Swiss Mythology

Plague Kätzlein

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternative names: The Little Cat
Category: Cat

The Myth

The Kätzlein appears as an ordinary little cat that can speak with a human voice. It serves as the manifestation or messenger of the Great Death, the invisible force responsible for the plague.

According to the legend, many centuries ago the plague was brought into the mountains of Valais by mysterious Pest People. The Great Death wandered invisibly through the land, killing countless people in villages such as Richelsmatt and Lauinen. Entire families perished overnight, and so many people died that cattle could wander from farm to farm without finding anyone alive.

When the plague reached the village of Ernen, the district governor Michel Tschampen fled deep into the isolated Rappental valley, believing he could escape the invisible destroyer. The plague worsened in Ernen, and during a council meeting the Great Death cried out from the nearby forest that it would not leave Ernen until the little man hiding in Rippbei had come out.

Villagers were immediately sent to bring Michel Tschampen back, but he escaped once more and hid in an abandoned mountain hut at Grindbiel, convinced that no one would ever find him there. Relieved, he settled into his refuge, believing he had finally escaped the plague.

The following morning, as he stood at the window enjoying the peaceful mountain landscape, a little cat appeared outside, meowing pitifully and asking to be let in. Feeling glad to have another living creature nearby, Michel opened the window. The cat leapt onto the windowsill, climbed onto his shoulder, rubbed affectionately against his face, and suddenly spoke the words, Rippbei little man, now it is time.

The cat immediately disappeared through the window without leaving a trace. Michel instantly understood that the Great Death itself had visited him. A deadly chill spread through his body, and he realized he had been infected. Already gravely ill, he struggled back to the village of Ernen. As soon as he entered the village, he died. From that very moment, the plague began to subside, and within a few days the Great Death disappeared from Ernen forever.

Sources

“Das Kätzlein.” SAGEN.at – Schweizer Sagen und Heldengeschichten. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/kaetzlein.html

Tanzende Katzen

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternative names: Dancing Cats, Witches’ Cats
Category: Cat

The Myth

The Tanzende Katzen appear as four dark-colored cats that gather at night to dance in circles. They are not ordinary felines but witches who have transformed themselves into cats to conceal their true identities.

According to the legend, the people of Zug believed that witches could assume the forms of various animals in order to move about unnoticed and trouble their neighbors. On the Geißweid, below what is now the Capuchin monastery, four dark cats were said to assemble on many moonless nights. There they performed noisy ring dances across the meadow, disturbing everyone living nearby.

Eventually the nightly gatherings became too much for the townspeople. A brave young man hid behind a wall with a musket and waited for the mysterious dancers to appear. When the four cats began their strange dance once again, he fired into the group and struck one of the cats in its hind foot.

The following morning, the wife of the town’s ruling magistrate was suddenly found limping. According to the legend, she had been one of the witch cats dancing on the Geißweid, and the wound she suffered in her feline form had carried over to her human body, revealing her secret identity.

Sources

“Tanzende Katzen.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz (Kanton Zug). Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/zug/katzen.html

Alraune

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternative names: Mandrake
Category: Cat

The Myth

The Alraune was believed in the Werdenberg region to be a real cat-like creature that brought good fortune and great wealth to the household in which it lived.

According to local tradition, although the mandrake root was widely used for magic and carved into human-shaped figures believed to possess supernatural powers, people in Werdenberg also believed that the Alraune existed as a living, cat-like animal. Rather than being feared, it was regarded as a bringer of prosperity, blessing the home with luck and great riches. The source records no further description or legends about the creature.

Sources

“118. Mandrake / Alraune.” St. Gallen Myths. June 23, 2024. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://stgallenmyths.com/2024/06/23/118-mandrake/.

“Alraune.” Sagen.at – Sagen aus Österreich. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/alraune.html.

Dragon of Wyl

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternative names: Dragon Reed
Category: Crocodile, Dragon

The Myth

According to a legend from Unterwalden, a terrible dragon once lived in a cave above the village of Wyl on the shores of Lake Lucerne. The monster was described as a hideous lindworm covered in scales with razor-sharp claws. When it flew through the air, it resembled a gigantic flying crocodile, and it could breathe fire from its jaws.

The dragon devastated the surrounding countryside, devouring livestock and shepherds alike. No one was safe from its attacks, and even children and young women gathering food in the fields lived in constant fear. The destruction became so severe that the village earned the name Ödwyl, meaning “Desolate Wyl.”

A banished knight named Struthan Winkelried offered to slay the beast in exchange for permission to return to his homeland. Desperate for deliverance, the people accepted his offer.

Struthan confronted the dragon wearing chainmail and carrying a lance wrapped in thorn bushes. When the fire-breathing monster charged, it hurled itself onto the thorn-covered lance. After a fierce struggle, the dragon was slain.

As the knight withdrew his weapon, some of the dragon’s blood ran onto his bare arm. Although he immediately washed it away, the poisonous blood proved fatal, and he died soon afterward.

The people mourned the hero who had freed them from the dragon’s terror and built a memorial chapel on the place where he had defeated the monster.

Sources

SAGEN.at. (n.d.). Das Drachenried. In Traditionelle Sagen. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/drachenried.html

Eisenriet Goat

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternative names: Eisenriet-Geiss, Isariadgoass, Riatligoass
Category: Sheep

The Myth

The Eisenriet Goat is a terrifying demonic creature said to haunt the marshes of the Eisenriet near the Swiss villages of Montlingen and Oberriet. According to local legend, it punishes the arrogant, the blasphemous, and those who travel the marshes at night.

The tale tells of a chimney sweep from a neighboring village whose soul was said to be as black as his soot-covered clothes. Whenever he became drunk, he cursed God and mocked religion. One evening, after drinking heavily at an inn, the other patrons warned him not to cross the dangerous marsh after dark. The chimney sweep laughed at them, boasting that he feared nothing—not even if the Devil himself appeared before him.

As he stumbled along the causeway through the Eisenriet, a beautiful snow-white goat suddenly appeared and blocked his path. Thinking it nothing more than an animal, he angrily swung his soot-covered chimney brush at it until it disappeared into the darkness.

Moments later, however, a massive old billy goat emerged. Its grim expression, enormous horns, and frightening appearance chilled even the fearless chimney sweep. Suddenly realizing he might be facing the Devil himself, he cried out in terror.

The monstrous goat began pawing violently at the ground before charging with tremendous force. It gored the chimney sweep upon its horns while his screams echoed across the countryside, loud enough for the people of Montlingen to hear.

Villagers rushed to the scene but arrived too late. They found only a few black scraps of clothing and the chimney sweep’s ladder. Of the man himself, there was no trace.

The legend survives to this day as a warning to children. As night falls, mothers in Montlingen are said to call them home with the words:

“Come home quickly, or the Eisenriet Goat will get you.”

Sources

SAGEN.at. (n.d.). Die Geiß von Eisenriet. In SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen. Retrieved June 28, 2026, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/Eisenriet_Geiss.html

Drache am Hirschensprung

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternate Names: Dragon of Hirschensprung
Category: Dragon

The Myth

In the narrow pass known as the Hirschensprung, where the land road is forced between steep rock faces to avoid the flood-prone Rhine plain, an old legend tells of a monstrous dragon that once lived among the cliffs.

The place itself already carried a name tied to danger and escape. It was said that a stag, hunted and cornered, once leapt across the chasm to evade its pursuers—an impossible jump that gave the site its name: Hirschensprung, the “stag’s leap.”

But long after that, something far worse inhabited the pass.

A dragon took up residence among the rocks, a grotesque and terrifying creature that threatened everything living in the area. It haunted the narrow route, making travel dangerous and filling the surrounding lands with fear. Neither man nor beast could pass safely while it remained.

The local farmers, unable to endure the threat any longer, devised a practical but brutal solution. Rather than confronting the creature with weapons, they used cunning.

They heated a ploughshare—an iron blade used for cutting earth—until it glowed red-hot. Then, approaching the dragon, they provoked it into opening its jaws. At the right moment, they hurled the burning iron straight into its mouth.

The dragon, driven by its insatiable hunger, swallowed it instantly.

Moments later, the heat consumed it from within. After a brief but violent death struggle, the creature perished.

Yet the story does not end with its death.

The dragon, according to local belief, still remains at Hirschensprung—but no longer alive. Its body turned to stone in the place where it died. Even now, people claim that its form can be seen in the rock itself: its head and gaping jaws protruding from the cliff face, while its tail stretches across the landscape toward the pass.

The position of the stone formation suggests that, in its final agony, the dragon twisted violently before becoming fixed forever in the mountain.

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der Drache am Hirschensprung. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/hirschensprung.html

Cheval Gauvin

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Tradition / Region: French Mythology, Swiss Mythology
Alternate Names: Gauvin Horse, Gauvain Horse, tchevâ Gâvïn
Category: Horse

The Myth

The Cheval Gauvin is a malevolent supernatural horse from the folklore of eastern France and western Switzerland, particularly the Jura region. It is described as a wandering entity that appears near rivers, forests, graveyards, and isolated paths.

Unlike ordinary animals, the Cheval Gauvin actively seeks human victims. It lures people—especially travelers—into mounting it, only to kill them afterward. Its methods vary: it may throw riders into abysses, drag them into deep waters to drown, or carry them away to their deaths. In Swiss variations, it is said to abduct young girls as it runs through villages.

The creature is strongly associated with death and misfortune. Encounters with it are often interpreted as omens, and its presence signals danger or impending doom. Because of this, it functioned in folklore as a warning figure, particularly used to frighten children away from dangerous places.

Historically, the legend was first formally recorded in 1854 by Désiré Monnier, though similar stories existed across multiple towns such as Chamblay, Montbarrey, Dole, and into the Swiss Jura. The consistency of the myth across regions suggests a deeply rooted shared tradition.

Some versions link the horse to Amauri III de Joux, portraying it as his cursed or spectral mount. Others interpret it as a transformed goblin or hobgoblin, placing it within a broader category of shapeshifting or deceptive spirits.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Cheval Gauvin. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheval_Gauvin

Witch as Fox

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternate Names: Fox-Witch, Witch in Fox Form
Category: Fox, witch

The Myth

Hunters in the mountains often warned that not every fox in the snow was truly an animal.

Once, several hunters from Reutte went together to the Fuchspasse on the heights between Reutte and Heiterwang. They had neglected to bless their weapons before setting out. After a long search they finally saw a fox and fired at it. The shot struck true, and the fox fell, but it soon leapt up again and fled.

The hunters followed its trail in the snow. At first the prints were clearly those of a fox, but as they continued, the tracks grew larger. Soon they began to resemble human footprints, and at last they looked like the marks of slippers.

Realizing something was wrong, the hunters followed the trail until it led to a house in the upper part of Reutte. Inside lay an old woman in bed, wounded by a gunshot.

Another tale tells of a hunter from Betzigau who chased a fox for a long time through the fields. Each time he fired, the fox ignored the shots and even seemed to mock him. The hunter then suspected the creature was no ordinary animal. He took his rosary, cut the cord, and used one of its beads in place of a bullet.

When he fired again, the fox was struck at once. It fled, bleeding heavily, and the hunter followed the trail. The tracks led him to a house, where he learned that the woman of the house lay in bed with a badly injured foot.

From such stories people said that witches sometimes took the form of foxes to wander the night. And if a hunter wounded such a fox, the mark would be found later on the body of the witch who had worn its shape.

Sources

SAGEN.at. (n.d.). Die Garmina-Hexen. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/garmina_hexen.html.

Garmina Witches

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternate Names: Witches of Oute Garmina
Category: Sheep

The Myth

On the mountain path that runs from Vättis to Untervatz, across the Owaggis and Salatz Alps, there was once said to be a lonely place called Oute Garmina. There, long ago, three witches lived together.

A young hunter from Vättis often roamed the Calanda mountains and passed that way on his hunts. Several times he encountered the sisters, yet they could not harm him. He was said to wear “clean shoes,” and because of this, their magic failed against him.

Unable to touch him directly, the witches tried another trick. They transformed themselves into chamois and appeared on the slopes, hoping to lure him into danger. One day, as he crossed the Alp Gwaggis, he saw three chamois grazing peacefully on a grassy ledge. Thinking them ordinary game, he raised his gun and fired. Yet every shot missed.

Suddenly the animals sprang toward him. Sensing danger, he threw himself flat to the ground, and the attack failed. Later, an old man from Vatz told him the truth: the chamois were not beasts, but the witches of Garmina. He instructed the hunter how to defeat them.

The hunter followed his advice. He mixed Trinity-blessed salt into his powder and loaded a consecrated silver bullet. The next time he saw the chamois, he fired again. This time his aim did not fail. One of the animals was struck and fell from the rocks, tumbling down the cliff.

The hunter went at once to Garmina. There he found that he had indeed slain one of the witches, killed by a shot through the head.

And so the story remained among the mountain people, who remembered that on the high paths of Garmina, even grazing animals might hide something far more dangerous.

Sources

SAGEN.at. (n.d.). Die Garmina-Hexen. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/garmina_hexen.html.

The Silver Tree

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Tradition / Region: Swiss Mythology
Alternate Names: Silver Mountain Tree
Category: Plant, treasure tree, hidden wonder

The Myth

On the steep rock face above the valley between Bärschis and Tscherlach, where the cliff falls sheer into the depths below, there runs a narrow line of damp stone. From a crevice on the western side of the wall, water sometimes seeps out, leaving a long, dark trail down the rock.

Long ago, a traveler from Venice passed along Lake Walen on his way from Weesen. Seeing the strange mark upon the cliff, he stopped and took out a mountain mirror. For a long time he studied the rock face through it, watching the place where the water emerged.

At last he lowered the mirror and spoke with certainty. Behind that wall, he said, not far from where the water flows, there stands a gigantic tree made entirely of pure silver. Whoever could reach it and claim it would gain immeasurable wealth.

Yet the cliff is steep, the way uncertain, and the place difficult to reach. No one has ever found the path that leads behind the stone. And so the silver tree is said to remain there still, hidden within the mountain, waiting for the one who dares to seek it.

Sources

SAGEN.at. (n.d.). Der silberne Baum. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/st_gallen/silberne_baeume.html

Switzerland Mythology