The Legend of the Crying Queen

Summary

Once upon a time, the Exegi had a tyrannical king. He treated his people and even his wife very badly. Only three people in his court dared to criticize him. These people were very beloved so the king could not execute them in public without creating a revolt. So the king conducted a plan to silently kill them. When he were visiting a mining city he would let his guards act as if there were immediate danger. When there was such danger the the safety plan was to let the royal court hide in special places in the mine. The king would trick his three enemies to go into a mine that was closed of due to risk of lave and once his adverseries were close to the lava he would let that part of the mine collapse. That way they would either be crushed or killed by the lava. The only one the three enemies trusted enough to follow into an abandonned mineshaft was the queen, so she was force to complete that part of the terrible murder. What the cruel king didn't expect was that his wife was a lot more humane than her horrible husband. While leading the three royal foes towards the abandoned mineshaft she felt the increasing heat of the lava. After a while she broke down into tears, ruefully telling the righteous court members her husbands evil plan. Because of this they dethroned the king and made his son the new monarch.

Historical Basis

The legend is a story spread after the assassination of an early Exegus king. The assassination was a conspiracy of three members of the royal court and the queen. The queen who had a very young child realized that her only possibility for real king-like power was becoming queen-regent if her husband died before his heir reached adulthood. To accomplish this she conducted a plan with three other power hungry members of court to kill her husband. Later she spread the story that her husband wanted to kill those court members in order to gain the public's sympathy.

Spread

The tale started in the mine city where the king was killed and spread across the country. Later the legend was mostly forgotten although it lived on in communities where mining was an important part of life, due to mines having an important role in the story.

Variations & Mutation

In the earliest versions the queen herself becomes ruler, though not monarch, and there is no mention of a son of the king.

Cultural Reception

The queen became a symbol of caution among miners since her awareness of the nearby lava lead to the victory of Good over evil in the myth. It is often told to young miner on their first time to work to warn them for the many dangers they can come across.

In Art

The legend was the basis for the 'Crying Queen', a queen shaped lantern which is used as a mining tool.

Related Items

• Crying Queen