in the Cuckoo Clock – tells how humans were inspired by the fairies to build the first cuckoo clock. The Fairy of the Edelweiss – tells of the first edelweiss flower that was a fairy transformed by the Fairy Queen to fight the Frost King. The Frost Giants and the Sunbeam Elves – tells how the frost giants once ruled Switzerland as a land of eternal ice and snow until the Fairy Queen and her army, with help from her friend the Sun, transformed the land into a paradise where mortals could live. Many of the fairies chose to become flowers, trees, and meadow grasses such as the Arolla pine, the edelweiss, and the Alpine poa before marching up the mountainsides to make war against the giants. The Palace Under the Waves – the king of the undines brings a human princess down to his crystal palace beneath a lake to make her his bride. The Tailor and the Giant – tells of a giant named Kisher who served in the army of Charlemagne. He was such a great warrior that Charlemagne gave him the name Einheer ("One Man Army"). When he was outsmarted by a tailor they became adventuring companions, fought a dragon, and contested each other over the hand of a princess. The Wonderful Alpine Horn – describes how the Swiss people first received the Alpine horn as a gift from the fairies. Franz Hohler The Totemügerli - tells of a playing group of hill spirits/fairies (the eponymous Totemuegerli), to which one should never say 'no', asking two (human) men for help carrying something up a craggy hillside. The object-being-carried starts to speak to the two men, and one of the two men runs away. The one who continued on the task, wakes up the next morning safe but frightened; whereas the one who ran away is never seen again. Müller-Guggenbühl The Singing Fir Tree – a woodcarver discovers a singing fir tree in the forest near his village. See also Alpine culture Gnomes of Zurich Heidi Helvetia Pre-Christian Alpine traditions Transhumance in the Alps Notes and references