Viewing page 23 of 26

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Transcription: [00:50:05]
This young man told us he, too, is going home with more shillings than he came with.
[00:50:10]
So, the day was a success. Our horse won and the ice did hold up.
[00:50:18]
Dawn breaks across the wintry skies, and white magic is everywhere, and so is black magic.
[00:50:29]
During mid-winter, devils, demons, witches and monsters come to life in many of the small communities.
[00:50:35]
These creatures of the phantom world represent the evil spirits of winter and must be driven out.
[00:50:42]
In ancient times the superstitious people thought that the hardships of the long, cold winter could be expelled by this weird masquerading.
[00:50:50]
And still today, these rites of routing out the evil spirits of winter take place.
[00:50:59]
Well these whispering devils must be plotting on how to avoid being driven out.
[00:51:06]
But the Schellerlaufen, with its noisy bells and unusual masks is a way of expelling the demons of the cold winter.
[00:51:14]
There are three leading characters in the carnival:
[00:51:17]
The Scheller with his big bell represents winter.
[00:51:21]
The Roller wearing a belt of small bells is spring.
[00:51:24]
And the Carer with his broom, who sweeps away the winter.
[00:51:27]
There are many such threesomes as this found throughout the festival.
[00:51:33]
{SILENCE}
[00:51:38]
Every three years, in the Tyrolean village of Nassereith, the people swirl out into the town square to begin their noisy purge on winter.
[00:51:46]
This ritual of pre-Christian origin, was derived from heathen customs and legends.
[00:51:52]
In ancient times it was a belief that nature could be shocked into action by lots of noise, of which there's plenty here, as you can well see with bells this size.
[00:52:07]
The large sturdy-looking women in there carrying the colored balls are called "Sackner," and they wildly swing them around to keep the way clear.