Sir Walter Scott and the Legend of the Opal
It is said that the opal brings ill fortune to the wearer. Princess Alexander must have believed this superstition as she had the opals removed from the tiara her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, gave her, and replaced with rubies. But that didn’t stop Queen Victoria from giving all of her daughters these brilliant stones. Yet, despite the Queen of England (Victoria), favoring the stones, the more superstitious of the population tended to avoid them. Occasionally, when browsing a jewelry shop you will still hear a few people remark how unlucky this stone is.
So where did this superstition originate? The answer may be surprising but goes to show the power the pen holds.
The answer lies in Sir Walter Scott’s 1829-bestselling novel, Anne of Geierstein. Although it’s a historical fiction novel set in Central Europe, shortly after the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury and covers the period of Swiss involvement in the Burgundian Wars, it holds the answer to the opals omen.
In Anne of Geierstein, or The Maiden in the Mist, we find the story of Lady Hermione who wore an enchanted opal in her hair. When she was angry, it gave off fiery red flashes, and when she was happy, it sparkled beautifully. When a few drops holy water were sprinkled on the gem, it lost its charm and Lady Hermione fell ill and was carried to her room and placed in bed. The next day all that was found of her and the gem was a heap of ashes in her bed. Because of this story, opals gained a wide reputation for bad luck.
Rather than focusing on the fact that opals catch the light and send off brilliant glints of color or that the stone is highly sensitive to moisture, the public chose to focus on the ill omens Scott invented. What was meant to be a novel of historical fiction unintentionally destroyed the European opal market for almost 50 years. Within months of the novel being published, the opal market crashed and prices were down 50%.