Long ago, Count Rudeggen lived in nearby Moosham Castle with two sons and a daughter. The younger son, Osmund, had to flee after a quarrel and became a miller at the Teufelsmühle in Eisentratten.
The count's daughter, Mechthilde, fell in love with the castle manager's son, Eberhard. When the count noticed this, he had him chained to a deer and chased him through the forest. The deer took the path over the Katschberg where he collapsed dead near a spruce in the Liesertal. Eberhard also succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards.
Mechthilde, who had followed her lover, then jumped into the Lieser. Brother Osmund, who also rushed to help, drowned in the Lieser.
At the spot where the stag succumbed to his suffering, the antlers were nailed to the nearest spruce together with a crucifix. The antlers and the crucifix then grew into the tree - which is where the name comes from: deer spruce.
Source: Michael Dengg, Lungau folktales, revised by Josef Brettenthaler, Salzburg 1957, p. 40