Mythology

Barrack Horse

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: The Phantom Beast of the Falcon Barracks
Category: Horse

The Myth

Around fifty years before the story was told, a soldier was stationed at the Falcon Barracks in Antwerp, where he and his fellow soldiers took turns guarding the banks of the Scheldt. During one eight-day period, three sentries disappeared while standing guard at the same spot beside the water. The soldiers suspected that the missing men had been thrown into the river, and fear spread throughout the barracks. Nobody dared to stand guard alone at that location anymore, so the military authorities ordered that two soldiers be stationed there together. From then on, no further incidents occurred, and eventually the soldiers forgot about the disappearances. The guard was once again reduced to a single man.

One night, while the narrator himself was on duty, a soldier came rushing into the guardroom at around one o’clock in the morning. His face was whiter than a wall, and he seemed close to death from fright. He explained that he had been standing inside his sentry box when a terrifying creature suddenly appeared beside him. It was about the size of a yearling foal and was completely engulfed in flames, with fire blazing across its entire body.

Overcome with terror, the soldier had abandoned his post and fled. His fear was so severe that he had to be put to bed and later carried to the hospital. Three days after the encounter, he died. The strange fiery beast was never explained, but its appearance brought the soldiers’ earlier fears back to life, leaving them to wonder whether a supernatural creature haunted the lonely stretch of riverbank.

Sources

De Cock, Alfons. Vlaamsche sagen uit den volksmond. Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur, 1921.

Shirt of the Ghost

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: The Ghost’s Shirt
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In Lebbeke, three women went out washing together every day. They began their work early in the morning, long before the sun appeared in the east. Whenever they passed the cemetery, they saw a mysterious figure standing before the entrance, wearing a white shirt. At first, the women were terrified, but after seeing the apparition so often, their fear gradually faded. They even began making mocking remarks, eventually convincing themselves that some prankster was dressing in white to frighten them.

The boldest of the three women decided that, given the next opportunity, she would pull the shirt straight off the mysterious figure’s body. A few days later, while the women were doing the washing at the priest’s house and passing the cemetery again, she carried out her plan. She seized the shirt, pulled it from the figure, and placed it in the washing tub with the other linen.

After Mass, the priest was walking through his garden when he noticed the linen laid out to bleach. One particular shirt caught his attention. Upon examining it more closely, he recognized it with horror as a ghost’s shirt. He hurried to the washing women to discover how it had come into their possession. The woman who had taken it was terrified when she learned what she had done. The priest ordered her to return the shirt to the ghost at exactly the same hour the following night. He promised to follow her from a distance and protect her from harm if necessary.

When the appointed hour arrived, the frightened woman approached the apparition with the priest following behind her. With a trembling heart, she placed the shirt back on the ghost. As soon as she had finished, the spirit turned toward her and spoke in a hollow voice, thanking her a thousand times. He explained that she had freed him from purgatory, where he had been condemned to return every night until someone removed his shirt and put it back on him. Having finally been released from his punishment, the ghost vanished and was never seen again.

Sources

De Cock, Alfons. Vlaamsche sagen uit den volksmond. Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur, 1921.

Torre Jeppe

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Tradition: Swedish Mythology
Alternative Names: The Undecaying Corpse
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Torre Jeppe was a restless spirit whose body sat night after night in the nave of a church. His corpse had dried out but could not decay, leaving him trapped between death and eternal rest. One night, three tailors were working at a nearby farmstead, laughing and joking with a girl who was known for her courage. They challenged her to enter the church, fetch Torre Jeppe, and bring him back to the farm. In exchange, they promised her a dress made of homespun wool. The girl accepted their offer and went to the church, where she lifted the dried-up corpse onto her back and carried him home.

When she arrived, she sat Torre Jeppe on a bench beside the tailors. The men immediately moved away in fear, but the corpse shuffled after them, staring at them with his large eyes until they were nearly driven out of their minds. Desperate to escape the apparition, the tailors begged the girl in God’s name to take him away again. They promised her another dress if she would return him to the church. She agreed, lifted Torre Jeppe onto her back once more, and carried him away.

However, when she tried to put him back in his original place, Torre Jeppe refused to release her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and would not let go, no matter how many times she ordered him to. At last, he explained that he would free her only if she promised to visit a nearby brook that very night and call out three times: “Anna Perstochter, do you forgive Torre Jeppe?” The girl agreed, and he immediately released her.

Although the brook lay more than a mile away, the girl went there and called out the words three times. After the third call, a woman’s voice rose from the water and answered, “If God has forgiven him, then I, too, forgive him!” The girl returned to the church and told Torre Jeppe what the woman had said. Overjoyed, he thanked her and promised that she would receive her reward if she returned before sunrise.

At dawn, the girl came back and discovered a bushel of silver coins where Torre Jeppe had once sat. She also received the two dresses promised by the tailors. Torre Jeppe, however, had vanished and was never seen again. Having obtained forgiveness from the woman he had wronged, the restless dead man was finally released from his earthly torment and allowed to find eternal peace.

Sources

Stroebe, Clara, ed. The Swedish Fairy Book. Translated by Frederick H. Martens, illustrated by George W. Hood. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1921. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37193

Lake Rachel Ghost

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Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: The Penitents of Lake Rachel
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Lake Rachel lies in a dreadful basin on the slopes of Mount Rachel, a place feared and avoided by shepherds and hunters alike. Deep beneath its dark waters, Pontius Pilate is condemned to atone eternally for the suffering inflicted upon Jesus Christ under his rule. His punishment continues unseen at the bottom of the lake, far from the world of the living.

Three maidens are also enchanted within Lake Rachel, condemned to suffer for their sins. One of them murdered her maidservant with a slipper while she was alive. For this terrible crime, she must wear iron slippers as punishment. On Midsummer’s Eve, she is permitted to swim ashore and remove them, leaving the heavy footwear upon a stone.

Under the moonlight, the maiden wanders barefoot through the forest. Her body bears the marks of her punishment: her lower half remains black, while her face and breasts have become white again. This change reveals that she has already partially atoned for her terrible sin, though her penance is not yet complete.

The lake remains a place of sorrow, where condemned souls endure their punishments in the hope of redemption. The legend ends with a prayer that God may grant rest to all lost souls.

Sources

Watzlik, Hans. “Die Büßer.” In Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/buesser.html

White Woman of Wijnegem

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: The White Woman of Wijnegem
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The White Woman of Wijnegem appears as a mysterious white figure that roams near the canal. Although she initially resembles a ghostly woman, she may actually be a witch capable of transforming into an animal.

Around forty years before the legend was recorded, a man from Wijnegem was returning home from work along the canal. A white figure approached him and attempted to attack him. The man fired his gun at the apparition, which immediately transformed into a cat and disappeared.

The following day, the man learned that a woman known locally as a witch was lying wounded in bed. He realized that the white figure he had shot had been the witch in another form. The encounter revealed the dangerous nature of the White Woman, whose ghostly appearance concealed a shapeshifting witch.

Sources

De Cock, Alfons. Vlaamsche sagen uit den volksmond. Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur, 1921.

Holmberg forest Ghost

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Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: The Stranger of Holmberg
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Threat is a sinister apparition that appears in the forests of Holmberg in the middle of the night. It takes the form of a strange man with an unrecognizable face, sitting alone at a table beneath the moonlight. Its presence is eerie and threatening, and those who encounter it may be marked for death.

One night, a messenger had to cross Holmberg after midnight. Deep in the forest, he discovered a table standing in the moonlight, with the mysterious stranger seated behind it. As the messenger attempted to pass, the figure suddenly raised both arms and threatened him. Overcome with dread, the messenger hurried past with his eyes lowered, too frightened to look at the apparition.

Three days later, the messenger was dead. The encounter with the stranger had seemingly foretold his death, leaving the mysterious figure as a terrifying omen lurking in the moonlit forest.

Sources

Watzlik, Hans. “Die Drohung.” In Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/drohung.html

Father Michael

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Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: The Ghost of the Princely Room
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In Andreasberg, the ghost of a deceased priest haunted the princely room of the local parsonage. He was believed to have died in a grave sin, for even after death he could find no peace. At night, his spirit paced back and forth across the room, his shoes creaking against the floor as though he were endlessly rehearsing a sermon from memory.

Father Michael, who had known the dead priest well, decided to discover what troubled the restless spirit. He wrote two letters and placed them in the haunted room. In the first, he asked the ghost to reveal its desires and explain how its soul might be redeemed. In the second, he declared that if the priest’s soul could not be saved, he would have the apparition removed from the world. That evening, Father Michael locked the room and kept the key himself.

When he returned the following morning, the second letter had mysteriously disappeared. From that day onward, the ghost was never heard or seen in the princely room again. The silence deeply affected Father Michael, who became withdrawn and renounced the pleasures of worldly life. He devoted himself to a more austere existence, and when he eventually died, people regarded him as a saint. Even a hundred years after his burial, his body was said to remain undecayed, a sign of his exceptional holiness.

Sources

Watzlik, Hans. “Pater Michael.” In Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/patermichael.html

Disturbed Bliss

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Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: The Forgiveness of the Dead, The Angels by the Pond
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In the Valais village of Ernen, a seven-year-old boy named Joseli lay dying. As his family gathered around him, his parents, siblings, and grandfather asked him to forgive them for any wrongs they had done to him during his short life. Joseli agreed to forgive everyone except his grandfather, who had once refused to give him bread when he was hungry. His family almost laughed at this complaint, remembering how fond the boy had been of bread, but soon Joseli died. They mourned him deeply while taking comfort in the belief that he now enjoyed eternal happiness among the angels in heaven.

That night, the old grandfather lay awake and heard Joseli’s voice calling to him. When the voice sounded for the third time, he finally answered, asking whether his grandson had not yet reached heaven. Joseli explained that he had been unable to enter because he had refused to forgive his grandfather for withholding the bread. The old man immediately declared that he forgave him and wished him to go straight to heaven. The room fell silent, but then beautiful music filled the air, accompanied by the joyful cries of Joseli as he ascended into heaven. The grandfather understood that even a small grievance could disturb a soul’s eternal peace until forgiveness was granted.

In Reiden, in the canton of Lucerne, another family suffered the loss of a young child. One day, the father was working at his oil mill while keeping an eye on his little son. Distracted by his work, he failed to notice the boy wandering toward a nearby pond. The child began throwing stones into the water, but when he tried to pick flowers along the bank, he fell in and drowned. When the father discovered what had happened, he carried the dead child home. The mother was devastated and could find no comfort, even when her husband reminded her that their son was now in heaven, where life was far better than on earth.

One night, as the grieving mother lay awake, she heard wonderful music coming from outside. Looking through her window, she saw the area around the pond illuminated as brightly as day. A great company of angels stood there, many playing golden harps and rejoicing in heavenly bliss. Among them stood her own son, dressed in a little white burial garment, but unlike the joyful angels, he appeared sorrowful and seemed unable to hear their music. When she called out and asked why he was sad despite living in eternal happiness, the boy answered that he could not be joyful while his mother continued to weep because he had entered heaven. His words pierced her heart. She dried her tears and resolved to remember him lovingly while rejoicing in his heavenly happiness. When she looked again, the angels rose toward heaven with their golden harps, and she saw her son ascending among them in a snow-white garment, now filled with joy. The darkness returned, but distant heavenly music continued to comfort her. From that night onward, the mother found peace, understanding that love for the dead need not mean endless sorrow.

Sources

“Die gestörte Seligkeit.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/gestoerte_seeligkeit.html

Hüfifirn Soul

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Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: The Penitent Women of Hüfifirn
Category: Ghost

The Myth

On the Hüfifirn glacier in the Maderanertal valley, a hunter encountered two mysterious women trapped in the ice, each enduring a different stage of supernatural punishment. The first woman was frozen up to her neck in the glacier, yet she sang beautifully, seemingly filled with joy despite her terrible confinement. Further along the ice, the hunter discovered another woman whose feet were frozen in place. Unlike the first, she wept bitterly, overwhelmed by her suffering.

Puzzled by their contrasting reactions, the hunter gathered his courage and asked the weeping woman why she mourned while the other woman, trapped almost entirely beneath the ice, sang so merrily. The second woman explained that their suffering marked different stages of their penance. Her own torment was only beginning, and she still had to sink completely into the ice before she could be redeemed. The other woman, by contrast, was approaching the end of her punishment and would soon be released.

The two women were therefore condemned to endure the glacier’s icy embrace until their respective periods of penance were complete. Their strange encounter revealed that suffering could be a sign of approaching redemption, and that even the most terrible punishment might eventually come to an end.

Sources

“Die büßenden Seelen.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz (Uri). Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/uri/diebuessendenseelen.html

Gescheneralp Ghost

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Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: Martin’s Tschägg
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In the meadows of Gescheneralp, a cow named Tschägg, belonging to a man named Martin, died through the fault of its cowherd. The cowherd himself eventually died, but even after death, his spirit could find no peace. At certain times, especially on the evenings before major religious holidays, his ghost appeared high upon a rock overlooking the meadows. Crouching on the ground as though gathering berries, he would repeatedly call down the same words: “Martin’s Tschägg is dead.”

The ghost continued this strange ritual until Martin himself happened to pass through the area. Seeing the mysterious figure gathering berries on the rock, Martin heard him repeat the familiar words about his dead cow. Instead of expressing anger or blaming the deceased cowherd, Martin simply called back, “Yes, I know; it’s a real gift.”

With those words, the ghost was finally released from his restless existence. From that moment onward, he was never seen again. Martin’s forgiving response had redeemed the dead cowherd, allowing his spirit to find peace at last.

Sources

“Die Vergebung.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz (Uri). Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/uri/dievergebung.html