If you’ve ever wondered whether Montenegro has its own sacred place, the answer is, certainly, yes! You weren’t wrong at all if you thought it was the mighty Durmitor, which, with its beauty and appeal, surely outshines all other mountains both in Montenegro and the surrounding area.
Many legends and traditions are tied to it, perhaps that’s why it is so mystical.
According to some old legends, the Greek gods from Olympus chose Durmitor precisely as their resort and resting place. It is known for certain that Greeks once lived here, and perhaps it was they who chose this mountain as a second Olympus. What can one say or write about the second resting place of the gods, about this entire region and the space that surrounds it, over which it watches as a protector. It watches and guards, together with the fairies it hides deep in its bosom, with the winged horses that fly from one hill to another. Through long history, many legends have been spun about Durmitor, its peaks, caves, and lakes, about Pirlitor and Pasina voda, about Bukovicka gora, the heroes of Uskoci, Tepci, the Lakes, and Saranci. Below are some of those legends so that, when you visit this region and hear on winter nights the sound of horses’ hooves or the song of the Durmitor fairies, you’ll know that it’s all just stories and legends… or perhaps it isn’t?
Long ago, the Lakes (today a vast area), were all covered in pine forest, in black pine. Then, once, thunder roared, lightning struck the pines, the fire caught, and the wind scattered the flames across the entire forest. At that time, the forest was full of all kinds of beasts and apparitions. The beasts fled into Durmitor, the fairies into the clouds, and the devil and deviless took shelter in the lake, in the middle of the lake. They built a beautiful palace there, all made of ice crystals, and they live there to this day. And so this gentle lake, as the devil’s home, was named Devil’s Lake. When you go swimming in it and notice that it is the coldest lake on Durmitor, that’s because the chill spreads from the devil’s icy palace all around. And when a young girl swims across the lake, the devil immediately jumps out of his palace, grabs her, and drags her to the bottom into his icy castle. But if it’s a young man who swims, then the deviless leaps from the lake, grabs the boy, and pulls him into her icy chambers at the bottom of the lake. Some say the devil usually appears at dusk and even comes ashore. He has sometimes been seen in the form of a massive stallion, and other times in the form of a fierce bull with enormous horns. The bull grazes on the lakeshore grass, snorts near the lake, and roars so fiercely that everything around echoes and trembles from his voice. And some don’t say that, but rather this: While Saint Elijah, say the others, was riding his golden chariot through the heavens, all living things feared and trembled from his lightning and arrows. Only the devil defied him, even sticking out his tongue and mocking him. Saint Elijah urged the little lakes to kill the devil, but they refused, whether willingly or out of fear. Then Saint Elijah tried to persuade Ognjena Marija to burn the devil, but also to punish the lakes for refusing to kill this insolent rebel on earth. She, they say, chased the devil with fire, but didn’t spare the lakes either. But let us return to the drama between Saint Elijah and the devil. Saint Elijah wanted to strike the devil with lightning, but the devil always managed to dodge and hide in one of the lakes. But already the next day, the devil would again stick out his tongue and mock Saint Elijah.
Besides the gods, who rest upon it, Durmitor is also inhabited by fairies. At sunset, they descend to the foot of the mountain and land in the flowered meadows and valleys. There they dance in a circle, and they enchant the most handsome and well-built young men with their charm and beauty. But… there’s always a but. There is a condition for their chosen one – he must not carry anything made of iron with him if he wants to join their circle and make love to one of them. Long ago, there was a man from Piva named Todor. He was, they say, as handsome as could be, and well-built as a craftsman. But one evening, when Todor went to the fairies, to look into the eyes of one of them and steal the honey from her lips, he forgot himself and brought along some iron trinket. The fairies sensed it, rushed at him, grabbed the poor lad, and threw him from a beam into a nearby valley. There Todor fell into a death-like sleep, never to awaken. And so that beautiful valley beneath Durmitor, full of meadow flowers, cold water, and fragrance, is called Todor’s Valley.
Near the lake once ran a caravan route that connected the coast with the north and beyond. On one occasion, when Prince Marko was traveling this route, across Bukovicka gora toward Pirlitor, where he stayed with his uncle Duke Momcilo, he heard a gunshot that killed his dog. In disbelief, he cried out: “When the gun came, the hero disappeared,” and to mark the event, he cut through a great stone boulder with his sword, which still stands there to this day, eKapija writes.
