Tradition: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternative Names: Affener Weiher, Pitscher Weiher
Category: Bird
The Myth
The Affener Weiher is a pond near the village of Affen, known in Walloon as Ponehs, in the municipality of Haechel in Luxembourg. Around its waters gather flocks of lapwings, calling out their characteristic “Kibitz! Kibitz!”
Yet these birds are said not to be true lapwings. They are old maidens who were transformed into birds and condemned to remain at the pond until the end of the world. There they must endlessly circle the water and cry out “Kibitz! Kibitz!” without ever escaping their enchantment.
The legend gave rise to a local saying about an unmarried girl who seemed unlikely to find a husband. People would say of her: “Das kommt auf den Affener Weiher” — “She is going to end up at the Affener Pond.”
The same story is also attached to the Pitscher Weiher, where the cries of the lapwings are likewise said to come from enchanted old maidens.
Sources
Reuland, Heinrich Adolph. Luxemburger Volksbücher: Geschichten und Sagen aus dem luxemburger Volksleben. Luxemburg: St. Paulus-Dr., 1892.