Tradition / Region: Luxembourg (spring of the Oligsbaach near Emeringen; Alt/Gaanerbaach valley)
Alternate Names: The Old Man of the Oligsbaach
Category: Swamp dweller
The Myth
At the source of the Oligsbaach, a stream that after a short course flows into the Alt, also called the Gaanerbaach, there was said to roam a fearful being known as the Oligsmännchen.
The stream was known to swell into a raging torrent, and people warned that no one should be seen on the nearby meadow after sunset. For if anyone lingered there in the evening, the grim old spirit would seize him by the hair in an instant and drag him down into the depths, where he would be lost beyond rescue.
Thus the Oligsmännchen was feared as the dark guardian of the spring and its dangerous waters.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Plätschmännchen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Plaetschmaennchen.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