“Zlatorog (a legendary white chamois buck) used to roam the then beautiful garden valley of Triglav with the White Ladies, good fairies who kept the mountain pastures green and helped humans whenever they found them in need.
Meanwhile, down in the Soca Valley near Trenta, a greedy plot was being hatched. It seemed that an innkeeper’s daughter had been given jewels by a wealthy Venetian merchant. The girl’s mother demanded that her daughter’s lover, a poor but skilled hunter, match the treasure with Zlatorog’s gold hidden under Mt Bogatin. If not, he was at least to bring back a bunch of Triglav ‘roses’ in mid-winter to prove his fidelity – an impossible task.
The young hunter, seething with jealousy, climbed the mountain in search of the chamois, figuring that if he we re to take even a piece of its golden horns, the treasure of Bogatin – and his beloved -would be his. At last the young man spotted Zlatorog, took aim and fired. It was a direct hit.
The blood gushing from Zlatorog’s wound melted the snow and up sprang a magical Triglav rose. The chamois nibbled on a few petals and – presto! – was instantly back on his feet. As the chamois leapt away, roses sprang up from under his hooves, luring the hunter onto higher and higher ground. But as they climbed, the sun caught Zlatorog’s shiny horns. The hunter was blinded, lost his footing and plunged into a gorge.
The once kind and trusting chamois was enraged that a mere mortal would treat him in such a manner. In his fury he gored his way through the Triglav Lakes Valley, leaving it much as it looks today. He left the area with the White Ladies, never to return.
And the fate of the others? The innkeeper’s daughter waited in vain for her lover to return home. As spring approached, the snow began to melt, swelling the Soca River. One day it brought her a sad gift: the body of her young swain, his lifeless hand still clutching a Triglav rose. As for the innkeeper’s rapacious wife, we know nothing.”
the best tale i could find of zlatorog, the chamois from the triglav mountains, from the earthen chivalry blog. the bohinj lake was mostly frozen on our visit, but even in a cold winter day, the beauty of the triglav national park is breathtaking.
