The Green Maiden of Dundaga Castle

Once upon a time the lords of Dundaga palace were not allowed to pass on their heritage to their daughters. It was the case for one lord who had three or four daughters, but not a single son. The lord was old, so sometimes he could not sleep at nights because of his worries. One night he could not stand to be in his room, so he went for  a walk in the garden.

Suddenly a gnome appeared. He asked the lord, why was he sad and not asleep at night. The lord told the gnome about his troubles – that he is already old but has no heirs – so he will have to pass his heritage to somebody else. The gnome laughed and responded: ‘’That is not a problem. Just allow us, gnomes, to organize a wedding. Just make sure that no one sees it, then you will have a son. 

Soon the day of the wedding at the palace arrived. The lord had warned everyone that it is forbidden to be anywhere near the grand hall. But the gardener had a daughter and the stable-man had a son, who liked to go for walks every night. They were walking and saw that there were such bright lights in the hall that were never before seen. The boy tried to dissuade her, but she really wanted to know what was going on inside the hall. So she went to the window and saw how the gnomes were celebrating the wedding. Everything would have ended well, if only the girl had not started to laugh once she looked inside and saw how a gnome fell. Everything went dark, and the gnomes dashed away.

Only one gnome stayed, walked up to the girl and told her: “Because you could not refrain yourself from looking inside, you will be walking around here after your death and will not leave others in peace. Having said that, the gnome disappeared. Soon after the gardener’s daughter died, but the gnomes prophecy came true: the gardener’s daughter was roaming around each night. She was wearing the same green clothes that she always used to wear, so everyone calls her ‘’The Green Maiden’’.

Tags: the Dundaga Castle,  Gnome, Wedding , Gardener’s daughter ,  the Green Maiden