Tradition / Region: Dutch mythology (Friesland and surrounding regions)
Alternate Names: Aardman; Ierdmantsje
Category: Gnome
The Myth
Beneath fields, hills, and old farmyards live the aardmannetjes, small earth beings usually dressed in green. They dwell unseen beneath the ground, moving quietly through the soil, and though most people never glimpse them, their presence is felt in subtle ways.
The aardmannetjes help humans with their work, but only if they are not watched. Crops grow straighter, tools are found where they were lost, and tasks seem to finish themselves overnight. Yet they do not tolerate curiosity. Anyone who spies on them risks punishment, for the aardmannetjes are said to blow out the eye of those who try to observe them.
They are also known to steal human children, leaving one of their own in the cradle instead. The small pipes sometimes found sticking out of the ground are said to be aardmanspijpjes, openings to their hidden homes. Whoever builds a house on land where aardmannetjes live invites disaster: such houses are doomed to be destroyed by fire or storm, again and again.
In Friesland, the ierdmantsjes are said to dance in the middle of cornfields, singing a strange song: “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.” Once, a hunchback overheard them and dared to finish the song with “Thursday, Friday.” Instead of punishing him, the earth beings laughed and rewarded him by removing his hump.
In another tale, a mighty, hairy aardman lived in the Aardjesberg near Bussum. Each year he demanded a maiden as his bride. When no maidens were left, his rage grew uncontrollable. He spewed fire from his mouth, and the nearby village was burned to the ground, house by house, until nothing remained.
Thus the aardmannetjes are remembered as helpers and destroyers alike—generous when respected, merciless when crossed—guardians of the earth who demand silence, distance, and humility from those who live above them.
Gallery
Sources
Abe de Verteller contributors. (n.d.). Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten. In Abe de Verteller, 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
Other
- How to Invite The Aardmannetje