For centuries, the barren, rocky peaks of the Alps were seen as exotic and otherworldly by the people of the valleys -- a domain of hunters of wild animals. Over the centuries, folk tales emerged about the mysterious realm of the clouds, one of the most famous of which is the Slovenian Goldenhorn (Zlatorog) myth.

According to the story, a hunter in the Soča Valley was spurned by his girlfriend, an innkeeper’s daughter, who fell in love with a richer man. He was persuaded by a trickster to go look for the elusive Goldenhorn, a chamois with horns made of pure gold, and bring it bring it to his girlfriend as a trophy. What the hunter didn’t know was that the animal had been given special powers by the White Fairies. The hunter found the Goldenhorn near the legendary summit of Triglav. He shot the animal, but he didn’t kill it. Instead, beautiful flowers grew on the spot where the chamois had bled on the ground. The Goldenhorn ate the flowers, regained his strength, and approached the hunter. Blinded by the luster of the golden horns, the hunter lost his footing and tumbled down a precipitous cliff.

The myth is the Slovenian version of a folktale that also exists in neighboring Alpine regions and may have once been widespread throughout the Slavic world. For many years, the story was passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth. However, in 1868, a politician, archeologist, and botanist named Karl Dežman (or Deschmann) put the story to writing and published it in the influential German-language Laibacher Zeitung. His version subsequently inspired a poem by Rudolf Baumbach, and the Goldenhorn became a symbol of the Slovenian Alps.

Its name was even used for the title of the first Slovenian feature film and today, the name “Zlatorog” is common in Slovenia, appearing in the names of hotels, campgrounds, and even a popular brand of beer. Most significantly, the ancient story lives on as a powerful parable about nature’s triumph over human greed – a lesson that remains as relevant as ever in the 21st century.