Tradition / Region: Netherlands (Achterhoek; Drenthe)
Alternate Names: Marolde
Category: Witch / night spirit
The Myth
Olde Marolde is a figure from folk belief in the eastern Netherlands, remembered in a Drents poem as a witch who flies naked through the night sky. She is said to move unseen through the air, traveling great distances as darkness falls.
According to tradition, Olde Marolde steals children from their cradles and carries them away to the witches’ sabbath. Her presence was feared, especially at night, when illness, restlessness, or misfortune struck a household.
Despite her danger, people believed there was a way to protect themselves from her influence. A spoken rhyme could be used to transfer illness—especially fever—to Olde Marolde herself. To perform this act, one had to walk three times around an old oak tree or bind a garter around its trunk, and then recite:
“Olde Marolde,
Ik hebbe de kolde,
Ik hebbe ze now,
Ik gève ze ow,
Ik bind em hier neer,
Ik krieg em neet weer.”
Through this ritual, the sickness was believed to be passed on to Olde Marolde and bound to the tree, never to return.
In these stories, Olde Marolde appears as a flying witch of the night, a child-stealer and bearer of illness, yet also a being whose power could be resisted through ritual words and actions rooted in the landscape itself.