Tradition / Region: Czech Mythology
Alternative names: –
Category: Horse
The Myth
A farmer from the parish of Stritschitz once bought a stallion from a traveling horse dealer. Soon afterward, he noticed that the horse shied away from every roadside shrine and every crossroads.
When the farmer finally harnessed the animal to work in a field, the stallion suddenly went wild. It smashed the wagon’s drawbar, tore apart the harness, and attacked its master, mauling him so severely that he was left lying in a pool of blood.
The wounded farmer was carried home, but his injuries were so severe that he knew he was dying. Gathering his last strength, he dragged himself into the stable, thrust a slaughter knife into the stallion’s belly, and cried, “You shall not kill me alone, Satan!”
The stallion collapsed dead at once. Immediately afterward, a terrible roaring arose, as though thunder were rumbling beneath the earth. The farmer himself died in the same hour.
Sources
Watzlik, H. (1921). Hellish tool. In Bohemian Forest Legends (Bohemian Forest Village Books, 5th issue). Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/hoellischeswerkzeug.html