Names like Allalinhorn and Mischabel in the Swiss Alps sound suspiciously Arabic. Legends claim “Saracen” invaders from the 10th century left their mark on the language and people. But is there any truth to it? We debunk the myths of an “Alpine Arabia” and trace the real history of the raiders of Fraxinetum

byGerald Drißner

September 20, 2025

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Home » History » Saracens in the Alps: Did Arabic Influence Mountain Names in Switzerland?

Last updated 6 months ago.

I was recently sent an article from a Swiss newspaper by Paul, a longtime enthusiast of Arabic, that told the fascinating story of how “Saracens,” or Arab Muslims, settled in the Swiss Alps a thousand years ago and perhaps left their mark on the language and people.

Take a look at some of the place names from the Swiss Saas Valley: Allalinhorn, Almagell, and the Mischabel range. Do these names sound somehow Arabic to you?

Well, words beginning with ‘Al-‘ and those with the typical consonant-vowel-consonant structure usually ring a bell.

Having grown up in the Austrian Alps, not far from the Swiss border, I found this interesting. My native Austrian dialect is similar to Swiss German. Our cultures and mentalities have a lot in common, as does some of our history.

The story was so compelling that we decided to do a deep dive to separate the facts from the urban legends.

So let’s start.

Who were the “Saracens”?

It helps to understand the term “Saracen”.

The word’s journey is a long one.

• In classical Roman times, Greek and Latin writers used “Sarakenoi” or “Saraceni” to describe specific nomadic tribes in the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian frontier.
• It was a geographic or tribal label, not a religious one.
• After the rise of Islam in the 7th century, Byzantine writers expanded its meaning to include all Muslim subjects of the Caliphate.
• By the 10th century and through the Crusades, “Saracen” had become the standard, sweeping term in Western Europe for Muslims of any origin – Arab, Berber, or Turk.
• The word entered European languages in similar forms, such as Sarrazin in Middle French and Sarazene in Middle High German.
• By the 19th century, the term “Saracen” had become so vague and laden with centuries of shifting meanings that it fell out of common use in favor of more specific identifiers like “Mohammedan” and, eventually, “Muslim”.

We will now examine the possible connection between the word “Saracene” and Arabic.

Etymology of the word Saracene

The word “Saracen” feels ancient, but where did it actually come from? The truth is, nobody knows for sure, and scholars have debated its origins for centuries.

The name likely started as a specific label for a tribe on the edge of the Roman Empire and grew to mean something much bigger. Here are the main ideas about where it came from.

The “Easterners” Idea

One of the most popular theories is that “Saracen” comes from the Arabic word for “easterners,” which is شرقيّون (šarqiyyūn). This makes sense geographically, since the people called Saracens lived to the east of the Roman and Greek world.

Good to know The three-letter root ش-ر-ق is conceptually linked to the sun and its rising in the east. From this single root, Arabic can generate many related words:

• شَرَاقِىّ (šarāqī): Lands parched by the sun
• شَرْق (šarq): The east (where the sun rises)
• شُرُوق (šurūq): Sunrise
• شَرْقِيّ (šarqiyy): Eastern, an easterner

In fact, a 19th-century German-Arabic dictionary by Adolf Wahrmund directly translates this Arabic word as “Saracenen,” showing how common this idea was.

The “Thieves” Idea

Another suggestion is that the name came from the Arabic word for “thieves”: سَارِقِين (sāriqīn). This was probably a hostile guess made by their enemies. Most experts today reject this thesis because the Arabic word specifically means “sneak-thieves,” which is too narrow to become a general name for an entire group of people known for organized raiding, not petty theft.

Note: The nominative case is سَارِقُون (sāriqūn). The reason the “thieves” idea – and also the more compelling “nomads” idea below – refers to the -īn ending is based on how languages often borrow words. The oblique case (accusative/genitive) is generally used more frequently in speech than the nominative case. Loanwords are often adopted from the most commonly heard form of a word, which would be the oblique case (مَجْرُورٌ or مَنْصُوبٌ).

The “Nomads” Idea

The most convincing modern thesis comes from the Oxford scholar M.C.A. Macdonald. He argues that “Saracen” comes from an ancient North Arabian word he reconstructs as شَرَّاقِين (šarrāqīn; more correctly: *s²arrāqīn).

This word is built from a verb that meant “to migrate deep into the inner desert.” So, شَرَّاقِين (šarrāqīn) would simply mean “the nomads” or “the desert migrators”.

If you want to dig deeper, take a look at this book chapter by M.C.A. Macdonald.

This fits perfectly with what the Romans needed: a practical, descriptive name for the mobile, tent-dwelling peoples living on their borders.

A Medieval Myth

During the Middle Ages, a popular but incorrect story spread among Christian writers. They claimed that Saracens took their name from the biblical matriarch Sarah to falsely claim a noble heritage. This was a theological argument, not a real etymology, meant to discredit them.

We will now see how the so-called Saracens made it to Europe and eventually to Switzerland.

A Forgotten Invasion

It sounds like a bold story: Muslims invade the Alps, occupy vital roads, plunder monasteries, and spread terror. Yet, this scenario is not fiction. In the 10th century, warriors commonly known as “Saracens” pushed deep into the territory of modern-day Switzerland.

The story begins in the late 800s, when a small group of Andalusian Muslims established a coastal stronghold in Provence, France, known in Latin as Fraxinetum (near modern La Garde-Freinet). From this base, mobile warbands raided across the western Alpine passes, ambushing travelers, ransoming captives, and controlling trade routes.

This was a short, loud episode, not a slow settlement story.

While European chronicles describe pirates, 10th-century Arabic geographers saw Fraxinetum as an organized frontier community. One of the most important of these writers was Muhammad Abū al-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (محمد أبو القاسم بن حوقل), a geographer and traveler who spent three decades journeying across the Muslim world.

In his book صورة الارض (Ṣūrat al-’Arḍ), or “The Face of the Earth,” completed around 977, Ibn Hawqal calls the fortress Jabal al-Qilāl (جبل القلال). The name is ambiguous; while it can be literally translated as “Mountain of the Jars,” the singular form of the noun also means “summit,” giving the equally plausible “Mountain of the Summits.” Some historians, noting the area’s resources, prefer the contextual translation “Mount of Timber.”   

He describes it not as a pirate’s nest, but as a thriving, cultivated settlement. Here is his description in the original Arabic:

وجبل القلال جبل قديم على مر الزمان فيه مياه وأراض وعمارة وحرث يقوت من نجا إليه فوقع إليه قوم من المسلمين فعمروه، وصاروا في وجوه الإفرنجة لا يقدر عليهم لامتناع مواضعهم

Translation: And Jabal al-Qilal is an ancient mountain, known through time. It has water, lands, buildings, and cultivation that can sustain whoever finds refuge there. A group of Muslims came to it and developed it, and they became a menace to the Franks. No one could overcome them because of the strength of their positions.

Arabic vocab sheet

Ibn Hawqal in his works refers to the fighters there as mujāhidīn (مجاهدون), or “holy warriors”. His account suggests an organized community from the Islamic world’s perspective, though it doesn’t mention specific raids into Switzerland; for that, we rely on Latin sources.

Fact or urban legend?

Let’s debunk three common stories about the Saracens and the Arabic language.

Myth 1: The Mountain with an Arabic Name

The most popular claim is that place names in the Saas Valley, like Allalin, Almagell, and Mischabel, have Arabic roots. This idea was first promoted by the Strasbourg scholar Christian Moritz Engelhard (1775-1858) and was later popularized by the local priest Peter Joseph Ruppen, who wrote in his 1851 chronicle that “these wild hordes” occupied the valley and that “Almagell, Allalin, Mischabel, or even Saas Fee and similar names” originated from them.

Folk etymologies suggest the following:

• “Almagell” comes from al-Mahall (المَحَلّ), “the station”;
• “Allalin” comes from ‘ala ‘l-‘ayn (على العين), “on/at the spring (water source)”;
• “Mischabel” comes from مُشْبِلٌ, which is “a lioness whose whelps accompany her”. Or “a she-camel whose young one has become strong and goes with her”.

In the 19th century, historian Ferdinand Keller sought to prove these connections. However, modern onomastics (the study of names) rejects these ideas.

• In 1907, scholar Burkhard Reber conducted a simple but effective investigation: he asked the local population. They told him that the name Mischabel came from a local German word, “Mistgabel“, meaning “pitchfork,” which describes the shape of the peaks.
• L. E. Iselin, another linguist of the time, dismissed the entire thesis, stating that it was “nothing more than a deceiving fata morgana.” The debate was officially closed in the mid-1970s by local historian Konrad Imseng, who confirmed there was “no evidence” to support the claims.
• Almagell appears in historical records from 1291 as Armenzello, a name with Romance-language roots that predates any plausible Arabic influence.

These Arabic etymologies are perhaps a product of 19th-century fantasy, not historical evidence.

Myth 2: “Saracen Blood” in Alpine Valleys

Another legend claims that some Alpine communities, like the Walser people, descend from Saracen settlers. This folklore sometimes links certain family lines or physical traits (darker complexion, brown eyes, certain facial features) to this supposed ancestry.

While it is historically true that Saracen raiding parties from their base in France pushed deep into the Alpine regions during the 10th century, this dramatic episode has led to some long-standing local traditions being mistakenly attributed to them.

In short, while the Saracen raids were a real and impactful historical event, these specific cultural practices are not their legacy; they are either deeply rooted in prehistoric Alpine life or are part of broader European folklore.

Full text in German in normal letters

Es ist kaum glaublich, daß die Sarazenen während ihres mehr als zwanzigjährigen Aufenthaltes im Bistum Chur nie einen Streifzug nach Liechtenstein und Vorarlberg gemacht haben. Wiederholt heißt es in den Urkunden: “Die Sarazenen brandschatzten das Bistum Chur und zogen durch das Rheintal bis zum Bodensee.” Ferners: “Diese wilden Araber ließen sich auf den Bergen von Bündten, Sargans, Toggenburg und Appenzell nieder (also in allernächster Nähe von Liechtenstein und Vorarlberg, nur getrennt durch den Rhein) und machten von selbem herab fortwährend Ausfälle auf die bewohnten Gegenden, ermordeten die Leute, raubten das Vieh und die Lebensmittel weg, und verbrannten die Häuser.“

English translation It is hard to believe that the Saracens never made a foray into Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg during their more than twenty years of residence in the Diocese of Chur. The documents repeatedly state: “The Saracens plundered the Diocese of Chur and marched through the Rhine Valley to Lake Constance.” Furthermore: “These wild Arabs settled in the mountains of Bündten, Sargans, Toggenburg, and Appenzell (thus, in the immediate vicinity of Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg, separated only by the Rhine) and from there continually made raids on the inhabited areas, murdering people, stealing livestock and food, and burning houses.”

In his 1921 book, Die Sarazenen von Spanien bis nach Vorarlberg (The Saracens from Spain to Vorarlberg), author Ludwig Sausgruber links several cultural practices to Saracen influence, but these claims belong most probably to the realm of folklore, not fact.

Below are the most well-known claims regarding the influence of the Saracens on Alpine culture:

• The idea that the devil was depicted with “African” features because of the Saracens overlooks that this was a common trope across medieval Europe and not a specific local import.
• Similarly, the book connects customs like using animal hides for clothing to the Saracens, yet this is an ancient Alpine practice, proven by the 5,300-year-old mummy, Ötzi the Iceman, who wore sophisticated clothing made from animal hides.
• Other traditions, such as preserving food and the central role of cattle in farming, were essential survival strategies developed locally over millennia.
• Even the famous cow fights (Combat de Reines) of the Valais region, sometimes linked to Saracens in folklore, actually originate from the natural instinct of the local Hérens cattle to establish a herd hierarchy, with organized competitions only beginning in the 1920s.

Myth 3: Saracen Engineers and Water Channels

The Valais canton in Switzerland is famous for its ancient irrigation channels, called bisses or suonen. One is named the “Bisse des Sarrasins,” and legend credits Saracens with bringing this technology to the Alps.

But documents show this specific channel was built in the 15th century, with records dating it between 1415 and 1513 – over 400 years after the Saracens were gone. The great expansion of the bisse network was a local innovation in the 14th and 15th centuries, driven by an economic shift to cattle farming after the Black Death, which required more irrigated hay.

Conclusion: A Story for Language Lovers

But why did such stories come about?

These stories became popular in the 19th century. At that time, the modern state of Switzerland was forming and needed a shared history and unifying myths, like the legend of Wilhelm (William) Tell.Who was Wilhelm (William) Tell?

Wilhelm Tell is a legendary Swiss folk hero celebrated for his defiance against tyranny and his unmatched marksmanship. According to the tale, he was forced by the oppressive Austrian governor Gessler to shoot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow – an act he accomplished flawlessly. Later, Tell escaped captivity and assassinated Gessler, sparking a rebellion that contributed to Swiss independence.

This coincided with two European cultural movements: Romanticism, which saw the Alps as a sublime and beautiful wilderness, and Orientalism, a fascination with the “exotic” East. The historical Saracen raids provided the perfect material to invent a more dramatic past for the Alps, mixing a real event with romantic fantasy.

For an Arabic learner, the idea of finding the language’s footprint in the high Alps is exciting. The real history is one of a brief and violent period of raids from a base in France, not a lasting settlement.

The legends of Arabic names, bloodlines, and inventions in the Swiss and Austrian Alps are probably romantic myths created centuries later. In fact, at least until recently, the Saas Fee tourism website continued to promote the notion that the Saracens settled the valley and that “many place and mountain names such as ‘Allalin’ originated during this time and still serve as a reminder of this epoch.”

But who knows? We cannot go back in time.

🏔️ Nerd Tip: Allalinhorn – A Beginner-Friendly 4000er

If you’re into mountains, why not check out the Allalinhorn for yourself? The Allalinhorn (4,027 meters / 13,212 feet) is often considered one of the most accessible 4000-meter peaks in the Alps, making it a popular choice for those looking to experience a high-altitude summit without being seasoned mountaineers. Thanks to the Metro Alpin cable car, climbers can begin their ascent from the Mittelallalin station at approximately 3,445 meters (11,302 feet), dramatically reducing the required elevation gain.

Note: The cover image was generated by AI and has no historical or real basis.

source https://arabic-for-nerds.com/history/saracens-alps/