Luxembourg Legends
Though the Grand Duchy
can look back on more than 1000 years of written history,
the area was populated well before that famous year 963, when Siegfried, Count
of the Ardennes, and founder of the Luxembourg
dynasty, bought a rocky promontory on the river Alzette, and called it Lucilinburhuc,
the cradle of today's "Luxembourg".
Exhibits in the National Museum of History and Art
in Luxembourg City give evidence of early settlers from the mesolithic and
the neolithic ages (some 10 000 - 7 000 years ago). Caesar wrote of the vast forests
covering the entire area, during the French Revolution the country was known as
the "Département des Forêts" (the Department of forests),
and even today more than one third of the country is hilly woodlands, sheltering
ancient trees and monuments in its crags and valleys, such as the "Devil's Altar"
near Diekirch.
Little wonder then that many a legend and creepy story was born in such fertile
lands. We leave it open whether they be true or not, but we aim to present here
just a handful of these folk tales from time immemorial:
Melusina,
the mermaid of Luxembourg
The 'Stierchesgeescht'
The 'Zidewitzen' at Bourglinster
Dancing Witches in Koerich
The Werewolf of Bettembourg
Melusina
Melusina is said to
have been the wife of the founder of Luxembourg,
Count Siegfried. When they married, she had one particular request, namely that
Siegfried must leave her alone for one full day and night every month, and that
he should not ask or try to find out what she was doing. Of course, Melusina was
such a beautiful girl that Siegfried could not refuse her this one small wish,
and all went well for years and years, when on the first Wednesday of the month,
Melusina would retire into her chambers in the "Casemates",
a network of caverns underneath the city, not to be seen again until early light
on Thursday.
But one day, Siegfried's curiosity got the better of him. Wondering what on Earth
she might be doing alone all the time, he peeped through the keyhole, and was
shocked to see that Melusina was lying in the bathtub, with a fishtail hanging
over the rim. As you all know, mermaids like Melusina, have a very keen sixth
sense, which tells them instantly that they are being watched, and thus she recognised
her husband through the door, and jumped out of the window into the river Alzette
below, never to be seen again ... except every now and then, some people say they
saw a beautiful girl's head pop out of the river, and a fishtail rippling the
calm waters of the river Alzette.
The 'Stierchesgeescht'
Close to the Trier-Gate
of the old Fortress, in the rocks at the "Stierchen", a part of the city-walls,
there lived a terrible ghost, the "Stierches-geescht".
Having been a heavy drinker in his time, he now took his pleasure in haunting
drunkards. He would lie in wait for them, then throw them to the ground and beat
them up. Sometimes, he would appear -immensely inflated- and bash people with
a massive stick.
During parades, he used to appear in front of the coach-horses and make them shy.
Occassionally, when the monks of the 'Altmünster Abbey' tried to sound their
bells for the evening service, he would stand on the tower holding the bells,
or even lay himself down on the streets, to prevent the people from reentering
their houses.
Even today, there are still drunkards claiming they met the "Stierchesgeescht"
on their way home.
The 'Zidewitzen' at Bourglinster
The lady of the Linster
castle, called 'Zidewitzen' was known for her merciless handling of the castle's
affairs.
A miserable farmer, had been held in a dark cell of the castle's tower, simply
for not having been able to deliver his due amount of wheat. Finally freed, he
angrily made a fist in the direction of the castle. Zidewitzen who saw the gesture
ordered the farmer to be removed from her county. His reply to the order was :
"I'll still be around in your county when you'll be burning in hell".
The merciless woman died shortly afterwards, but the Dark Lord did not want her
to be burried in the parish church in Junglinster. The closer the death convoy
came to the church, the heavier the weight got for the horses to draw. At the
bridge over the 'Ernz', a small stream, the convoy stopped. The driver furiously
whipped his horses, which eventually ran off past the church, into the 'Lëtschen-'
hole, where the charriot disappeared with it's load in a deep moor.
Dancing Witches in Koerich
In the little stream
through the village of Koerich, there stood a castle in the early Middle-Ages.
One day, a day-labourer who had been working all day in the fields returned to
his home at midnight. When he came to the castle yard, he saw a well-lit dancing
room, in the middle of which a huge goat-footed shape in a trench-coat stood conducting
a band of musicians with his golden stick. Around him, a group of witches were
dancing to the music.
The day-labourer was paralysed with fear, and only after having filled his pockets
with stones was he able to flee the horrific vision.
The Werewolf of Bettembourg
A long time ago, an
old and crippled soldier came from the direction of Luxembourg City. He lay down
to rest at a cross standing on a hill just outside the town of Bettembourg.
Suddenly he jumped to his feet, started swearing to God and Hell, and completely
destroyed the representation of our Lord's crucifixion.
From that day, a big wolf started haunting the grounds around the old church of
Bettembourg, killing all that would come in his way. No bullet and no spear could
do him any harm, until a wise monk told the people of Bettembourg to make a bullet
of silver into which to carve the names of Jesus, Maria and Joseph.
The hunters then set out to track the beast and eventually shot it. When they
arrived at the place it had disappeared, and the body they found, was that of
the old soldier, who turned out to be a former Bettembourgian.
On this hill a small cross still stands, and sometimes at night, howling wolves
can still be heard near it.
See also: Folklore
and Mythology Electronic Texts presented by D. L. Ashliman, University of
Pittsburgh
See also: The Echternach Dancing procession
© Serge Moes Luxembourg
Tourist Office - London
last
modified: April 20, 2006