Page - 216 - in >mcs_lab> - Mobile Culture Studies, Volume 2/2020

216 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 6 2o20 (Travel) Erika Unterpertinger | Kartografierte Sagen — Extended Abstract among other things because they are not autobiographical experiences, the “Tales of the Fanes” can be read as such. The journeys described may not be real, but they can be read as arche- typal travel movements between different populations within a single minority group. As these groups share a language but are quite different, they are confronted with an Other (Thompson 2011: 9). Furthermore, as the “Tales” are securely anchored in a real geographical environment, the Dolomites in the Italian Alps, there is a strong blurring of the lines between fact and fiction, especially in the fields of popular science and tourism. The epistemological tension that arises from this blurring of the lines is also characteristic of travel literature. Reading the “Tales” as travel literature, the geographical information is extracted and applied to point-based maps. The dataset consists of ninety-five entries of identified toponyms of mountains, mountain passes, and places in the aforementioned geographical area. The results indicate the fragments’ geographical providence in the Val Badia, Val di Fassa, and Ampezzo, which confirms Kindl’s identification of the source material’s origins in the Val Badia and the Val di Fassa, through an analysis of the density of mentions visualized with a heat map. The visual analysis shows that one of the main characters, Ey-de-Net, and trips devoted to the forging of alliances function as links between the areas. Kindl identifies Ey-de-Net, Odol- ghes and Lidsanel (the last of the Fanes) as connecting elements of both original mythologies. A literary mapping of the radius of their travels shows that Ey-de-Net mostly fulfils the link- ing function. He moves across the entire area in which the “Tales of the Fanes” are set, going from the furthest points of the territory to the west (the Latemar), the south (Civetta) and the east (Monte Amariana). It is worth noting that he does not pass through the Val di Fassa but remains along its borders. This contradicts Kindl’s (1997: 196) claim that Ey-de-Net, like Odol- ghes and Lidsanel, originally belonged only to the Fassa traditional line and shows the great effort Wolff made to connect the source material consisting of fragmented accounts and stories. Odolghes and Lidsanel do not cross borders from the Val di Fassa to the Val Badia. While Lid- sanel is indeed the last of the former Empire of the Fanes, he does not succeed in bringing back his people. Instead, he remains within the borders of the Val di Fassa, dying as he heroically defends its borders against the enemy. Lidsanel may be part of the Fanes dynasty, but he is not an heir on his maternal side (the Fanes are matrilineal), as Kindl argues (1997: 192). This ‘fault’ is the source of his failure, which is mirrored by his geographical movement. There are, however, journeys in three of the “Tales” that connect Val di Fassa with the Val Badia: “Der Silber-See” (No. 7, The Silver Lake), “Auf dem dunklen Migoyn” (No. 11, On the dark Migoyn), and “Von der blauen Fanis-Flamme” (No 28, Of the Blue Fanis Flame). In all of these stories, the protagonist’s journeys connect the original sources to each other. The first two are also strongly connected to the motif of hunting for treasure. Wolff modified the stories following the structures of Norse mythology (Kindl 2001: 195), which becomes apparent in the narrative of forging alliances. This narrative becomes the con- necting link through the medieval element of aventiure, which is present in the characters Ey-de-Net and Lidsanel. While Ey-de-Net succeeds in making a name for himself through fighting, Lidsanel is not successful in fulfilling his quest. As mentioned above, he does not have the ‘right’ lineage to be heir to the throne of the Fanes, and thus his aventiure is destined to fail.