By uttering a sacred formula the good spirit throws the evil one into a state of confusion for a second 3000 years, while he produces the archangels and the material creation, including the sun, moon and stars.
Michael Scot (1175-1234), acting as a confederate of the Evil One (so the fable runs) cleft Eildon Hill, then a single cone, into the three existing peaks.
The art of making the wine was kept secret for some time, and many mysterious fables were circulated concerning it; inter alia it was believed that the Evil One had a hand in its manufacture.
The passage, then, must have a spiritual meaning, and its purpose is the encouragement of the faithful by the assurance of their deliverance not necessarily from physical death but from the dominion of the evil one.
