The Witch and the Moon

Legend says a witch on the Emparis plateau stole the crescent moon, believing it was made of pure gold. She wedged it into a crevice to keep it. The next night, the moon reappeared in the sky with a piece missing. As the trapped fragment moved underground, it left traces of pure gold in the rock. The priests of Oisans sprinkled the mountains with holy water to break the spell. At La Gardette, the water reached the fragment, releasing it. The moon became whole again, but the thin veins of gold remained—a paradise for geologists but purgatory for miners.