The reason for a name or the legend of Val Zebrù and its knights
The legend of Feudal Knight Johannes Zebrusius
otherwise the sad love affair of the Knight Johannes Zebrusius,
feudal lord of Gera d'Adda,
whose name Val Zebrù and Gran Zebrù were named after
In 1150 Johannes Zebrusius, a feudal lord of Gera d'Adda, fell in love with Armelinda, the daughter of the lord of Lario’s Castle.
Her Father, who disapproved their relationship, sent Armelinda to a far place, so that he couldn’t run away with her. However, Amelinda promised to love and to wait for his lover for ever.
Zebrusius, desperate because of the continuous denials, left for the Holy Land and fought in the Crusade, always thinking of her fiancée.
After four years he came back home, where he found out that the unfaithful Armelinda had got married with one of the lords of Mailand.
Saddened by the news, the knight withdrew from public life and moved to Veltlin, exactly to Bormio and afterwards to the valley, which was named after his name.
Here he lived for thirty years and a day in loneliness.
As death was coming nearer and nearer, he prepared his grave by himself, that is a white stone, on which he engraved his name.
Using logs from the nearby woods, he built a balanced device and when very old, on the day he felt he was going to die, he leaned against the huge stone and breathed his last.
His body lain down on the plants, moved the mechanism and the stone dropped onto the unfortunate lover.
The Zebrù Valley, as well as Gran Zebrù and Zebrù Mountains and also the homonymous river were named after the name of the knight, who was buried there.
The white stone is still to be seen nowadays, when looking from Pastori Mountain Hut in Zebrù Valley towards the latter part of a big white flow belonging to the Glacier “della Miniera”. On it, erased by the time, you can see some hints of the original engraving: Joan(nes) Zebru(sius) a.d. mccviii.
On the contrary, the unfortunate knight’s soul flew for a short way, as far as the top of Gran Zebrù Mountain (in German Königspitze, that is King's Peak).
Here he became the prince of kind human beings’ spirits, who, up on the mountain near to the sun, worship this celestial star and enjoy some bliss, while waiting to be then admitted to the sunny heaven.
In fact, it seems that the word Zebrù (pronounced 'ze-brooh') comes from the Celtic terms 'se' (that should stay for kind spirit) and 'bru' (short for 'brugh' that should point to a safe place, a stronghold). For this reason, the toponym Zebrù should have the meaning of 'Castle of Spirits'.
