Two Legendary Places
There are some places that are filled with legend, most of it based upon real places and real events as passed down from person to person.
In Dutch
culture there are two special spots that wake up the imagination. They are Cockaigne and Devils Bridge.
The places shrouded in folklore are very different from one another. One is located on a map of the country and the other exists only in the mind.
Cockaigne is an imaginary place that came into being during
the medieval days. It is a place of luxury and pleasures that was considered to be an antidote
to the hardships attached to typical peasant life. Here is where it had been rumored nuns could show off their
bottoms without rebuke and food was everywhere. Even the sky was raining cheese.
In an atlas you'll find Devil’s Bridge. Also known as Gotthard Pass, it is one of
the highest mountain passes in Switzerland and connects the German speaking
part of the country to the Italian speaking part.
This Devils Bridge was not
used until about the 13th century. The most popular Devils Bridge legend involves
the story of a Swiss herdsman who wished a devil would build a bridge.
The
devil appeared and agreed to build the bridge, but only if the soul of the
first person to cross it was sacrificed.
And there went the herdsman!
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