If it is doubtful that Charles Godfrey Leland received the Aradia manuscript, or the Gospel of the witches (1899) from the Florentine witch Maddalena, the enigmatic American folklorist undertook to collect numerous popular stories of the city. Among the legends of Florence also appears to be the Coboldo of via del Corno, namely an ancient “elf” linked to the street of the historic center, near via dei Leoni.
According to what is told, this creature lived together with a young knight. Sometimes, the cossener enjoyed playing jokes, suddenly playing an annoying horn, to disturb the friend’s galande meetings. One day, the Coboldo warned the knight who should have kept the horn with him, otherwise he would drowned.
For greater safety, the man decided to close himself in a closet, far from any source of water. When the floor gave up, the unfortunate fell into a large vat, in the cellar below. The tool allowed to call the neighbors. Is it possible that the name day of the way depends on such a strange story? Fortunately, the Houses of the Horn family dissipates the doubt. More than a story: every stone, in Florence, tells two.
