Folklore and Mythology

Originally, women were all in heaven, while men were on earth; until the women descended via rope.

see http://texts.00.gs/1001_Papua_New_Guinean_Nights.htm

A Humorous Medieval Instructional Tale—Annotated Translation, with Translator’s Introduction by Noriko Tsunoda Reider

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In modern media portrayals, the Devil is often portrayed as this suave mastermind who is always several steps ahead of any mortal. But in German folklore, his portrayal was rather different - quite frequently he was the butt of jokes. The following tale serves as a good example (and one which would not be out of place in an old Warner Bros. cartoon):

The Huntsman and the Devil

A huntsman once went into the forest with his loaded rifle, and smoked a pipe with tobacco while doing so. Then the Devil suddenly appeared, and called out to him: “Let me try as well, for I want to know how smoking tastes!” “You shall have this joy”, said the huntsman, “but my little pipe will soon go out. I will give you my large pipe.” And with these words, he took his rifle off his shoulder and put it into the Devil’s mouth. The latter started to suck on it, but he could not get any smoke from the barrel of the rifle. Then he became angry and started to scream: “Huntsman, you have tricked me! The large pipe doesn’t smoke at all!” “Wait,” said our huntsman, “I shall give you fire”, and pulled the trigger of the rifle. Oh, how the Devil was able to puff now! He forcefully shook himself, threw the large rifle pipe far away from him, and screamed: “Listen, my dear huntsman, I don’t want to smoke with you. For your tobacco is too strong for me!” As soon as he had said this, he was suddenly gone.

Source: Pohlmann. Sagen aus der Wiege Preussens und des deutschen Reiches, der Altmark. 1901, p. 15.

So what other folk tales do you know off where the Devil comes off as rather foolish?

This much is real: In the late Renaissance and Early Modern era, Venetians mined in the German mountain ranges - primarily so that they could find rare minerals for their famous glass production. Since the details of these were considered state secrets, their mining operations were likewise fairly secretive.

However, Germans noticed these strangers nonetheless, and built a whole mythology around them. Folk tales and legends about magical "Venetians" abound in many of the German mountain ranges, and I will share the following example with you to show just how bonkers these could get:

Venetians on Blocksberg Mountain

Many years ago, three miners lived in Hahnenklee. From time to time, Venetians visited them who were searching for the treasures within the Blocksberg mountain, and usually they found enough that they went home contentedly. To keep up pretenses, they brought many medicines from their home which were effective against many illnesses. But the miners soon realized that they did not come for this kind of trade alone. Their main focus seemed to be directed at the Blocksberg, as each time when they arrived they first made inquiries whether any of their fellow countrymen had visited before them and visited the Blocksberg. If this happened to be the case, their mood always turned sour. But if none had been there before them, they seemed to be secretly pleased. Thus, the Blocksberg had to be important for them.

Once, they were visiting again, had enquired as before, and afterwards set forth towards the Blocksberg during a bright, moon-lit night. Then, one of the miners - who were friends with each other - followed them, and saw that they had dug the ground open at a remote spot at the Blocksberg. They then filled their bags with soil from this hole. The miner had seen enough, and memorized the location where this had occurred. He hurried back so that he would arrive home before the Venetians. The following morning, the latter departed, and the miners agreed to visit this location in the same evening. They wanted to investigate what could be gathered there, and already spoke of the riches that might be found. But the third miner declared that he didn’t want to accompany them, for whatever he was destined to receive would come into his household on its own.

The two other miners thus went there and searched at this spot, but didn’t find anything. They finally were about to give up and sourly gather their tools, when one of them took a strong swing at the ground and joyfully exclaimed: “There is something sticking in here!” Once more, they started to dig, and excavated a skeleton, but they were uncertain whether it belonged to a deer or a goat. If they were in a bad mood before, it worsened much more over this. But despite the anger, one of them still laughed at the other over this deception.

“Well,” said one of them, “our friend must also receive his portion. We should bring the skeleton into his house. He is down in the mine, his wife is in bed, the doors are open, and thus we will be able to put it into his chamber without being seen.”

Once night had fallen, they calmly brought the skeleton into the chamber of their comrade, and then went down into the mines. They still found their comrade during his labors, as he had made righteous efforts and his holes had been excavated deeply. When they arrived, he immediately asked:

“Well, are your barns full? I thought you would never have to put a hammer into your hands again!”

“Oh,” they replied, “cease your mockery! We would have fared better if we had gone down into the shaft.”

After that, they worked until twelve. Then they ended their shift, walked home together, and everyone went to their own abode. When the third one stepped into his chamber with a burning lamp, he was quite astonished. For everywhere in the room - on the window sills, on the chimney boards - there were splendid little figurines made out of gold and silver. There were stags, does, pigs, cows, calves, goats, birds, and so forth. He could not stop looking at them, weighing them in his hand, and marveling about the heft and beauty of these objects. After he had inspected everything, he went to bed and thought: “My wife shall wonder tomorrow morning about where these things came from as well.” But there was no trace of the skeleton.

The next morning, his wife woke up and stepped into the chamber. As she became aware of these riches of gold and silver, she immediately ran back, woke up her husband, and asked him: “Husband, where did you get all those beautiful things from?” But he replied: “The dear God has brought them into our house”, calmly turned on his other side, and continued to sleep. The woman locked and latched everything, and did her domestic chores. When it was nearly breakfast time, the man rose up and went outside in order to fetch washing water. At that moment, the two other comrades approached and merely wanted to receive their scolding for the prank. But instead of looking upset, their friend approached them in a friendly manner and spoke:

“Friends, it has occurred as I told you. God has brought me great fortune into my household. Come in, you shall have your part.”

Then he led them into the chamber. They became silent and rigid. Then he said: “You, friend, take this one, and you take that one. I shall take that one here, and then each has so much that he shall not have to hammer on the drill again.” Both of them thanked their comrade for this great gift, and finally asked: “What did you do with the skeleton?” But he did not react to this question, and only replied: “This doesn’t matter. Everyone should pack their riches together and carry them home.” These were heavy, so heavy that they were hardly able to move them. Later on, the three of them sold their gold animals in Goslar. The Duke of Braunschweig received a few as well, and the miners gained so much money from this that they became rich people and remained rich for the rest of their lives. From this time on, no one has ever seen a Venetian on the Blocksberg mountain again. The treasures within the Blocksberg are also sealed away until no four-legged animal has stepped on the Blocksberg for a hundred years. But it will be a long time until this has occurred.

Source: Wrubel, F. Sammlung bergmännischer Sagen. 1883, p. 91ff.

Listen to a number of cat tales from folklore - including one of the most bonkers stories from German folklore that I know, which is saying something!

During my study of German folklore, I was surprised to learn that one of the most common folk tale narratives featured treasure hunters - not just "people getting rewarded treasure for a virtuous deed", but people who heard that a treasure was at a certain location, and wanted to get it. They usually failed, but hope springs eternal.

I also learned that this had some basis in real world history - in Early Modern Europe, there was a real "treasure mania" where people organized themselves into groups of treasure hunter and bought "forbidden magical tools" on the black markets in order to help them with their quests.

Here are two example tales of treasure hunters:

The Burkla at Schongau

The Burkla, also known as the Schlossberg or “Castle Hill” is a large hill in Schongau surrounded by a wall and a ditch. The river Schönau flows past its base. According to legends it contains cellars and tunnels in which a large treasure is hidden.

Three sisters were said to live here who originally owned the treasure. One day, three men from the village of Niederhofen wanted to take the treasure. When they had descended into the tunnels, they saw a small black dog sitting on the treasure chest. The dog proclaimed: “One of you shall it be, and it shall be the Gitterweber of Niederhofen!” The man replied: “Oh God, I don't want to!” After this invocation of the Almighty, the dog and the chest sank into the ground.

Source: Panzer, F. Bayerische Sagen und Bräuche. Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie. Erster Band, 1848. p. 30f.

Treasure Hunters in Wesenberg

At the end of the previous and the beginning of the current century there was a whole group of treasure hunters pursuing their trade in Wesenberg and the surrounding villages. Their usual place of rest between their excavations was the Prelauker or Belower Theerofen whose owners were keen participants in the digging, though this did not particularly help any of them. Instead their pub declined more than it prospered, and the heirs had to recover what their fathers had neglected.

Now, it is well known that the very foundation of treasure excavation is the maintenance of unbroken silence. And this was the point where the undertaking of our heroes usually failed. They themselves frequently told the story not without some pride, but also with hidden anger, of how the three of them progressed far enough into the ground that they spotted a heavy, large container that would have contained the treasure. But suddenly a white maiden - another source, my uncle, called her “clad in grey clothing” - jumped between their hands, back and forth, so that they were no longer able to work. Suddenly one of the treasure hunters impatiently called to his neighbor: “Rehdanz, grab her, grab her!”, and at once the treasure, the maiden, and everything else was gone.

Source: Bartsch, K. Sagen, märchen und gebräuche aus Mecklenburg, 1879. p. 252f.

Do you know of any other folk tales of groups of would-be treasure hunters?

Tales of the old days when giants walked the Earth.

Modern media portrayals of the Wild Hunt have a fairly consistent portrayal - a huntsman on his steed, surrounded by his hounds. But when you actually start looking into European folk tales of "Wild Hunt"-type phenomena, you quickly notice that the portrayal is rather more diverse than you'd think. Here is one of my favorite examples:

Frau Gauden

There once was a rich and lofty woman by the name of “Frau Gauden”. She was such a passionate huntress that she did not restrain herself from saying these sinful words: The hunt was better than Heaven, and as long as she was able to hunt for all eternity she would never want to enter Heaven. Frau Gauden had twenty-four daughters, and all of them shared the same desire. Once, when mother and daughters again hunted through forests and fields in wild abandon, their joy reached its highest pinnacle and once again the reprobate words left their lips: “The hunt is better than Heaven, and as long as we are able to hunt for all eternity we never want to enter Heaven.”

And behold: Before the eyes of the mother the beautiful clothes of the daughters transformed into shaggy hair, the arms into legs, the human forms into those of animals and - twenty-four she-dogs barked around the hunting wagon of the shocked mother. Four of them took over the role of the horses, and the others roamed around the wagon as hunting dogs. Then the wild hunting party soared forth into the clouds and then, just as they wished, they hunted without end between the sky and the earth, from one day to the next and from one year to the next. But they have long since tired of their wild chase and now regretfully bemoan their sacrilegious wish. Especially the mother grieved not only for her own sad fate, but also that of her unfortunate daughters. But they all must bear their self-inflicted fate until the hour of their salvation. Until then, they may only make their wailing heard before the children of man.

For this reason Frau Gauden steers her wagon to the homes of humans during the Twelve Nights of Christmas, for at other times we children of men cannot perceive her activities. She favors traveling through the streets of the village during Christmas Night and New Year’s Eve, and wherever she finds the door of a house open, she sends one one of her companions into it. A small dog now wags at the inhabitants of the house the next morning and harms no one other than disturbing the peace of the night through its whining. It can neither be calmed nor chased away. If it is killed, it transforms into a stone during the day which, if thrown away, is returned to the house by an invisible force and transforms into a dog again during the night. But now this reanimated dog retaliates by whining throughout the entire year and bringing disease and death over people and animals of the house alike as well as the risk of a fire. Only with the return of the Twelve Nights will peace return to the house, if it has evaded complete doom until then.

Those who do not wish to host such an eerie guest in their house take care to carefully lock the main entrance of their homes during the Twelve Nights. Careless people sometimes neglect to do this, and it is thus their own fault that Frau Gauden pays them a visit. This happened to the grandparents of domestic servants currently living in Bresegard. They were even so foolish to kill the small dog of Frau Gauden, and in return there were neither good tidings nor fortune in the house until the house itself went up in flames. Those who performed a service to Frau Gauden were more fortunate. Occasionally she loses her way in the dark of night and happens upon a crossroads. Crossroads are a bane to her, and every time she comes across one something on her wagon breaks that she is unable to repair by herself. She once visited a farmhand lying in his bed at his farm, woke him up, and pleaded for his assistance in her emergency. The farmhand let himself be persuaded, followed her to the crossroads, and discovered that one of the wheels had fallen off her wagon. He quickly restored the vehicle to motion, and as thanks for his labors she commanded him to gather all the dog droppings into his pocket that her companions had left during her stay on the crossroads. The farmhand was annoyed about such a proposal, but let himself be persuaded when assured that this gift would not be so worthless to himself as he surmised. Both disbelieving and curious he took several droppings with him. And to his considerable astonishment the pickings had turned into gold the next morning. Now he regretted deeply that he only took a few dog droppings with him, instead of all of them, for during the day there was not a trace to be found of the riches he had left behind.

Another time Frau Gauden rewarded a man in Conow who set a new drawbar into her wagon, and at another time still she rewarded a woman in Göhren who carved a new whippletree for her wagon. Both received all the wood shavings which fell down from the drawbar and the whippletree, which turned into pure, splendid gold. Furthermore, Frau Gauden also loves children and at times showers them with gifts. For this reason, children sing the following verse when playing “Frau Gauden”:

“Frau Gauden gave me a little lamb,
with it I shall live in happiness.”

Nowadays she no longer favors anyone in this area but has completely turned away from us for the following reason: Neglectful people near Semmerin once left their front door wide open during New Year’s Eve. For this reason they discovered a small black dog lying down on their fireplace which tormented the ears of the residents with its wailing. Thus they desperately needed good advice on how to get this unwelcome guest out of their house. And indeed they found advice from a wise woman who was well-versed in secret arts. She told them that all home-brewed beer should be brewed through an eggshell. So they did - an eggshell was placed into the bunghole of the brew kettle, and as soon as the unfermented beer had run through it, Frau Gauden’s little dog rose up and spoke with clear and understandable voice:

“I am as old
as Bohemian gold,
but I never dared in my life
to brew beer through an eggshell.”

And as soon as it had said that it vanished, and since that time nobody in this region has seen either Frau Gauden or her dogs.

Source: Bartsch, K. Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg, 1879. p. 20f.

Many legends and folk tales can be linked to specific real world locations. Here are my modest efforts at mapping the location of German folk tales, and I have included a few similar maps I am aware of in a links list.

If you know of any such interactive maps, please share the link with me!