I am currently writing an entire series of books with English-language translations of German folk tales - with each new book focusing on a different topic. The previous book was focusing on ghosts, the one I am close to finishing will be about Devil-tales, the one after that on magic, and so forth.
So I am curious - what kind of topic from German folklore interests you the most?
#FolkloreMoment When a folk tale is called "The Death of the Seven Dwarves", then you know it's going to be good.
Basically, a farmer's girl lost her way in the forest and stumbled across a hut inhabited by seven dwarves. She asked them for a place to stay for the night, and received it (after the dwarves argued about who would get the honor of giving up his bed for the girl).
A short term later, a farmer woman arrived. When the girl opened the door and explained that there was no more space, the farmer woman suspected her of being the lover of all seven dwarves, called her a wanton woman, and then fetched two men who killed the dwarves, buried the corpses in the dwarves' garden, and burned down the hut (the girl, however, had managed to escape).
Greetings, myth lovers! Join @AimeeMaroux for today's theme: Pumpkins. Which myths feature pumpkins, gourds or squashes? Tell us a the myth & tag #MythologyMonday with your #pumpkin lore. See you #Monday! 🎃
#FolkloreMoment: Once, a "devout and noble-minded" young man regularly visited his girlfriend who was equally "devout and noble-minded". She welcomed him into her chamber during every night of the full noon.
Once, he found her weeping and asked her what was wrong and how he could help her.
"You can't help me. Go and fetch me a woman!"
So he went out at midnight, and encountered Percht, a female spirit of the mountain. She asked him where he was going.
"I go to fetch a woman who can help my beloved!"
"Well, then I won't harm you - which I would have done if you were doing something bad. But I want to ask for a favor. Won't you carve a wooden nail for my wagon?"
The young man agreed to do so, and Percht told him to keep all the wood shavings, for he would regret it if he left one behind.
And when he finally returned to his beloved, she was well and healthy and "a large bird had lowered a little boy through the chimney".
Oh, and he discovered that all the wood shavings had turned into gold and silver coins.
... I think this is what the TV Tropes Wiki calls "Getting Crap Past the Radar". It sounds like the two of them could haveAnalyse und Review der Aktivitäten der Stadt zum Klimaschutz
used some sex education, but at least it all turned out well for them in the end.
One aspect in which German folklore is lacking is giving its supernatural creatures cool names.
I mean, Japanese folklore apparently has names for any weird haunt you could name. But German folklore is like:
"Okay, there's a weird iron pig haunting the town. It has a tall shrub growing out of its back. It can also transform itself into bird and a porcupine and turn invisible, and has a tendency to pull off the trousers of miners.
But no, it doesn't have a specific name because Sod You, Encyclopedia Writers!"
And this isn't just a hypothetical example, either - I translated the tale featuring this critter last weekend.
#FolkloreMoment : In German-language folklore, when a woman from the spirit world lusts after a married human man, she will often give him a girdle "for his wife".
Fortunately, the mortals are usually suspicious and put that girdle around a tree first - which the girdle will then tear apart!
#FolkloreMoment : I've been translating a lot of vampire folklore from northeastern Germany as of late. And they are not at all similar to modern media portrayals of the phenomenon.
For starters, they rarely if ever actually leave their graves. Instead, all their "feasting" is usually done via some sort of sympathetic connection to their victims (usually their relatives).
The reason why someone becomes a vampire after death also varies a lot. But the account I am currently translating ("Der Vampyr im Wendlande"/"The Vampyre in the Wendland Region") has a particularly interesting take on this.
You see, people will become vampires if they have been weaned off their mother's breast twice as infants - that is to say, the first attempt at weaning them off mothers' milk didn't take. They must survive to become adults, but then, once they die, they will become vampires. They are also called "Dubbelsüger" or "Doppelsauger" - "Double Sucker" for this reason.
And then, once they are dead, they will sit up in their graves and attempt to suck their own breasts - presumably because they are so used to sucking breasts during their infancy. And this "sucking" is then somehow transferred to their next of kin, who will become pale, scrawnly, and weak until they finally die.
Quite a difference to the usual Anne Rice-type vampire, isn't it?
(Incidentally, I will publish the full translation of this account on my Patreon page this December.)
#FolkloreMoment : Once, a woman said that she would like to marry - but she did not want to bear any children, as she was terribly afraid of the pains of birth.
The couple went to their local priest, who said that he was unable to help them. So he sent them to the pope.
The pope said that he could help her, if she followed his instructions exactly. Then the pope told her that he could help her - if she agreed to follow his instructions exactly.
The woman agreed, and then the pope arranged for her to spend the night in a room with a snake.
The next morning, the woman was dead - but her wish was fulfilled, for now she would never give birth.
#FolkloreMoment : A group of children once encountered a "fiery man" next to a boundary stone, and only one boy recognized him as his dead godfather.
Thus, it was determined that the boy should help save the ghost. He was given blessed items as well as a hoe and a spade, and was told to give the latter to the ghost when he was mucking around the boundary stone.
The ghost took them, and used them to move the boundary stone to its original location from where he had wrongly taken it from in life.
Then the ghost exclaimed: "Now I am saved! In exchange, you too shall enter Heaven in three days!"
#FolkloreMoment : Once, a man encountered a snake who followed him home. He grew very fond of the snake, and one day she told him: "If you were to marry me, you would have no cause for complaints."
After thinking it over, he agreed. Then he took a ring from her tail, and they went to an inn. In the evening, while the other guests were still dancing, the man and the snake went to bed.
Around midnight, the snake turned into a beautiful woman, and the man "found this shape very enjoyable". She kept this shape ever since.
#FolkloreMoment : Once, the dike next to the river Weser burst at Rechtenfleth, and the locals labored for several seasons to repair it - but the hole never seemed to fill up, no matter how much sand they poured into it.
Then they asked a wise woman for advice. She told them: "You will labor until Judgment Day if you don't appease the Heavens. Grab the first person to pass by the next morning, throw them into the depths, and construct the dike above them."
The first person who passed by was a rich, prideful farmer named Heuer. Then they grabbed him, threw him into the hole, and built the dike above him like the wise woman said. The ground bekame solid, and the dike was soon completed with God's aid.
But the dike was called "Heuer's Dike" since then, and it is said that during quiet nights there is groaning and wailing in the depths at this site.