Mythology

Ghostly Rider of Meysemburg

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Tradition: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternative Names: The Ghostly Rider of the Meysemburg Forest, Der gespenstige Reiter
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The ghostly rider appeared as the shadow of a mounted knight, wearing a beret decorated with a flowing feather. Most horrifying of all, a long sword pierced straight through his chest, its point protruding from his back. The black shadow would slide rapidly down the sheer face of the rocks and race through the meadow toward Meysemburg before disappearing into the dark woods beyond the stream.

Late travellers who encountered the apparition on bright moonlit nights were overcome with terror. They would cross themselves and scarcely dare to speak aloud. The rider was not confined to the rocks in the meadow either. He was also seen along high mountain ridges, always near the edge of the rocky forests. Sometimes the shadow of a small greyhound was seen running beside the spectral horse.

People disagreed about what the apparition truly was. Some believed it was the ghost of a notorious witch’s accomplice, while others said it was a cursed knight condemned to wander endlessly as punishment for a terrible crime.

The story behind the haunting began when several knights of noble birth competed for the hand of the beautiful daughter of the lord of Meysemburg. The knight who won her affection was the noble Lord of Linster, a virtuous and respected warrior, and the two were soon betrothed.

The other suitors withdrew, but one remained behind as a guest at the fortress of Meysemburg. He had conceived a treacherous plan to steal the bride from Lord Linster. Consumed by jealousy and hatred, he swore bloody revenge upon his successful rival and waited for an opportunity to carry out his terrible scheme.

That opportunity came during the autumn hunting season. The Baron of Meysemburg organized a great hunt through the heavily wooded countryside, where deer, roe deer, wild boar, and other game were plentiful. Lord Linster and his dangerous rival both joined the hunt, which led through the dark forests toward the territory of Fels.

While Lord Linster pursued a deer, unaware that his enemy was following close behind, the jealous knight suddenly attacked him. He drove his spear against the unsuspecting Linster and forced him backward toward the steep rock wall above the Manzenbach valley.

There was nowhere for Linster to escape. The force of the attack caused his horse to rear, and with no ground behind it, the animal toppled backward over the edge of the cliff, carrying the knight with it into the depths below.

The legend explains the ghostly rider as the restless spirit of this murdered knight, forever racing through the forests and meadows where his life was so treacherously ended.

Sources

Reuland, Heinrich Adolph. Luxemburger Volksbücher: Geschichten und Sagen aus dem luxemburger Volksleben. Luxemburg: St. Paulus-Dr., 1892.

Mavo

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: Mahvot, Mahvo, Malhvo
Category: Lizard

The Myth

The Mavo is a monstrous amphibian resembling a giant lizard, said to be about the size of a calf. It inhabits the Meuse River in the Ardennes and scurries along the riverbed between Revin and Liège. The creature rarely comes onto land, but its appearance is considered a terrifying omen, for it is said to emerge shortly before great disasters such as destruction, plague, war, or pestilence.

A ninety-year-old woman, later deceased, was reportedly said to have seen the creature at Revin and Givet on a July night in 1870. The sighting became one of the tales surrounding the mysterious river monster that lurked beneath the waters of the Meuse.

The Mavo also serves a darker purpose in stories told to children. Angry mothers were said to call the creature from the water when their children misbehaved, using it to frighten them away from the river. The Mavo was imagined as a kind of water bogeyman that would drag into the water and devour any child foolish enough to play too close to the riverbank.

No one knows how many children the Mavo has supposedly eaten, but children were warned to fear it whenever their mothers invoked its name: “Here comes the Mahvo! And if you don’t shut up right now, he’ll eat you!” The threat was said to work without fail.

Sources

“Mavo.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 29, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/Mavo

Deogen

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: De-ohen, De Ochen
Category: Ghost

The Myth

De-ohen appears as a huge, looming ghostly figure formed from a cloud of white or greenish fog. Its eyes bulge from the mist, giving the creature its name, derived from the Dutch “de ogen,” meaning “the eyes.” Alongside the towering figure come the shadowy forms of the children it has killed, their tiny silhouettes following behind it through the darkness.

The legend is associated with the Forêt de Soignes, the great forest on the southern outskirts of Brussels. Drivers travelling through the forest at night or at dusk, especially in foggy weather, were said to encounter black, ghostly figures darting through their headlights. Bloody handprints could appear on car windows, while the terrifying laughter and screams of invisible children seemed to surround the road. Behind the sounds came the tiny shadows of children, following in the footsteps of a huge, looming figure rising from the fog.

The story is tied to a tale of a local serial killer and his victims. As the legend spread, the number of children supposedly murdered in the forest grew enormously. A 1937 book, Children of the Haunted Forest, described how local nuns supposedly discovered the burned bodies of small children scattered throughout the Sonian Forest. The story claimed that as many as eighty children had been brutally murdered, their bodies burned and left throughout the woods.

De-ohen became a figure of frightening campfire stories, with people claiming that they had personally encountered the ghost in the forest. The tale presents the fog itself as something alive: a monstrous presence with enormous eyes, accompanied by the ghosts of the children lost within the woods.

Sources

“De Okhen.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 29, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/de-okhen

Colôrobètch

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: Colôrobètch, Colô Rodje Bètch, Red Beak, Red-Beaked Rooster
Category: Bird

The Myth

Colôrobètch is a frightening red-beaked creature used to embody childhood fears of the cold, punishment, and dangerous places. His most distinctive feature is his beak, stained red with blood, although it is uncertain whether he is truly a bird, a human being, or a grotesque mixture of the two.

Colôrobètch appears during winter, preying on children foolish enough to go outside without clothing warm enough to protect them from the icy wind. He nips at their exposed faces and hands until their skin becomes red, dry, cracked, and bleeding. His name is therefore tied directly to his blood-red beak and the injuries caused by the cold. He was a warning to children to protect themselves from the freezing winter air, which could bring frostbite to their noses and hands.

Around Andenne, Bastogne, Dinant, Huy, Neufchâteau, and Warsage, the creature is known as Colôrobètch. In On, Oignies, and Stavelot, he is simply called the Red Beak. His appearance changes from place to place: in Somme-Leuze he is imagined as a monstrous sparrow, while in Condroz and Hesbaye he takes the form of a pigeon. In Namur, he is specifically known as Colôrobètch or Colô Rodje Bètch, meaning the “Red-Beaked Rooster.”

In Andenne, the creature takes on an even darker form. There, Colôrobètch becomes a nocturnal water bogey who lurks around the Meuse and drags unwary children into its depths.

Sources

“Colorobetch.” A Book of Creatures. March 21, 2016. https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/03/21/colorobetch/

Heksen op Kruiwagenwielen

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: Heksen op kruiwagenwielen
Category: Witch

The Myth

Three witches appeared at night riding upon the wheels of wheelbarrows. Two boys from Denderhoutem had gone to Steenhuize to court, but during their journey they lost their way in the darkness. After wandering for a long time, they reached an isolated house standing alone in the fields. There was no one to be seen, and not a single light burned inside.

A little farther along the road, they suddenly encountered a woman riding upon a wheelbarrow wheel. Without saying a word, she rode straight into the deserted house. The boys continued on their way, only to meet another woman riding upon a wheelbarrow wheel, and then a third.

When they had gone a little farther, curiosity and unease made them look back. The lonely house they had passed was now completely engulfed in flames and fire. Nearly dead with fright, the two boys hurried home.

Sources

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

Tooverpluimen

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: The Magic Feathers, De Tooverpluimen
Category: Object

The Myth

The Tooverpluimen are magical feathers hidden beneath the thresholds and feeding troughs of a farmer’s cowshed.

In Iddergem, a farmer discovered one morning that all three of his cows were dead, their necks twisted around. He bought new animals, but they suffered exactly the same fate. When he had no cattle left, the misfortune turned upon his children. They were struck by a strange bone disease that left them unable to support themselves on their own bones.

At last the priest was called. After much hesitation, he finally agreed to come to the farm. He ordered the thresholds, feeding troughs, and floor of the cowshed to be broken up.

Beneath the thresholds and troughs they discovered the hidden cause: the ground was filled with feathers.

Once the feathers were removed, the enchantment disappeared, and the deaths of the animals and illness afflicting the children came to an end.

Sources

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

Growing Ghost Beast

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Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: Groeiend Spookdier
Category: Rat

The Myth

The Groeiend Spookdier first appeared as a small creature resembling a rat, but it possessed the strange ability to grow to an enormous size.

A man had lost his wife and went to the priest to report her death. At the cemetery, beside the charnel house, he knelt and prayed an Our Father for the repose of her soul. As he sat there, a great weight suddenly pressed down upon his shoulders. The mysterious burden soon disappeared, and the man was able to leave.

On his way home, a little animal resembling a rat suddenly emerged from a stream and ran between his legs. He continued on his way, but the strange creature followed him. As it went, it grew larger and larger until it became so enormous that the man could have ridden upon its back.

Not far from his home, the strange beast suddenly leapt back into the stream and disappeared beneath the water. The man never saw it again, and he had never encountered an animal like it before.

Sources

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

Dragon of Burgbrunnen

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Tradition: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternative Names: Dragon of the Burgbrunnen, Dragon of the Castle Well
Category: Dragon

The Myth

The dragon of the Burgbrunnen is the transformed spirit of a treacherous castle bailiff who guards a treasure at the bottom of the castle well. He appears as a supernatural guardian of the dark shaft, emerging from its depths on Good Friday at midnight.

On a dark and stormy night, the lady of Fels sat beside the cradle of her sleeping infant. Her thoughts wandered between her beloved child and her husband, who was away from the castle. Suddenly she heard the rattling and creaking of the drawbridge being lowered.

Believing that her husband had returned, she rushed to the window, hoping to see him through the darkness. Instead, a terrible uproar erupted in the courtyard. The sounds of clashing weapons, curses, and the groans of dying warriors filled the castle. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the scene, revealing the truth: the Templars of Heringen, bitter enemies of her house, had seized the fortress and were already storming toward her chambers.

The woman seized her infant and fled toward a secret passage. But when she reached the courtyard, another flash of lightning revealed her pursuers closing in. With no escape left, she commended her soul to God and threw herself into the castle well with her child rather than allowing them to fall into the hands of the enemy.

Even the brutal victors were shaken by the courage of the mother. They pulled the bodies of the woman and her infant from the water. Then, seeking to shift the blame for the deaths of the innocent victims, they seized the castle bailiff—the man who had betrayed the fortress to them through bribery—and threw him into the same well.

The bailiff’s spirit was transformed into a dragon. Deep within the wet shaft of the castle well, he was condemned to guard the gold that had been the price of his betrayal.

Yet the dragon does not remain below forever. Every year, at midnight on Good Friday, he rises from the depths. On the deserted castle grounds, the Templars gather around the well and dance a hellish procession, led by the dragon who once betrayed the fortress.

Sources

La Fontaine, Edmond de. Luxemburger Sagen und Legenden. Luxemburg: Jos. Beffort, 1882.

Goldkaul Dragon

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Tradition: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternative Names: Goldkaul Dragon, Dragon of the Goldkaul
Category: Dragon

The Myth

The dragon of the Goldkaul guards a treasure buried deep beneath the earth near Consdorf. It has a fiery mouth and keeps the key to a chest filled with gold, guarding it from anyone who might try to claim the hidden riches.

Long ago, a knight’s castle stood on the land known as Burgkopf. A widow lived there with her daughter, and the two were constantly quarrelling. Although the daughter was still too young to marry, she desperately wanted a husband and demanded her inheritance in gold every day.

Her mother repeatedly refused. As their arguments grew more bitter, the widow finally lost her patience. She took a chest filled with money, threw it at her daughter’s feet, and cursed her to the depths of the earth.

The curse immediately came true. The greedy young woman disappeared into the ground together with her treasure chest, and even the nearby village of Eonsbrück vanished into the abyss. The place where everything disappeared became known as the Goldkaul.

Even in daylight, an eerie mist rises from the pit. It is said to be the breath of the unfortunate daughter—or the breath of the fierce dragon that guards her treasure. Deep underground, the dragon holds the key to the golden chest in its fiery jaws.

When the full moon shines at midnight, the shadowy figure of the cursed daughter can be seen flying from tree to tree. She still waits for someone to free her from the curse.

But the treasure and the girl’s release cannot be won by ordinary courage. Only someone in a state of grace, possessing holy courage, can descend into the Goldkaul and wrest the key from the dragon.

Sources

La Fontaine, Edmond de. Luxemburger Sagen und Legenden. Luxemburg: Jos. Beffort, 1882.

Kirishitan Ryū

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Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Kirishitan Ryū, Christian Dragon
Category: Dragon

The Myth

The Kirishitan Ryū are two great dragons said to have lived inside enormous holes on Ikeshima, a small island between Nagaurajima and Maeshima in the Amakusa Islands. One was male and the other female, and each eventually became the master of one of the ancient holes on the island.

Their appearance in the world was connected to the Shimabara–Amakusa Rebellion of 1637–1638. As the rebellion reached its bloody end, the forces of the shogunate surrounded Hara Castle, where the Christian rebels had taken refuge. After fighting desperately with whatever weapons they could find, the rebels eventually ran out of ammunition and food. Their last hope was simply to kill as many of their enemies as possible before they themselves were destroyed.

Their sixteen-year-old commander, Amakusa Shirō, was said to possess miraculous powers. He could supposedly walk across the sea from Shimabara to Yushima and perform other supernatural feats, including breathing flames from his mouth.

Late on the night of February 27, after the main keep of Hara Castle had burned, Shirō remained inside one of the inner houses. He took out a dragon jewel and raised it toward heaven, praying, “Ah, God, bestow your blessing upon us.” He then threw the jewel toward the shogunate’s warships anchored offshore.

Suddenly the sky darkened. Black clouds descended over the sea, and from them appeared two enormous dragons. A tremendous storm erupted. Two pillars of water rose from the sea all the way into the black clouds, and the warships were caught up in a gigantic waterspout. The ships were hurled into the air, overturned, and sank beneath the waves.

But the miracle could not save the rebels. At the same time, the house where Shirō had been hiding caught fire, its flames illuminating the sky.

By noon the following day, the shogunate army had finally annihilated the remaining rebels. The two dragons, riding within the black clouds, had witnessed the fall of Hara Castle. They then plunged into the sea and swam rapidly eastward. They too were grievously wounded, and their blood turned the seawater red.

Eventually the dragons reached Ikeshima. They crawled up onto the island and searched among its hills until they discovered two enormous holes that had existed there since ancient times. Each dragon entered one of the holes and disappeared from sight. From then on, the two became the guardians of the caves: the one entered by the male dragon became known as the Male Dragon Hole, while the other became the Female Dragon Hole.

Amakusa Shirō was said to have died at Hara Castle, but another tradition preserves a darker mystery: the two dragons themselves were said to be manifestations of Shirō.

After the dragons made their homes on Ikeshima, they became guardians of the island and providers of rain. Whenever drought struck Amakusa, people gathered at Ikeshima to pray for rain. Black clouds would then descend from the heavens, and rain was said to follow.

Sources

Takahashi, Toshihiro. “キリシタン竜 [きりしたんりゅう] (Kirishitan Ryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). December 22, 2014. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1016421998.html