Tradition: German Mythology
Alternative Names: Witch as a Calf
Category: Cow
The Myth
In the Schöllang area of the Allgäu, a farmer was plagued by misfortune in his barn. His cows would not give milk, no matter how much he fed them, and one misfortune after another seemed to fall upon him. The farmer eventually confided his troubles to a man, who gave him strange advice. He told the farmer to get up at midnight and inspect the barn. A calf, he said, would be loose and running around among the other cattle. If the farmer found it, he should not hesitate to cut off both of its ears and then return to bed.
That night, the farmer went to the barn at midnight. Just as he had been told, he found a calf running freely among the other cattle. The farmer took a carving knife and cut off both of the calf’s ears. Having done what he had been instructed to do, he returned to bed without further investigation.
The following morning, the calf was standing unharmed in its usual place. There was nothing apparently wrong with it. But when the farmer looked around the barn, he noticed an old woman sitting in one of the corners. Her ears had been cut off.
The farmer immediately understood what had happened. He shouted, “There you have it!” and chased the old woman out of the stable. After this, the witchcraft that had plagued the farmer and his cattle ceased. His cows once again gave milk, and the farmer and his cattle were happy once more.
Sources
“Hexe als Kalb.” In Allgäuer Sagen, selected from K. A. Reiser’s Sagen, Gebräuche und Sprichwörter des Allgäus, by Hulda Eggart, no. 248, p. 259. Kempten and Munich, 1914. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/deutschland/bayern/allgaeu/hexe_kalb.html