Local German Myths Translated
2021-09-06 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rodoA/N: These are translated excerpts from a book on local tradition, history and myths and legends called Alterthümer, Geschichten und Sagen der Herzogthümer Bremen und Verden (Ancient Things, Stories and Myths of the Duchies Bremen and Verden). It was compiled in the mid-nineteenth century and is thus in the public domain and available on Wikisource. I’ve focussed on stories from the area I grew up in, and I hope I did them justice. The antiquated and odd German was a bit of a challenge even for a native speaker, hence the weirdness of grammar and tenses.
I've reposted this here instead of just in Stefanyeah's box because this year's![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomgiftbox is cursed. I hope you find it and enjoy it.
f. From Hambergen
(By the erst Mister Pastor Goldbeck.)
1. Of the White Horse of Wallhöfen
Next to the field of Wallhöfen, facing the bog[1], lies the Siebensee[2], now merely a dried out depression. But it is said that three hundred years ago, a brook flowed out of it and powered a mill, the Mill of Westerlink. In days of yore, a man works there on a field one Saturday. Then suddenly he sees that a beautiful, sleek white horse with an iron harrow has joined him, helping him cultivate the land. He eyes the beautiful horse in amazement, never having seen its like before, and since it seems wholly tame, he grows bold enough to mount it. Just then it runs with him to the Siebensee, and the man has just enough time to jump off its back before it launched itself into the lake.
2. The Enchanted Bee Thief
Once, the bees of a man in W. were stolen, whereupon he asks an old wizard to help him punish the thief. At first, the old man doesn’t want to, because it is sinful and because he has resolved to never do it again, but in the end, he is talked into it for one last time. Then the robbed man lets the thief, who he knew without being able to prove anything, know that he shall return the bees within three days or suffer great misery. However the thief impudently denies everything and doesn’t return the bees. Thereupon the following plan is executed. The wizard detects a footprint in front of the apiary and puts it in a small linen bag. Soon, the miller of a neighbouring mill is asked to arrange it so that his mill will run for four and twenty hours without pause starting the following midday. At midnight, however, he is to leave his mill for some time, letting it run on its own. He promises it. Now the robbed man and the wizard walk to the mill before midnight. Halfway to the mill a black dog with fire glowing in his eyes runs up to them from the bog, accompanying them. The robbed man grows fearful; he asks the wizard what kind of dog it is, but the wizard strictly imports him to be quiet and not to bother with things that don’t concern him. When they arrive at the mill, nobody is there, as arranged, but the mill’s interior is illuminated brightly. The wizard enters, the dog follows, but the robbed man remains outside at some distance. What happened now in the mill is not known, for the door is closed, so the robbed man could not see. This much is known, the wizard nailed the footprint to the mill-wheel. When it is done, the wizard and the dog leave the mill and all three return from whence they came. The dog gets lost in the bog, but the wizard declares solemnly afterwards that from now on he will no longer meddle with such things, for they’re truly despicable. Now the thief grows miserably ill in his bed, despairing from fear and pain without relief. He tosses and turns and cannot live and cannot die. The relatives ask the robbed man to reverse the spell, promising him whatever they can give. He talks to the wizard, but he says it is now too late, there is nothing to be done; the thief had been amply and intently warned and the misery was his own doing. The thief suffers in agony until midday, then dies the moment the mill grinds to a halt.
3. A Sworn Oath
In ancient times, two villages in the Office[3] of Z. argued in a grave case about the borders between them. One village is offered to prove its claim with an oath. The village is to swear on the contended plot that they are standing on their own sand and beneath their own leaves (for the area in question was covered in wood). Beforehand, the deputies that are chosen to swear the oath fill their shoes with sand and put leaves underneath their hats, then they cheekily swear their oaths and win the case for eternity. But afterwards the plot became permanently haunted. Fiery carriages carrying horrible figures drove around on it. The coachmen cracked their whips so that fire flew out like lightning.
4. Of the Last Giant of Hambergen
The last of the giants which built the stone cellars with their pots on the heath[4] lived in Hambergen. He required immense amounts of food for his subsistence and cause many tribulations to the rest of the inhabitants, whom he used to refer to as little earthworms, because he was stronger than all of them put together. Once, they secretly watched him descent down his well, running forward quickly and dropping stones on him until the well was filled and he was buried in it.
According to another tale, the buried person was no giant, but another wild person of unusual powers who was gotten rid of in the described way.
[1] The Teufelsmoor, one of the biggest bogs in the region
[2] “See” means “lake”
[3] An administrative division
[4] The bronze age tumuli that are common in the region – the German word for them is “giant’s graves”
Comments: These myths aren’t actually that unusual for local myths in Germany. You’ve got the weird anecdote with a supernatural animal, surprisingly cruel magical revenge stories, magical people who get covered with a figleaf of Christianity, cursed places (that weren’t cursed but how else do you explain weird echoes and fen fire?) and mythical explanations for geographical or architectural features. The only thing missing is the devil getting owned by a feisty person, which is always a favourite.
The bog is always this weird mythical place where weird shit happens and demonic and supernatural creatures dwell – it wasn’t colonized until the 18th century, a hundred years before these legends were collected. I’ve read another book on local legend, and it’s no coincidence the magical horse shows up right next to the bog. I also remember people turning into trees that look particularly tortured, and the hellhounds feature repeatedly too. In reality, the bog was the wildest land around for a long time, plants there tend to grow gnarly for banal reasons, and wolves and wild dogs might have dwelt there because there were no humans. Adding to that, the bog was always dangerous as well as mysterious, so the people around it attributed every bit of weird shit that happened to it.
The tumuli are another source of many myths, most of them relating to giants. They don’t really look that impressive if you encounter them in a forest, to be quite honest. But there’s quite a few, since the area has been next to a trade route that harkens back to the stone age. They’re more impressive if the earth is removed, though, which might have inspired all those legends of giants.
I've reposted this here instead of just in Stefanyeah's box because this year's
fandomgiftbox is cursed. I hope you find it and enjoy it.Next to the field of Wallhöfen, facing the bog[1], lies the Siebensee[2], now merely a dried out depression. But it is said that three hundred years ago, a brook flowed out of it and powered a mill, the Mill of Westerlink. In days of yore, a man works there on a field one Saturday. Then suddenly he sees that a beautiful, sleek white horse with an iron harrow has joined him, helping him cultivate the land. He eyes the beautiful horse in amazement, never having seen its like before, and since it seems wholly tame, he grows bold enough to mount it. Just then it runs with him to the Siebensee, and the man has just enough time to jump off its back before it launched itself into the lake.
Once, the bees of a man in W. were stolen, whereupon he asks an old wizard to help him punish the thief. At first, the old man doesn’t want to, because it is sinful and because he has resolved to never do it again, but in the end, he is talked into it for one last time. Then the robbed man lets the thief, who he knew without being able to prove anything, know that he shall return the bees within three days or suffer great misery. However the thief impudently denies everything and doesn’t return the bees. Thereupon the following plan is executed. The wizard detects a footprint in front of the apiary and puts it in a small linen bag. Soon, the miller of a neighbouring mill is asked to arrange it so that his mill will run for four and twenty hours without pause starting the following midday. At midnight, however, he is to leave his mill for some time, letting it run on its own. He promises it. Now the robbed man and the wizard walk to the mill before midnight. Halfway to the mill a black dog with fire glowing in his eyes runs up to them from the bog, accompanying them. The robbed man grows fearful; he asks the wizard what kind of dog it is, but the wizard strictly imports him to be quiet and not to bother with things that don’t concern him. When they arrive at the mill, nobody is there, as arranged, but the mill’s interior is illuminated brightly. The wizard enters, the dog follows, but the robbed man remains outside at some distance. What happened now in the mill is not known, for the door is closed, so the robbed man could not see. This much is known, the wizard nailed the footprint to the mill-wheel. When it is done, the wizard and the dog leave the mill and all three return from whence they came. The dog gets lost in the bog, but the wizard declares solemnly afterwards that from now on he will no longer meddle with such things, for they’re truly despicable. Now the thief grows miserably ill in his bed, despairing from fear and pain without relief. He tosses and turns and cannot live and cannot die. The relatives ask the robbed man to reverse the spell, promising him whatever they can give. He talks to the wizard, but he says it is now too late, there is nothing to be done; the thief had been amply and intently warned and the misery was his own doing. The thief suffers in agony until midday, then dies the moment the mill grinds to a halt.
In ancient times, two villages in the Office[3] of Z. argued in a grave case about the borders between them. One village is offered to prove its claim with an oath. The village is to swear on the contended plot that they are standing on their own sand and beneath their own leaves (for the area in question was covered in wood). Beforehand, the deputies that are chosen to swear the oath fill their shoes with sand and put leaves underneath their hats, then they cheekily swear their oaths and win the case for eternity. But afterwards the plot became permanently haunted. Fiery carriages carrying horrible figures drove around on it. The coachmen cracked their whips so that fire flew out like lightning.
The last of the giants which built the stone cellars with their pots on the heath[4] lived in Hambergen. He required immense amounts of food for his subsistence and cause many tribulations to the rest of the inhabitants, whom he used to refer to as little earthworms, because he was stronger than all of them put together. Once, they secretly watched him descent down his well, running forward quickly and dropping stones on him until the well was filled and he was buried in it.
According to another tale, the buried person was no giant, but another wild person of unusual powers who was gotten rid of in the described way.
[1] The Teufelsmoor, one of the biggest bogs in the region
[2] “See” means “lake”
[3] An administrative division
[4] The bronze age tumuli that are common in the region – the German word for them is “giant’s graves”
Comments: These myths aren’t actually that unusual for local myths in Germany. You’ve got the weird anecdote with a supernatural animal, surprisingly cruel magical revenge stories, magical people who get covered with a figleaf of Christianity, cursed places (that weren’t cursed but how else do you explain weird echoes and fen fire?) and mythical explanations for geographical or architectural features. The only thing missing is the devil getting owned by a feisty person, which is always a favourite.
The bog is always this weird mythical place where weird shit happens and demonic and supernatural creatures dwell – it wasn’t colonized until the 18th century, a hundred years before these legends were collected. I’ve read another book on local legend, and it’s no coincidence the magical horse shows up right next to the bog. I also remember people turning into trees that look particularly tortured, and the hellhounds feature repeatedly too. In reality, the bog was the wildest land around for a long time, plants there tend to grow gnarly for banal reasons, and wolves and wild dogs might have dwelt there because there were no humans. Adding to that, the bog was always dangerous as well as mysterious, so the people around it attributed every bit of weird shit that happened to it.
The tumuli are another source of many myths, most of them relating to giants. They don’t really look that impressive if you encounter them in a forest, to be quite honest. But there’s quite a few, since the area has been next to a trade route that harkens back to the stone age. They’re more impressive if the earth is removed, though, which might have inspired all those legends of giants.
