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Legend

Black footprints: how Mustjala got its name

The legend says that when strangers came to Saaremaa and began building churches, the islanders asked the giant Suur Tõll to build one for them too. He gathered stones from the hills and the sea, burned lime in a kiln and dug clay from the seabed. The mud clung to his feet and left black tracks across the land, so the church was named Mustjala, 'black foot'. Tõll's young son, eager to outdo his father, then built an even grander church at Kihelkonna without asking. Furious, Tõll hurled a stone at it. He hit only the tower, which crashed onto Kellakoja hill, and so, people said, the son built a separate bell tower beside his church. Mustjala's stone church still stands in the village.

Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today

Eesti keeles

Muistend räägib, et kui Saaremaale tulid võõrad ja hakkasid kirikuid ehitama, palusid saarlased hiid Suurt Tõllu, et ta ka neile ühe ehitaks. Ta korjas kive mägedest ja merest, põletas ahjus lupja ja kaevas merepõhjast savi. Muda kleepus tema jalgade külge ja jättis üle maa mustad jäljed, nii et kirik sai nimeks Mustjala. Tõllu noor poeg tahtis isast parem olla ja ehitas loata veel uhkema kiriku Kihelkonnale. Raevunud Tõll viskas selle pihta kivi. Ta tabas ainult torni, mis kukkus Kellakoja mäele, ja sellepärast, nagu räägiti, ehitas poeg oma kiriku kõrvale eraldi kellatorni. Mustjala kivikirik seisab külas tänini.

Map of the area around Black footprints: how Mustjala got its name
58.46231° N, 22.23518° E · Map: Maa- ja Ruumiamet

Source: M. J. Eisen, Eesti muistsed jumalad ja vägimehed: Mustjala ja Kihelkonna kiriku ehitus ↗

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