Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology
Alternate Names: Flodderduvel
Category: Dog
The Myth
In parts of Noord-Brabant and Zuid-Holland, people once spoke of a lurking spirit known as the Flodder.
He was said to haunt ditches, dikes, ponds, and marshy places, watching from the edges of the water and waiting for someone to pass by alone at night. When the moment was right, the spirit would leap onto the traveler’s back. He wrapped his claws around the victim’s shoulders and forced himself to be carried.
Once he had mounted a person, he could not be thrown off. No matter how hard the victim struggled, the creature clung fast, growing heavier and heavier with every step. Sometimes the Flodder showed himself as a black dog, other times as a cat or even a calf. Often, however, he remained unseen, and the traveler felt only the crushing weight on their back.
Those burdened by him said they could feel wet, frog-like limbs tightening around their neck, and at times the creature would lick their face with a cold, clammy tongue. The victim had no choice but to stagger onward until they reached home, arriving soaked, shaking, and utterly exhausted from carrying the spirit’s weight.
Because of his cruel nature and his power to drag people toward water, many believed the Flodder to be a form taken by the devil himself.
One tale tells of a local officer who boasted that he would capture the creature. He stood beside a brook, watching and waiting, when suddenly he felt an unseen weight drop onto his shoulders. Slowly but irresistibly, the force pushed him downward. Step by step he was driven toward the water, until he was forced into the stream and drowned there.
So the Flodder was remembered as a lurking spirit of wet places — sometimes seen as a black dog, sometimes invisible — waiting for the lonely traveler to pass within reach.
Gallery
Sources
Abe de Verteller. (n.d.). Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten. In abedeverteller.nl, from https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/
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