2024-04-19 19:25:47
The episode of sinful love is accompanied by much more interesting battles with the conquerors described in the submissions with the help of fire and water. Legends are the creation of the people, but they are illuminated in other colors when we know that it is about 1253. April 4 The actually existing wooden castle, written in Latin as “Embare”, mentioned in the act of partition of the Curonian Spit.
Burning barrels
The magnificent mound of Imbare can be written about both from the archaeological (since 1966 researched for at least 14 seasons) and from the mythological sides. This time – about how the ancient monument was seen by the local people, who willingly created legends and stories.
One of the first to write down stories about the hill of Imbare was Bishop Motiejus Valančius (1801–1875), who lived in the village of Nasrėnai, just 5 km from the castle hill. After his death in 1891 In the USA, in Plymouth, the book written by the bishop “The Story of Anthony the Third” was published. In it we find the entry “Warrior at Salanta Castle”. This story later inspired other writers to create the love myth of Inbare and a knight of the Teutonic Order.
M. Valančius wrote that he heard about the huge battle that took place near the Curonian castle from the locals. True, in the legends, the Curonians are called Žemaitsi, and the soldiers of the Livonian Order who resided in Memelburg (Klaipeda Castle) are called Crusaders. The bishop describes their march to Curonian Spit, bypassing dangerous woods and heading towards Salantas, then called Skilandias, along the Minija, Salanta river.
“When they heard about the enemy’s trip, the Žiamaičians built one pillar near Nasrai (Nasrėnais – auth. post.) on the mountain, covered it with sziauds and put a spiked baczka on top. The second one was built today in Kalnelė (in the village of Kalnalis, 1.5 km from the mound – author’s post). He placed guards near them and ordered them to be lit when the enemies appeared, and under the authority of Klausiagalius, they gathered on the pillory in a large sail”, – XIX century. help written by M. Valančius.
As soon as the German soldiers appeared, signal fires were immediately lit.
“There was no dug road from Kalnelis to Skilandiai – the passenger had to cross the river Salantas, because there was no bridge either. When the Germans came to the Kalnelis mountain, they saw the Žiamaiczys on the castle, the Bekuszdanczys, and they said, “I will beat you.” After descending the mountain, despite being hindered, they crossed the river with all their carts, which they lined up.
As soon as they did that, the Žiamaičians pulled back the smooth melnyczi (water mill valves – auth. past.) that were on the mountain: Salanta immediately flooded. Although the spring under the castle was an obstacle, the Germans kept getting closer to the castle. A terrible battle (battle – auth. past.) began: the Žiamaičians screamed and ran down the mountain, killing the Germans,” it is said.
Thick logs were rolled down from the castle hill, and one brave young warrior disguised himself as the enemy and crept into the battlefield itself. He put a burning sponge into the German carriage.
“The wind was high; the fire, going downwind, covered all the carriages in the blink of an eye; the horses tied to them started flying, seeing what the Germans stopped fighting and rushed to the horses and carriages. Žiamaiczis, sitting on their necks, fly.
The enemies wanted to return and found the river flooded – they had to swim or lie down. So many German Germans were forced out that only half of them remained. The Žiamaičians captured many cattle and horses, and many drowned. Now the flies burned one German on their castle in honor of the gods,” the bishop finished the story. But that was just the beginning of the end.
Inbare performance
Word-of-mouth stories are very often transformed: this was also the case with the Battle of Imbare Castle. in 1940 In the legend published by “Lietuvos aide” about the fight between the Germans and the defenders of Imbare, we find new motives. And a new character: Nevyras, the nobleman of the castle. It is said that he did not help the attacked neighbors, he was arrogant, that is why he was called that. Until it’s time to prove whether he’s a man or not. Until the Germans attacked Imabre Castle.
“The attack took place at night. The fight was brutal. The crusaders, after a preparatory bombardment (that is, cannons started to be used by the crusaders since the 14th century – aut. post.) attack with incendiary shells, relying on their steel armor, began to crowd the castle hill,” the press of the 1940s wrote.
The resistance of the defenders of Imbare is also vividly described: they “poured a whole river of boiling, burning slag” on the heads of the Germans.
“Many crusaders turned into burning corpses. For others, the burning embers made it very difficult to get to the castle. After the first string of logs and huge stones were released, the surviving crusaders fell and began to hurry away from the mountain. The people of Nevyr took advantage of this, and confident of victory, like lions furiously attacked the retreating crusaders”, – the author who recorded the submission did not avoid loud epithets.
The defenders of Imbare celebrated the victory, and again the motif of human sacrifice is repeated in the innings.
“Meanwhile, a huge bonfire was being made in the courtyard, because the castle council decided to sacrifice all the knights captured alive to the gods for a good victory. They had enough slaves to serve as regular crusaders. Scrap loading was soon completed. Priests from Aukokalnis were still expected for the rites”, an interesting fact is also presented: 5 km to the northwest of the Imbare mound is the Alka mountain with a ceremonial stone.
In this version of the legend, it is told about the Germans crying piteously out of fear, others even screaming, being prepared for sacrifice.
And here she comes: the beautiful daughter of the lord of the castle, Inbare. With contempt on his face for the moaning captives. “What cowards they are!” Is this how Zemaits die? None of them! You won’t hear,” Inbare said.
However, a major turning point occurs when the castle defenders drag the knight they found wounded in the wolf pit to the pyre. The German sadly looked at the fire and his friends who were lying next to it.
“He understood everything, everything. At the signal, he, although wounded and extremely tired, rises to his full handsome height, stretches out as if to show respect, and gives himself to be bound. His dark blue eyes show no tears, his handsome face shows seriousness but not fear. He does not show anyone a pleading look. He slowly turns towards the castle walls and his gaze meets Inbare’s gaze.
They stand like that for an hour without moving their eyes. Inbare screamed, and the knight’s gaze began to beg for mercy. The two understood each other in that brief moment. Inbare quickly turned around and disappeared into the walls of the castle, but already with concern in her eyes”, – that’s how the seeds of legendary love sprouted. In the next innings, he spreads the leaves.
Violinist
In the most common and well-known legend of Imbare, not a single sentence remains about the battle: it immediately mentions the crusader imprisoned in the tower. Folk art seems to lead folklore researchers and a strange detective: wasn’t the young knight burned and imprisoned in a tower at Inbare’s request?
Inbare not only falls in love with the enemy, but also helps him escape.
“For this, her mother bewitched her (below. inbarusi) the age of living in solitude in an abandoned and empty castle invisible to the outsider’s eye. Only occasionally did the castle emerge from the mist, and the bewitched girl would sing softly from the embers, begging to be saved from the spell. Hearing her song, people started calling the girl Inbar,” the filing says.
Thus, in the narrative folklore, we are faced with a polished movie script: a castle siege, victory, sacrifice of enemies to the gods, the unexpected appearance of an exceptional knight, and the spontaneous love of the castle lord’s daughter, which results in a terrible curse. The end of the movie needs… a savior. And it is created.
“Once there appeared a brave violinist Puika who dared to enter the enchanted castle and fall in love with its mistress. After swearing to love forever, he freed Inbare from the spell, but he did not have the right to communicate with those around him.
Once he started playing the violin for the young people gathered near the mound, the castle burned down, and only a deep hole remained in the mountain. Since then, people began to call the castle and its surroundings Inbare (Imbare) after the beautiful ruler of the castle,” the story states.
This is just one of the innings of the famous Imbare mound. Others are perhaps not so romantic: about the black pig and the dung in his pocket, the landlord who beat and killed the serfs, the fratricide of the castle lords and the army that roared into the depths of the earth.
“In legends, the boundary between what is real and fictional, between fact and creation, is extremely fragile. The charm of legends is that no one can say with certainty when one ends and the other begins”, – so wrote the famous Lithuanian archaeologist, mythologist prof. Dr. Vykintas Vaitkevičius.
2024-04-19 19:25:47