Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: River Stone Man, Sempchen Steipmännchen
Category: River dweller
The Myth
One evening, as a man was traveling from Ahn to Wormeldange, he saw in the Sempchen river a small, bony old man struggling to force a boat against the current. Moved by pity, the traveler went down to the bank and called out to him, offering to help and asking the old man to throw him a rope so he could pull the boat toward Wormeldange.
But the little figure had only pretended to struggle in order to lure him. Instead of tossing a rope, the Steipmännchen suddenly struck the man with a violent blow from his oar. The traveler fell to the ground, stunned, while the deceitful river spirit had accomplished his trick.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Steipmännchen in der Sempchen bei Wormeldingen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Steipmaennchen_Sempchen.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive