Tradition: Belgian Mythology, Dutch Mythology
Alternative Names: Korenwagen, Gloeiende Wagen, Hellewagen, Spookwagen
Category: Object

The Myth

The Vurige Wagen is a glowing, fiery coach that appears at night, usually between midnight and one o’clock. It is drawn by black or invisible horses and sometimes rises into the air, racing through the darkness with an infernal roar.

Inside the coach, blood-red lights glow ominously, while the coachman himself shines with heat and spits fire. The terrifying vehicle is said to be the punishment of wealthy sinners who exploited and oppressed ordinary people during their lives.

One late-night traveller once heard the dreadful carriage thundering toward him. As the noise grew louder, he expected the fiery vehicle to rush past him, but when it came close, it suddenly vanished. Only a few metres farther away did it appear again, continuing its supernatural journey through the night.

The Vurige Wagen could also be understood as the restless spirit of a dissolute nobleman, condemned after death to drive eternally through the darkness in his blazing coach.

Sources

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

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.