Tradition / Region: German mythology
Alternate Names: Bokel Bull
Category: Cow
The Myth
At the southern edge of the Breitenhees, near the quiet village of Bokel, the Ilmenau River rises from a chain of small ponds and flows eastward, murmuring softly through meadow and hollow. The people say this sound is no ordinary current, but the bathing of a hidden being—the Bokeler Bulle.
Near the village lies a place known as the Bull’s Hollow. Each year, when May arrives and the nights grow long and dark, the bull is said to emerge. At the stroke of midnight, it leaves the waters and moves silently into the village stables, seeking the cows of Bokel. From these secret unions are born calves of extraordinary size and strength, yet they are wild and unruly, never fully tame, and often slaughtered before they can grow dangerous.
The Bokeler Bulle is feared, and few dare to wander the area on May nights. Shepherds keep their distance, knowing the bull can be fierce when angered. Once, a young apprentice shepherd from Günne encountered the creature. The bull lowered its head and charged, its snort shaking the air. In terror, the shepherd cried out to the Holy Virgin Mary, and at that very moment the bull vanished, leaving him unharmed.
In gratitude for his escape, the shepherd later carved a magnificent door and gave it to the chapel in Bokel. Thus the legend endured: of a powerful bull rising from the river, of danger and deliverance, and of a hidden presence that still murmurs beneath the waters of the Ilmenau.
Gallery
Sources
Meyer, C. (1950). Stadt und Kreis Uelzen. Ein Heimatbuch. Uelzen, p.166
SAGEN.at – DER KUHBANNER. (n.d.). https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/liechtenstein/seger/kuhbanner.html
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 Bokeler Bulle