A number of European
kings, rulers, fictional characters and religious figures have become attached to this story. Major examples are King Arthur of Britain, Charlemagne of the Franks, and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, as well as
Baltic states • A motif in
Latvian legends involves a castle sinking into ground leaving a hill behind it. In legends that have someone enter such hill, the inhabitants of the castle are found in sleep-like state. If the visitor is able to guess the name of the castle, it is returned to the surface with its inhabitants awakened. The choir song "Gaismas pils" (The Castle of Light), which is part of Latvia's Cultural Canon, drew inspiration from these legends. •
Vytautas the Great in
Lithuania is believed by some to rise from the grave to defend the country when danger threatens it.
Britain and Ireland •
King Arthur (
Great Britain and
Brittany). According to the legend, Arthur was taken away to
Avalon to sleep until he was needed by the people of Britain. Several legends talk of a herdsman who stumbles across a cave on mainland Britain, wherein he finds Arthur sleeping, often with his knights and
Excalibur by his side. In a variation on this, sometimes the exploring herdsman finds instead just Arthur's knights, or
Sir Lancelot,
Guinevere and the knights sleeping in wait on
the return of the "Once and Future King". In early Arthurian literature, Arthur references his predecessor
Brân the Blessed as having his head placed on a mound overlooking Britain so as to protect it. He wishes to do the same, and later they overlook and protect Britain together. •
Merlin of the
Arthurian legend, who is imprisoned in an oak tree by
Nimue. •
Thomas the Rhymer is found under a hill with a retinue of knights in a tale from
Anglo-Scottish border. Likewise,
Harry Hotspur was said to have been hunting in the
Cheviots when he and his hounds got holed-up in the Hen Hole (or "Hell-hole"), awaiting the sound of a hunting horn to awaken them from their slumber. Another border variant concerns a party of huntsmen who chased a
roebuck into the Cheviots when they heard the sweetest music playing from the Henhole. However, when they entered, they became lost and are trapped to this day.
Wales •
Brân the Blessed. Referenced as protecting the Isles and overlooking Britain; his head severed and placed on a mound. Arthur later says he wishes to do the same and in early Arthurian literature both guard Britain together. •
Owain Lawgoch, Welsh soldier and nobleman (14th century). •
Owain Glyndŵr, the last native born Welshman to hold the title "Prince of Wales"; he disappeared after a long but ultimately unsuccessful rebellion against the English. He was never captured or betrayed and refused all Royal pardons. • An unnamed
giant is supposed to sleep in
Plynlimon.
Ireland •
Fionn mac Cumhaill is said to sleep in a cave/mountain surrounded by the Fianna. It is told that the day will come when the Dord Fiann is sounded three times and Fionn and the
Fianna will rise up again, as strong and well as they ever were. In other accounts he will return to glory as a great hero of Ireland. •
The 3rd Earl of Desmond, who dozes under
Lough Gur with his silver-shod horse. •
The 8th Earl of Kildare, who is at temporary rest under the
Curragh of Kildare. • Dónall na nGeimhlach Ó Donnchú, in legend around
County Kerry. •
Cu Chulainn in Nationalist circles in Northern Ireland.
England •
King Harold. In
Anglo-Saxon legends he survived the
Battle of Hastings and will come one day to liberate the English from the
Norman yoke. •
Sir Francis Drake. It is stated that if England is in deadly peril and
Drake's Drum is beaten, then Sir Francis Drake will arise to defend England from the sea. According to the legend, Drake's Drum can be heard at times when England is at war or significant national events take place. • Knights asleep at
Alderley Edge in Cheshire. There is an enduring legend of a cavern full of knights in armour awaiting a call to decide the fate of a great battle for England. There is no king named, but there is a wizard involved, who is referred to as Merlin in later versions of the legend. • King
Dunmail. A Cumbrian King said to be defeated at the hands of Edmund I of England and Malcolmn of Alba. Dunmail's warriors are said to have fled with his crown, climbing into the mountains to Grisedale Tarn below Helvellyn, where they threw it into the depths to be safe until some future time when Dunmail would come again to lead them. Every year the warriors are said to return to the tarn, recover the crown and carry it down to the cairn on
Dunmail Raise by the A591.
Caucasus region Armenia • Mher (see
Daredevils of Sassoun). •
Artavazd I.
Georgia • Legend has it
Queen Tamar is not dead, but is sleeping in a gold-wreathed coffin in a mountain. According to it, she will wake up one day and restore the
Georgian Golden Age.
Dutch and German-speaking realm •
Dietrich von Bern, legendary Germanic hero, was spirited away to the dwarf kingdom to return in the time of greatest need. •
Charlemagne, Emperor of future Germany, France, and the Low Countries, rests in the
Untersberg near Salzburg (
Austria). •
Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, sleeps in the
Kyffhäuser mountain and will rise to save the Empire (
Germany). •
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. •
Henry the Fowler, King (Germany).
Switzerland •
William Tell (
Switzerland, in some legends accompanied by
two other Tells •
John III Doukas Vatatzes (also known as "Kaloyannis III'").
Hungarians •
Csaba, the son of
Attila the Hun who is supposed to ride down the
Milky Way when the
Székelys are threatened. •
King St. Stephen,
King St. Ladislaus,
King Matthias Corvinus.
Italy Roman Empire •
Nero (
Nero Redivivus)
Spain •
King Rodrigo, said to escape from the Moorish invasion and await for "the time of maximum need" to save his people. •
Montesinos. This legendary knight is said to be asleep in the
Cave of Montesinos,
Ossa de Montiel, Castile-La Mancha.
Miguel de Cervantes makes
Don Quixote descend into the cave where he falls asleep. In his dream he is met by Montesinos,
Durandarte,
duenna Ruidera and other fantastic characters. Don Quixote narrates that he saw neither of them eat or sleep.
Portugal •
Sebastian I, who
Sebastianists hold will one day return on a hazy morning in time of need, hiding in a mysterious island surrounded by fog until then.
Nordic countries •
Ogier the Dane (,
Denmark). •
King Olaf II (
Norway). •
Väinämöinen, the protagonist of the
Finnish national epic
Kalevala. At the end of Kalevala, he leaves on a boat, promising to return when he is most needed. •
Knights of Ålleberg (
Sweden).
Slavic nations East Slavic •
Alexander Suvorov (
Russia), Russian generalissimo, sleeps in a deep cave where prayer is heard and icon lamp burns. The legend says Suvorov will come back to save his country from a mortal danger. •
Taras Shevchenko (
Ukraine), Ukrainian poet and painter, believed to be a supernatural hero (
charakternik), is said to sleep under his grave mound in
Kaniv or even in the
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
South Slavic •
Marko Kraljević (
Serbia,
Macedonia). •
Matija Gubec (
Croatia). •
Kralj Matjaž (
Slovenia). •
Napoleon Bonaparte was believed to be still alive and hiding in
Irkutsk,
Russia, gathering an army to return and conquer the world. According to a
Romanian bishop Melchisedech, there was a
Slavonic sect whose members shared this belief along with a widespread worship of Napoleon.
West Slavic •
Bolesław the Brave, king of
Poland, asleep with a host of knights in a cave hidden somewhere in
Giewont, a
mountain massif which is itself said to resemble a sleeping knight. Several different versions of the legend exist, sometimes involving a different historical figure or another cave in the
Tatra Mountains. •
St. Wenceslas (Václav) of
Bohemia (
Czech Republic). He sleeps in the
Blaník mountain (with a huge army of Czech knights) and will emerge to protect his country at its worst time, riding on his white horse and wielding the legendary hero Bruncvík's sword. ==Examples from Asia==