Rubezahl. Guardian Rubezahl is a folklore mountain spirit of the Krkonose Mountains, a mountain range along the border between the historical lands of Bohemia and Silesia. He is the subject of many legends and fairy tales in German, Polish, and Czech folklore. The origin of the name is not clear. One interpretation is from the story How Rübezahl Got his Name, by Johann Karl August Musäus, which recounts how Rübezahl abducted a princess who liked turnips. The princess gets very lonely there in the mountains. To keep her company, Rübezahl turns the turnips into her friends and acquaintances. As the turnips wilt after a little while, so do the persons that were created by Rübezahl's magic. The princess asks him to count the turnips in the field. While he counted, she escaped. Following this explanation, some early English writers translated his name as Number Nip, including the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Another proposed etymology is Riebezagel, from a combination of the personal name Riebe and the Middle High German zagel, meaning tail, from his pictorial representation as a tailed demon. According to the etymologist Friedrich Kluge, the name is a contraction of Middle High German Ruobezagel, turnip-tail. Rübezahl is a name of ridicule, the use of which provokes his anger. Respectful names are Lord of the Mountain, Treasure Keeper or among herbalists Lord John. In one Silesian folktale, he is called Prince of the Gnomes. The Polish name, Liczyrzepa is a direct translation of the German name, introduced by Stanislaw Belza in 1898. It only became widespread in Poland after 1945, when Józef Sykulski started to translate tales of Rübezahl from German into Polish.The Czech name, Krakonos, is simply derived from the name of the mountains In legends, Rübezahl appears as a capricious giant, gnome, or mountain spirit. With good people he is friendly, teaching them medicine and giving them presents. If someone derides him, however, he exacts a severe revenge. He sometimes plays the role of a trickster in folk tales. The stories originate from pagan times. Rübezahl is the fantastic Lord of Weather of the mountains and is similar to the Wild Hunt. Unexpectedly or playfully, he sends lightning and thunder, fog, rain and snow from the mountain above, even while the sun is shining. He may take the appearance of a monk in a gray frock; he holds a stringed instrument in his hand, and walks so heavily that the earth trembles around him. In Czech local fairytales Rübezahl gave sourdough to people and invented traditional regional soup kyselo.