Luxembourg Bird Mythology Archives

The Myth

Near the village of Bous, beside the road leading to Stadtbredimus, lies a field known as Neckelswuos, a place long feared for its supernatural happenings. Travelers tell of phantom pigs racing through wagon wheels, a ghostly sow followed by seven piglets, a floating skull, a woman clothed only by her long hair, and a great black dog haunting the area.

One night, around midnight, a blacksmith from Stadtbredimus passed through Neckelswuos. As he traveled along the road, he suddenly saw an enormous bird-like creature hovering above him. The being was so vast that its body covered the entire width of the road, while the tips of its wings stretched far into the fields on both sides. Terrified, the blacksmith believed it to be a Greif or perhaps a dragon, and fled from the place in panic.

Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Geisbusch Night Bird
Category: Bird

The Myth

Many years ago, in the wooded area called Geisbusch between Alzingen and Itzig, there lay a large fishpond. Each evening an unknown bird appeared there, whose harsh and repulsive song frightened all who heard it.

People believed the creature possessed the power to bewitch any living being that came into its sight, luring them toward the pond where they would perish in the water. Because of this, no one dared approach it.

At last a mounted hunter decided to destroy the uncanny bird. One evening he rode into the forest with his double-barreled gun and crept close to the pond. When he thought himself near enough, he fired at the bird. Immediately afterward a pitiful cry and a dull roar were heard, and horse and rider were swallowed by the waters of the pond.

After this event, the pond was said to have turned into a wild moor. The place remained visible for a long time, but people carefully avoided it, believing that evil spirits still lingered there and sought to destroy anyone who came too near.

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der verhexte Wasservogel auf dem Fischteich im Geisbusch. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Fischteich_Geisbusch.html

Vogel Greif

The Myth

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Bewitched Water Bird of Geisbusch

The Myth

Sources