*Ø* Blogmanac November 18, 1307| William Tell and the apple

On this day, William Tell (Wilhelm Tell) shot the apple off his son's head

The legend as told by Sabine Baring-Gould in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (London, 1866) (Source): In the year 1307, Gessler, Vogt (local governor) of the Emperor Albert I of Hapsburg (c. 1250-1308), German king, and duke of Austria, eldest son of King Rudolph I of Habsburg, set a hat on a pole as symbol of imperial power, and ordered everyone who passed by to salute it. A mountaineer of the name of Wilhelm Tell boldly passed by the symbol of authority without saluting. By Gessler's command he was at once seized and brought before him. As Tell was known to be an expert archer, he was ordered by way of punishment to shoot an apple off the head of his own son.

Finding no way out of it, Tell submitted to Gessler's authority. The apple was placed on the child's head, Tell bent his bow, the arrow sped, and apple and arrow fell to the ground together. But the Vogt noticed that Tell, before shooting, had stuck another arrow into his belt, and he enquired the reason. “It was for you,” replied the sturdy archer. “Had I shot my child, know that it would not have missed your heart.”


The William Tell tale is known in other forms in other, earlier cultures.
Read more at the new page on William Tell at the Scriptorium.

The page will perhaps bring a smile to the lips of those who remember the Lone Ranger, when they hear the full William Tell Overture. :)