misc already busted all this wide openhttp://web.archive.org/web/201206221...hp?t=143805431

From the Wikipedia article it looks like the ceremony is based on a local legend where the bridge was built not by working with the Devil, but by tricking him.

“ The legend is related by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1716). According to Scheuchzer, he was told a local legend according to which the people of Uri recruited the Devil for the difficult task of building the bridge. The Devil requested to receive the first thing to pass the bridge in exchange for his help. To trick the Devil, who expected to receive the soul of the first man to pass the bridge, the people of Uri sent across a dog by throwing a piece of bread, and the dog was promptly torn to pieces by the Devil. Enraged at having been tricked the Devil went to fetch a large rock to smash the bridge, but, carrying the rock back to the bridge, he came across a holy man who "scolded him" (der ihn bescholten) and forced him to drop the rock, which could still be seen on the path below Göschenen.[9] A modern retelling was published by Meinrad Lienert, Schweizer Sagen und Heldengeschichten (1915). According to Lienert's version, a goat was sent across the bridge instead of a dog, and instead of the holy man, the Devil, when he was taking a break exhausted from carrying the rock, came across an old woman who marked the rock with a cross, forcing the Devil to abandon it and flee.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schöll..._Bridge_legend

Wood recommend miscers watch the vid. I’ve been trying to explain how fukked up all of the media and Hollywood is to people all the time. This video explains it well.