The Legend of King Laurin

Legends of the Dolomites:

Once upon a time dwarf King Laurin asked for Simhild’s hand. She was the pretty daughter of a neighbouring king. Upon refusal, he kidnapped the beloved girl and took her to his realm full of marvellous red roses.

However, after seven happy years, Simhild’s family freed the princess and imprisoned King Laurin, but he managed to escape and he retired at the foot of the great Rosengarten Mountains to cry with pain for his star-crossed love.

On seeing the red roses, he thought that they betrayed him by showing the way to his lair and, by casting a spell, he turned them into rock, so that nobody could see them during day or at night.

But King Laurin forgot about the twilight, which is neither day nor night; and it is exactly at this time of the day that the Dolomites take on that fiery red which makes them unforgettable also to people who have seen them only once.