Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: Wütendes Heer
Category: Ghost
The Myth
The Wuetihee is a haunting spirit associated with a pond in a forest in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. The pond lies high in the woods and feeds the stream that flows down toward the village. At night, people often hear a piercing, bone-chilling scream coming from the water.
The scream is said to belong to a woman who drowned her own child in the pond. Because of this terrible deed, she was unable to find peace in the grave. Her restless spirit remains bound to the place where the child died, and her horrifying cries disturb the silence of the forest at night.
The legend is also connected to the tradition of the Wütendes Heer, or Wild Hunt, a spectral host that was once associated with the god Wodan. As belief in Wodan faded, stories of the Wild Hunt were sometimes given new and more tangible forms, such as haunting spirits tied to particular places and tragic events.
Sources
“Wuetihee.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz (St. Gallen). Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/wuetihee.html