Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Moselstadtgeist, Moselle Spirit
Category: River dweller, Ghost
The Myth
On the Moselle River, at a place called ob em Meilesteen a short distance upstream from Mertert, fishermen who worked at night often heard a strange sound. It resembled the splashing of countless carp striking the water with their tails, and the noise drifted downstream toward Mertert and beyond. Near Wasserbillig it suddenly ceased, and people said it stopped where the old Moselstadt once stood, for it was believed that a great town of that name had existed there long ago.
The fishermen said the splashing was caused by the Moselgeist, the spirit of the Moselle.
Others told that at the same place, in the darkness of night, they had seen an unknown boatman crossing the river. He rowed silently across the water, and just as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished into the river and was gone.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der Moselgeist zwischen Grevenmacher und Wasserbillig. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Moselgeist.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive