Probably no flower is surrounded by the same romantic halo as the edelweiss flower. Poems and songs are dedicated to him, he is mentioned in the tales and legends of different peoples, where he invariably acts as a symbol of love, beauty and devotion. Edelweiss grows mainly in the highlands of Europe and Asia, modern scientists distinguish more than sixty species of this plant. Nowadays, this amazing flower has been learned to grow in artificial conditions, which makes it more affordable, but no less beautiful from this. The name itself can be translated from German as "noble white"; translated from Latin - "lion's paw", apparently, it means that only a strong hand can pick a flower. In France, it is sometimes called the "alpine star".
One of the legends about the origin of the edelweiss tells the following. In love with each other, the young man and the girl vowed to be always together. Their families were at enmity with each other and tried in every possible way to prevent this union. Desperate young people climbed high into the mountains and, holding hands, jumped down from a high cliff in order to unite at least after death. At the foot of the rock, at the site of the death of the lovers, the first edelweiss flower grew, as a symbol of sorrow for the departed.
Another legend tells of a certain young man who lived at the foot of the inaccessible mountains, at the top of which a beautiful young fairy lived. They loved each other, but could not unite: a spell was imposed on the fairy, forbidding to descend from the mountain, and the young man could not overcome the steep slopes to climb to his beloved. One of his attempts to climb to the top ended tragically, he fell off a cliff and died. The grief-stricken fairy shed many tears, which rolled down the stones and turned into beautiful flowers, which they began to call edelweiss. Legend has it that the eternally young fairy continues to cry and grieve for the deceased young man even now, and her tears still turn into flowers.
The heroine of another fairy tale was a very beautiful, but wayward and capricious girl (sometimes a princess), who promised to give her heart to the one who would get her an edelweiss flower. Many young people, conquered by her beauty, died in the mountains trying to get to the legendary flower. Finally, one of the daredevils managed to pluck the edelweiss and return with it to the beauty. However, while the hunt for the flower continued, the proud girl turned into a decrepit old woman and the brave youth, giving her the flower, left with a grin. There is another version of this legend, based on the properties of edelweiss to return youth and beauty to those who can at least touch it. According to her, the aged heroine of the legend took a flower in her hands and again turned into that blooming beauty, because of which many brave men died.
Another, in my opinion, interesting, legend describes beautiful women living on the highest mountain peaks, guarding the edelweiss from those who are trying to rip it off. Seeing such a hunter, the inhabitants of the peaks, screaming, pounce on him and throw him down. They can spare only that man in whose heart a truly fiery feeling burns and who is ready to give his life for his beloved. To such a person, these terrible entities in the guise of beautiful virgins themselves present the flower of edelweiss; he who has received such a gift will always and in everything be lucky, he will be free from illness and all kinds of adversity.
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In conclusion, I would like to note that, like hundreds of years ago, today the edelweiss flower embodies feelings such as love, dedication, devotion and fidelity, and also often serves as a synonym for purity, freshness and purity.