I know what you’re thinking–Dragon’s Lair? What in the world am I talking about?
I’m glad you asked, there’s a famous folktale in Europe called the Nibelungen Saga, you might better know it as The Song of the Nibelungs. Or perhaps even as, Siegfried the Dragon Slayer. The gist of it is that Siegfried, on his way to the City of Worms, slew Fafnir, the dragon, and bathed in Fafnir’s blood, which made him invulnerable, with a catch!
Siegfried decides to take the treasure the dragon hoarded, but he is warned before he does so, by the mist people (ghosts/spirits) who suddenly appear in front of him, that he should not take the treasure because it is cursed!
Siegfried does not listen to the mist people and claims the treasure anyway, so while bathing in the blood of the dragon a leaf falls upon his back, leaving a spot free of the blood and thus creating a spot whereby he could be killed!
Oh, damn!
Does the story sound familiar?
Well, you might not know this, and I certainly did not, but there’s an actual location in the German Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest), the largest forest in Europe, where the dragon of legend lived and where Siegfried killed it!
Yes! Seriously.
The location is the highest mountain peak in the northern part of the forest.
Until recently, I didn’t know it existed. It was only after our trek up to the Celtic 500BC wall that someone wrote me a message and asked me if I had visited Dragon’s mountain (called Drachenfels in German). Uhm. No. Never even heard of it.
Well, I did some research and was so intrigued that I convinced my good friend and fellow adventurer, Erik Jessie, to climb the mountain and help me find the dragon’s lair. If it existed–spoiler–it does! I even told him about the treasure. By the way, real-life treasure hunters are still searching for Siegfried’s treasure to this day.
And up we went. The trek was amazing. It was beautiful. The views were breathtaking.
And. It. Was. VERY. VERY. Dangerous. And… I captured the most exciting parts on video!
If you ever visit Germany and decide to hike up the mountain, be prepared that it’s not a place to take young children and the walk along the top of the mountain is harrowing with sheer drops on all sides. It’s unlikely one could survive a fall from the dragon’s peak, which the mountain is also called.
I filmed our hike up the mountain and filmed the sheer drops from the extreme edges and, if I’m honest, I’m an idiot for doing so. I get sweaty palms just watching the video back. Some people who have watched the video have told me some of the angles from the top looking down made them dizzy just viewing them, so fair warning! The video is below for you to watch.
Mist Figure?
Before we get to the video, see the photo below. It’s a strange photo and it may be nothing or it could be something, but in the photo, there’s a patch of mist between some trees. It’s more obvious the closer I zoom in.
It could be mist, but it also looks like it could be a very large spider’s web.
To me, though, it looked like an apparition trying to form, and if that’s what it is then it could confirm part of the legend of Siegfried and the dragon, in that the mist people exist and inhabit the mountain. And if they exist…
I hope you enjoy the video. Share it with anyone you think might be interested in seeing dragon’s mountain. Oh, and yes, we found the dragon’s lair, it’s one of the most amazing places I have ever been to in my life!
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