Belgian Fairy Tales
Copyright© 2024 by William Elliot Griffis
Chapter 7: The Story of the Fleur-De-Lys
Long before cows in Belgium wore earrings, to denote their pedigree and good breeding, or sugar was made out of beets, there were wonderful things done by the fairies.
These were so many, that some industrious farmers and their wives got together to see if they could equal or exceed the fairies in doing good things for their country. They wished to outrival the fairies, excel them if possible, and make Belgium great among the nations.
These honest folk used to meet together in the evenings and tell fairy tales, so that they and their little ones, as they grew up in their wooden shoes, might know just what fairies were good for. This was done, because they supposed that everything unusual, or wonderful in nature, was the work of the fairies, and they felt that human beings ought, in other ways, to beat them in a contest of wits.
Some of the inhabitants arranged a meeting to talk with the fairies, who should tell what they had accomplished in the three kingdoms of nature—mineral, vegetable and animal. The meeting was at night, of course, for fairies are never seen in the day time.
Having already shown what they had done for the animals of Belgium, the fairy-folk proposed to talk about what they had done, with the plants and minerals, to enrich Belgium and make the country great.
The first story the fairies told was, “How the lowly flower got into royal society,” and thus the fairy began:
“ ’All the world,’ as the French say, knows that the fleur-de-lys, the lily of France has, for centuries, been their national emblem. In the blazonry of kings and queens, it was sewn on royal robes and embroidered in gold and silver on flags and banners. It was stamped on the coins, and made the symbol of everything glorious in France. All the world has heard of the Bourbon lilies, for that family of kings and rulers made it especially their own emblem.
“But originally the fleur-de-lys was our Belgian flower, that grew in the meadows along our river Lys (or Leye).
“To tell the full story of the Frankish tribes, who made France a kingdom, and especially of the Salic Franks, we must go back, in time, to the early ages. We must travel up into Dutch Gelderland, where the waters of the North Sea or German Ocean, wash the shores, and the waves fling their spray over the land.
“The Salic Franks, that is, the Free men of the Salt, which was born of Heaven’s fire and ocean’s water, once dwelt by the sea. To get the crystals out of the brine, they cut down the trees of the forest, in which the fairies lived. Then they piled up the logs, and made a great blaze. The tongues of fire leaped higher and higher, for they were trying to get back to Heaven, their old home. Then the forefathers of our nation went down to the sea and drew up the salt water. This they flung on the red hot logs, praying all the time for the salt to come.
“The fire was put out by this means, and when they looked on the charred wood, they found thousands of shining white spots, which were crystals of pure salt. These, they scraped up, and, after refining, by means of water and evaporation, in the sun’s rays, they used the salt on their food and, as offerings to the gods.
“The forefathers therefore considered salt as the child born of fire and water, of Heaven and Ocean. So they took the name Salis, which means ‘of the salt.’ Through the changes in the language, the name ‘Salians’ was used to denote a host. They were very proud of being Franks, or freemen, and were known as the Salic Franks. They became very powerful and even defied the Romans.
“When they found that their enemies were weakening, and food was scarce in the north, they resolved to march south and west, and possess the rich land stretching between the Maas and the Seine rivers, which is now Belgium and France.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.