The Grosser Mythen (also ''Grosse Mythe'') is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
in the
Schwyzer Alps
The Schwyz Alps (german: Schwyzer Alpen) are a mountain range in Switzerland. They form part of the North-Eastern Swiss Alps and are bordered by the Glarus Alps to the east, the Appenzell Alps to the north-east, the Emmental Alps in the west, ...
of
Central Switzerland
Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug.
Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 Stat ...
. The mountain lies in the
canton of Schwyz
The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred o ...
, to the east of the town of
Schwyz, and to the south of the village of
Alpthal
Alpthal is a village and municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. Besides the village of Alpthal, the municipality includes the ski resort of Brunni, and settlement of Eigen.
History
Alpthal is first mentioned in 101 ...
in the valley of the river
Alp.
It is accessible from the
Holzegg by a hiking trail which is opened during the summer months only.
Geologically the Mythen is a
penninic
The Penninic nappes or the Penninicum, commonly abbreviated as Penninic, are one of three nappe stacks and geological zones in which the Alps can be divided. In the western Alps the Penninic nappes are more obviously present than in the eastern ...
Klippe
350px, Schematic overview of a thrust system. The shaded material is called a window_(geology).html"_;"title="nappe._The_erosional_hole_is_called_a__window_(geology)">window_or_fenster._The_klippe_is_the_isolated_block_of_the_nappe_overlying_aut ...
.
The name is pronounced
miːtən it is in origin the plural referring to the Grosser and
Kleiner Mythen
The Kleiner Mythen is a mountain in the Schwyzer Alps of Central Switzerland. The mountain lies in the canton of Schwyz, to the east of the town of Schwyz, to the south of the village of Alpthal in the valley of the Alp river, and to the north ...
collectively, each of which had the name ''Mythe'' (feminine) in the singular.
The name is unrelated to the now-homographic German word for "myth"; Weibel (1973) derives it from Latin ''
meta
Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending".
In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or end ...
'' "cone, pyramid". Until the late 19th century, the name of the mountain was still feminine, ''die Grosse Mythe''; after c. 1870, the masculine gender became increasingly common in
written German although dialectically the feminine remains current.
[Viktor Weibel, 'Namenkunde des Landes Schwyz. Die Orts- und Flurnamen in ihrer historischen Schichtung und dialektologischen Relevanz'. In: ''Studia Linguistica Alemannica'' vol. 1, Frauenfeld, 1973. Use of ''y'' for ːin Swiss toponyms is widespread (as e.g. in '' Schwyz'' itself) and arises with a ligature '' ij'' as used 15th-century handwriting.
]
References
External links
*
Grosser Mythen on Hikr
Mountains of the Alps
Mountains of Switzerland
Mountains of the canton of Schwyz
One-thousanders of Switzerland
{{Schwyz-geo-stub