Märchen vom Karfunkelstein

A gem with a secret life. When a shepherd boy discovers the Karfunkelstein, a mysterious red stone that seems to pulse with ancient power, his ordinary existence fractures into something from the old stories his grandmother used to tell. Ludwig Ganghofer weaves a tale where magic hides in the Bavarian Alps, where simple folk encounter wonders, and where the boundary between the everyday world and something older and stranger grows dangerously thin. This is not a fairy tale of princesses and dragons, but something quieter and more unsettling: a story about what happens when the miraculous intrudes upon the mundane, and how one boy must find the courage to meet it. Rich with the folklore and landscape of southern Germany, this is a tale for those who remember that the best stories for children have always held darkness within their light.