Mythology!

Gelsfrächen of the Castle Stream

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Washerwomen of the Gels
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In earlier times, the Gelsfrächen were said to come at night to the castle stream called the Gels near Weiler. There they washed clothing, and people in the surrounding houses often heard the clapping sound of water and washing through the darkness.

If the women or maids of the nearby households had no time to wash their garments, the Gelsfrächen would sometimes do the work for them. More than once the farmhands from the manor farm that had belonged to the castle found their dirty overpants, left soiled the evening before after work in the fields, freshly washed and hanging on the fence posts.

Thus the Gelsfrächen were remembered as night-washing spirits who labored unseen beside the stream.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Gelsfrächen zu Weiler zum Turm. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Gelsfraechen_Weiler.html

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Bewitched Water Bird of Geisbusch

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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

Black Horse of the Sauer

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Ghost Horses of Rosport
Category: Horse

The Myth

Near the Rosport ferry on the Sauer River, people told of ghostly black horses that sometimes appeared at night.

A young shoemaker returning late from Ralingen once came to the ferry and waited for the boatman. As he stood there, he saw two magnificent black horses trotting along the towpath. Thinking they had escaped from a nearby farm, he tried to seize them. But when he reached for their bridles, the horses opened their mouths, blazing with fire. Terrified, he released them, and the creatures plunged into the Sauer River, spewing flames as the water hissed and roared around them. The shock of the encounter was said to have turned the young man’s hair white by morning.

Another time, two smugglers lying in wait near Eselsborne close to the river heard a terrible roaring from the water as midnight approached. One of them looked down and saw the same black horses leaping and swimming in the weir, their fiery mouths open amid the splashing, foaming waves. Yet his companion saw and heard nothing at all.

Thus the people believed that fiery phantom horses sometimes rose from the Sauer at night, appearing only to certain witnesses before vanishing again into the water.

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die gespensterhaften Rappen bei Rosport. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Rappen_Rosport.html

Bachhund of the Stöckelter Moor

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Moor Hound, Black Dog of Stöckelts
Category: Dog

The Myth

Near the Stöckelter Moor, which lies between the districts of Sandweiler and Itzig, people long believed that an evil spirit dwelt in the marsh. This being was called the Bachhund.

It was said to roam the heights of Stöckelts at night in the form of a large black dog. At times, a terrible roaring could be heard across the moor and in the surrounding woods, a noise that rose like a distant thunderstorm and filled the place with dread.

One story tells of a woman from Kontern who, near the moor, heard someone calling out “Hoo! Hoo!” Thinking it was a lost traveler, she answered with the same call. The exchange happened three times. But when she called out the third time, a large black dog suddenly leapt from the air beside her and stared fixedly at her. Terrified, she hurried away as fast as she could.

Thus the Stöckelter Moor was remembered as a place haunted by the Bachhund, whose presence was feared and whose roaming was said to continue even in later times.

Sources

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

Night Voice of Reisdorf

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: The Moor Voice
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In the moor near Reisdorf, people said that at night a strange voice could be heard calling out through the darkness.

From the marshes came the repeated cry, “Hup! Hup!” though no one could ever see who or what uttered it.

Thus the place was believed to be haunted by an unseen presence whose voice rang across the moor after nightfall.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die nächtliche Stimme zu Reisdorf. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Reisdorf.html

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Crying Children of the Sauer

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: The Voices over the Sauer
Category: Ghost

The Myth

In earlier times, people near the Rosport ferry often heard strange sounds at night above the waters of the Sauer River. Ferrymen crossing the river and travelers passing nearby reported hearing loud shouting and singing of children in the air, though nothing could be seen.

Two fishermen working late one night also heard a terrible cry of children above a small pool of the Sauer called the Wog, situated a short distance downstream from the ferry. The sound was so frightening that the men immediately fled in great terror.

Thus people believed that an unseen presence lingered above the river, known only by the cries of children echoing through the night air.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Kindergeschrei über der Sauer bei Rosport. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Kindergeschrei.html

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Ferry Spirit of Rosport

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Rosport Ferry Ghost
Category: Ghost, River dweller

The Myth

In earlier times, the ferry at Rosport on the Sauer River was said to be haunted.

When the ferryman had to carry passengers late at night, it sometimes happened that the boat, though empty or only lightly loaded, suddenly became terribly heavy in midstream. It could scarcely be moved and seemed ready to sink at any moment.

The ferrymen believed that this was caused by a malevolent spirit that climbed invisibly into the boat and weighed it down as it crossed the river.

Thus the ferry was feared at night, for people said an unseen being still haunted the crossing.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der Spuk auf der Rosporter Fähre. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Rosporter_Faehre.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.

Sources

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

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.

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