Mythology

The Sulphur Spring Spirit of Dalheim

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg (between Dalheim and Waldbredimus; Gondelingen ruins, Sulphur Spring, Hurenstein)
Alternate Names: The Well Spirit of Gondelingen, The White Woman of the Sulphur Spring
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In the forest between Dalheim and Waldbredimus lies an old spring known as the Sulphur Spring. Long ago, near this place stood the castle of Gondelingen, now almost entirely vanished. People have long believed that a restless spirit dwells at the spring and in the surrounding hills.

Once, several women gathering herbs near the spring saw their collected plants suddenly scattered by an unseen force, as if by an invisible hand. It was said that an underground tunnel once led from the spring to the castle, and that within the castle there was a chamber called the Green Chamber, feared by its inhabitants because the spirit sometimes haunted it at night.

Some described the spirit as a gaunt, slender woman who wandered between the spring, the ruins, and the nearby mountain called the Hurenstein. At midnight she was said to fight with a knight beneath a great beech tree and then, defeated, hurry back toward the castle, disappearing into the tunnel that led to the spring. Woe to anyone she met on the path.

One man from Dalheim told how, while out at night gathering pears, he saw a white female figure walking ahead of him. Though she seemed to move slowly, he could not catch her. He later heard the clock strike midnight, and the figure let out a piercing scream. When he returned to search for her with prayers and holy water, he experienced terrifying noises, crashing blows, and flashes of fire. When he regained his senses, he found himself near the Sulphur Spring, where he saw the white woman glide swiftly through the air and vanish into the spring with cries of lament.

Another man encountered the spirit during a storm near the old ponds fed by the spring. He followed a moving light, sank into swampy water, and saw the spirit rise in a burst of brightness, hovering above the banks and circling the air while wailing. A violent wind arose, and as he fled, he saw the apparition disappear toward the Hurenstein.

Since then, people say the spirit of the Sulphur Spring still wanders between the ruins, the hills, and the water, lamenting without rest.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der Brunnengeist bei Dalheim. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Brunnengeist_Dalheim.html

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The Birch Maiden of the Birk

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Birch Maiden, Birkenjungfer, Birch Damselfly, White Horse of the Birk
Category: Swamp dweller, Ghost, Forest dweller

The Myth

In the birch forests and moors near Mutfort, Ötringen, and the Birk, there was said to wander a mysterious female spirit known as the Birch Maiden.

She often appeared as a young woman dressed in dazzling white. At times she spread a white carpet before travelers, upon which a small goat would suddenly appear. Others saw her walking silently along lonely paths, wearing a white skirt, sometimes with a red apron, or carrying a white switch. She would not answer greetings and vanished as suddenly as she appeared.

At the Birkengraben, many claimed to see her at dusk: a white figure who would utter a shrill cry, rise into the air, and disappear toward the birch moor while a terrible roaring swept through the forest. Some saw her carrying two burning candles, accompanying travelers through the night with a rushing noise in the air until she vanished near the village.

The tale says she had once been the daughter of a wealthy count whose castle stood near Ötringen. She wished to remain unmarried, but her father forced her toward a marriage she refused. On the morning of her wedding she fled into the nearby forest. Pursued by her father’s servants, she ran across the birch moor and vanished into its depths with a cry. Since then she has wandered the place as a restless spirit.

On certain nights before midnight, she is seen lamenting at the edge of the moor, clothed in white and carrying lights. If anyone dares to approach, she disappears with a scream. Should a person follow her to the edge of the bog, she may seize him and drag him down into the depths.

The Birch Maiden is also said to roam the area in another form. In the meadow called Lohkaul, a riderless white horse appears at night, bearing a shining saddle. It bursts from the forest, gallops to the banks of the Syr, and grazes there quietly. When a weary traveler passes, the horse comes tamely and seems to invite him to mount. But anyone who accepts is carried with great speed to the birch moor or to the Pleitringer pond and thrown into the water.

Thus the spirit of the Birch Maiden wanders the forest, the moor, and the meadows, appearing sometimes as a grieving woman in white and sometimes as the ghostly white horse that lures the unwary to destruction.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die Birkenjungfer oder Birkefrächen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Birkenjungfer.html

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Baachjöfferchen of Ettelbrück

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Waaßerkätchen, Plätschkätchen
Category: River dweller

The Myth

Near Ettelbrück there is said to appear at night a strange water-being known as the Baachjöfferchen. It emerges from the mill pond called Millewo, dressed in white.

From there it wanders along the stream beside Feulener Straße, babbling softly as it moves. After following the water for a time, it turns to the right across a gentle slope and makes a wide arc through the land.

At last it returns to the very place where it first appeared and slips back into the water, its murmuring voice fading as it disappears beneath the surface.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Baachjöfferchen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Baachjoefferchen.html

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Wild Woman of Wildfrauenhecke

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Wild Woman of the Hedge
Category: Forest dweller

The Myth

Between Böwingen and Useldingen there once lay a place known as the Wild Woman’s Hedge, where the road now runs.

People said that a wild woman lived there. Parents warned their children not to linger in that place, telling them it was not a good spot, for the wild woman dwelt there.

Thus the hedge was remembered as the haunt of a hidden female spirit who lingered in the landscape.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Wildfrauenhecke zu Useldingen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wildfrauenhecke.html

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Wild Woman of La Sauvage

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Wild Woman of the Val de la Sauvage Femme
Category: Cave dweller

The Myth

Before the ironworks of La Sauvage were built in the early seventeenth century, the valley was uninhabited and known as the Valley of the Wild Woman. The name came from a fearsome being said to live in a cave in the rock of La Cronnière.

She was said to feed on raw meat. Thick hair covered her entire body and hung down to her feet, serving as her only clothing. Her eyes, red-rimmed and buried deep beneath her hair, glowed like coals. From her wide mouth protruded double rows of teeth, and her voice sounded like the hooting of an owl. Her fingers ended in sharp claws with which she tore apart the game she hunted or the sheep she seized from the fields.

When the wild woman died, the tale says she was refused entry to Hell because she was mistaken for the female of a wild animal. Forced back to the earth, she returned as a dreadful ghost and wandered the valley by night, spreading terror throughout the surrounding region.

At last a pious hermit from the Selomon Forest drove her spirit away across the sea. He did so by invoking Saint Donatus and Our Lady of Luxembourg, and in remembrance of this deliverance, their holy images were placed upon the rock of La Cronnière.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die wilde Frau zu La Sauvage. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wilde_Frau_La_Sauvage.html

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Wild Woman of the Wôbâch

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Wild Woman of Wölfragrond
Category: Cave dweller

The Myth

In the valley of the Wôbâch, a small stream that flows into the Eisch between Simmern and Heckenhof, there once lived a wild woman in a cave. Because of her, the place came to be called Wölfragrond.

She was said to be completely covered in hair from head to foot. By day she hid in her cave, but as soon as night fell she came out and walked along the banks of the Eisch. There she attacked and strangled whatever she could seize, whether human or animal. Because of this, no one dared to pass through the place at night.

At last a knight from Simmer Castle set out to rid the region of the creature. Whether he ambushed her or met her by chance, he took the silver cross from his rosary, hammered it into a ball, and loaded it into his rifle. With this bullet he shot and killed the wild woman, and the valley was freed from her terror.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die wilde Frau in der Wôbâch. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wilde_Frau_Wobach.html

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Böschgretchen of Heßlingen

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Böschgretchen, Wild Woman of Wölfragrond
Category: Ghost, Swamp Dweller

The Myth

In earlier times, when ghosts were still believed to roam the land, there lived near Heßlingen, by the Wolf’s Mill in the forest called Wölfragrond, a strange being known as Böschgretchen.

She was said to have once been a woman of exceptional height and beauty who had been cursed and bound to the swamp there. People disliked passing that place, though no one was known to have been harmed by her.

One day, an old man known as Burgklees came along the path from Remich. Brave as he was, he went straight past the swamp. But as soon as he neared it, he felt uneasy. Pressing on, he heard someone calling behind him, “Klees, Klees, wait!” He turned and saw Böschgretchen standing before him. Terrified, he tried to flee, but the ground beneath him began to give way. He leapt aside and escaped, reaching home pale and exhausted, collapsing at his door.

The spirit remained in the area for many years and was seen by many. Once, a shepherd grazing his flock near Heßlingen noticed his dog behaving wildly, running and howling so loudly that people came to help. Following the dog, they found Böschgretchen lying dead in a wolf’s den, sunk knee-deep in mud. They pulled the body out, carried it to Ellingen, and buried it in the churchyard, where later the wall was built so that her grave now lies within its foundations.

It was said that once every seven years the dead woman returns by night to the place where she died, and that on stormy nights old people have heard her moaning there.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Böschgretchen bei Ellingen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Boeschgretchen.html

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Felsefrächen of Grevenmacher

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Rock Fairy of the Felser Cliffs
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Two hundred years ago, a strange woman was said to live in the high cliffs that rise above the vineyards between Machtum and Grevenmacher. She was known as Felsefrächen, the Rock Fairy. Some said she lived alone, others that there were three of them.

She was rarely seen by day and then only at mealtimes, when she would silently approach the workers and vintners. At night she roamed the mountains, and around the witching hour her loud singing and cries could be heard. In the Felser cliffs there are two nearby crevices, one large enough for a person to walk through upright, and it was said she always entered through one and left through the other, passing into her hidden underground dwelling.

Her chief work was said to be spinning, and she was known to prepare helpful potions for sick livestock. For this reason she was more loved than feared by the people of the surrounding villages.

One day a woman sent her son to the rock spirit to fetch a drink for a sick cow. The creature took a liking to the boy and lured him into her dwelling beneath the rock, refusing to let him leave. The boy disliked the place and tried twice to escape while she was away, but failed. On the third attempt the rock woman became enraged. She attacked the boy, tore him in two, threw one part into the Moselle River, and devoured the other.

When the deed became known, the people captured the rock creature and burned her at the stake.

Yet it was said that she was often seen afterward, especially by women who went to the Moselle early in the morning to wash their clothes.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Felsefrächen bei Grevenmacher. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Felsefraechen.html

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Keyhole Maiden of Palzem

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: The Keyhole Spirit, The English Witch-Bride
Category: Spirit

The Myth

A young man once lived alone in his house and was content with his life. One night a very beautiful maiden suddenly appeared to him. He was deeply struck by her beauty and wished she might become his wife. Yet whenever he tried to hold her back, she vanished as suddenly as she had come.

Troubled, he sought advice from a clever neighbor. She told him that the maiden must be entering and leaving through the keyhole of his front door and that if he sealed it once she was inside, she would not be able to escape.

The young man found the keyhole and made a plug that fit it exactly. That night, when the maiden appeared again, he leapt from bed and sealed the hole. The girl could not leave. He kept her with him and asked her to become his wife. She agreed, and they married, and in time they had three children.

Years later, while his wife baked pancakes, the man idly thought it no longer mattered whether the hole remained closed. He removed the plug.

At once the woman cried out loudly before the children, saying that she could hear the bells ringing in England. Then, in an instant, she vanished through the opened hole and was never seen again.

The man remained behind with his three children, and people said that if he had not opened the way, the strange woman — said to be a witch-spirit from England — would have stayed with him.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der betrogene Mann. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/betrogene_Mann.html

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