never lose our hope.

15 November 2004