Mythical Beasts of Germany

Welcome to the land of the Brothers Grimm. It is very easy to understand why they wanted to spend their time travelling through this beautiful country collecting folklore and mythology. There are so many stories and so many stunning towns to visit. It has certainly been one of those countries that, as I researched it, I was pulled more into the country's stunning regions, and it took a lot of energy to keep reading through iffy translations of obscure myths and not just start planning a fantasy itinerary on Trip Advisor.

German mythical creatures share a lot with the countries surrounding it (as you'd expect), and we can see creatures we would recognise in Nordic, Slavic, French, Austrian, and Italian mythology. It creates a fantastic melting pot of moody mermaids, giant mountain spirits, mischievous kobolds and more than its fair share of Werewolves and Dragons. I've left off the most terrifying of Germanic beasts- the bureaucrats *shudder*, I still have sleepless nights over their LUCID packaging register, and we don't need to scare the children too much.

A quick note: Obviously, I am not German. Nor do I speak German beyond the point of being able to ask for directions and get some food, which covers most of my needs in day-to-day life; if I'm not lost or in danger and I have access to a sandwich, I'm generally happy enough. It does present challenges when undertaking a new map though. It is always tricky to fully understand a legend through translations, I have tried my best, persisted and believe that in the end it has come together well. I do hope people enjoy looking at it and learning about the myths and folklore it contains as much as I enjoyed making it.

As ever, thanks to everyone who has supported the project! You guys are awesome, and we couldn't keep it going without you! If you would like to support us, the maps and other goodies are available in our store, or you could buy us a coffee, alternatively, you could share us (with links).

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Update- I’m working on book proposals at the moment, so I’ve kept some stories offline to save them for the books (and to stop anyone pinching all the hard work before they’re published!). If you’d like to know when the books are ready, just pop your name on the mailing list.

In the meantime, here are a few of my favourite beasties and legends -

Aufhocker

The Aufhocker (leap-upon) is a popular motif in German folklore. It can take many shapes, such as a goblin, a beautiful woman, an animal, or the dead. Regardless of its appearance, it is there to hand out justice to thieves and other ne'er-do-wells in the form of non-consensual piggybacks. Just like a toddler, it will climb on your back, growing gradually heavier and heavier until you die from exhaustion. The Aufhocker is impossible to remove; the only way it will relent is if you manage to make it home before you die, and presumably, bribe it with juice, cheese, and agree to watch the same episode of Bluey again for the 322nd time. Unlike other pressure spirits, the Aufhocker can grow a bit tired of being tiring and impatiently opt for the quicker path of ripping out your throat. Interestingly, the Aufhocker is sometimes viewed as a metaphor for emotional burden. The Germans do despairing existential metaphors very well.

Der Wolf von Ansbach

The Ansbach Wolf was a giant wolf that terrorised livestock before turning its attention to children in the Ansbach region in the 17th century. And here's where things get weird: the locals believed it was their recently departed 'Bürgermeister' which isn't the name the staff 'affectionately' call me at the local take-out, but is more a role akin to a magistrate. They trap and kill the wolf and decide to display the carcass hung up on a gibbet, wearing clothes, a mask, and a wig so that it resembles the former Bürgermeister. I mean, they got rid of the wolf. I can see how killing it solved the problem, but I'm not sure what purpose the rest of the macabre game of dress-up played. It reminds me of sympathetic magic, the idea of 'like produces like', and maybe if they believed it to be the old Bürgermeister, then maybe symbolically hanging 'him' was meant to remove his spirit or curse or something.

Fáfnir

Fáfnir is a character from one of my favourite sagas, 'the Völsunga saga.' It is a saga that really has it all, and I would love to have a go at writing an accessible version of this one day as it's a great tale that I think a lot of people would enjoy. But anyway. Fáfnir was a dwarf who was also a bit of a git. He grew envious of his father's gifts and treasures that had been given to him by the gods. He, in particular, really liked a ring (precious?). So he decides to murder his dad and take all his swag and live in a cave by himself surrounded by his hoard. Whilst here, he is transformed by his greed into a wurm/dragon; dragons often being a moral tale of how greed corrupts a person and Fáfnir is one of our main examples of that. If this is sounding familiar, it should. Tolkien was a huge fan of sagas and may well have taken influence from Fáfnir, I'd even go out on a limb and say he absolutely did. There are familiar elements to both our favourite ring-loving nut-case Sméagol/Gollum, as well as the great Northern fire drake Smaug. Northern always seemed so vague, like where are we talking here? Leeds?

"Revenge! T’ King under t’ Mountain is deed n wherest his kin that dare t’ seek revenge? Girion Lord of t’Dale is deed, av scranned his folk like a wolf among t’ sheep, an where are his kin that dare approach mi? A kill where a wish an none dare resist. A laid low t’ warriors of auld and their like aint in t’ world today. Then a was but a bairn n soft. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Tea-leaf in t’ Shadows!"

-Yorkshire Smaug

For those not familiar with UK dialect, that may not make too much sense, but if I wasted my day translating Smaug into Yorkshire, you can waste 30 seconds reading it. Anyway, Fáfnir's brother (Regin) crafts a sword for the hero of the tale Sigurð, who then lies down in a trench waiting for Fáfnir to pass over him on his way for a drink from the stream, when he does he sticks the sword up into his belly, disembowelling him. Regin then requests the heart to eat, 'cause why wouldn't you want to eat your dragon brother's heart? When cooking it, Sigurð burns his finger when checking if the heart is medium or well-done, so he gives his finger a little suck and finds he has the new ability to hear the thoughts of birds. Must've been some strong heart, man. Anyway, because he can now hear the birds, or is tripping his nuts off on dragon blood, he gets paranoid and/or is told by the birds that Regin plans to kill him. So he kills him first and makes off with the dragon loot. Classic.

Glühschwanz

Maybe my favourite beast that I got to hear about making this map. It is a glowing dragon who is a friend and/or foe to witches. It would deliver them food, drink, and cash in exchange for sweet milk being prepared for it on the stove, though if this deal wasn't honoured it would respond in usual dragon fashion and simply torch the place. Which is kind of fair. It also reminds me of many household spirit stories in which goods/services are given in exchange for something fairly trivial, and a brutal response befalls those who would break the deal.

The Glühschwanz seemed to have a particular trigger around fairness; if a farmer or lord mistreated their workers, underpaid, or was generally a bad person, it would fly over their house at night using its glowing tail to cast light on their roof, signalling their misdeeds. Like a glowing neon arrow showing 'this person sucks'. Other ways of meting out a bit of revenge on people included perching on their chimneys and letting 'something' fall into it, spoiling smoking meats and filling the house with a stench... it was poo wasn't it? He pooped down their chimneys. I've often thought if I was a wealthy man and had that time and freedom I'd dedicate my life to just messing with the kind of people who just make life harder and more miserable than it needs to be. The kind of person who isn't technically breaking a law, or at least not one severe enough for anything to happen to them, but will just be out there making life suck that little bit more than it should and not get their comeuppance. I think I have found a spirit animal in the Glühschwanz. To that raised pickup that parked in the last parent-child spot at the supermarket... I'm coming for your chimney, mate.

Mummelseekönig

The Mummelsee is a lake in the Black Forest that legend has it is inhabited by water spirits as well as their father, the king of the Mummelsee. At the bottom of the Mummelsee, there is a crystal castle where lived the Mümmlein, joyous mermaids (though this term seems vague in Germany and they seem to appear more like nymphs in the stories I have read). Each day they would venture from the depths to visit the locals, look after the children, or work in the house or gardens whilst the women worked the fields. Their father, the king of the Mummelsee, was fine with this, on the condition that they returned to the castle as soon as there were stars in the sky. I think to the generations who played out on the streets and were told to come home "when the street lights come on" this sounds familiar.

The Mümmlein loved the village dances and one night whilst dancing with a guy she liked, one of the Mümmlein lost track of time. The clock struck 10, and she realised what she had done. She hurried out of the hall with her beau and went back to the lake. With a willow rod, she tapped the water three times, the water parting and creating marble-like stairs down to the castle. She said to her partner, "Now we will probably never see each other, because I will have to die. Wait a while longer on the shore. If blood rises from the depths, I have lost my life; if not, I shall soon be with you again."

Wait, what? This seems a bit dramatic. I mean, I know parents can be quite strict on curfews but 'die'? Seems a bit harsh. And well, ultimately, the water closes back in, a red wave breaks on the shore, and Romeo knows what has happened. The Mummelseekönig apparently has no wiggle room for disobedience. Massively harsh; surely he was young once. We've all been out dancing, stepped outside, and seen that the sun is coming up and thought 'oh crap.' The usual remedy is a taxi home, a cup of tea, some toast, and get a movie on, not to be turned into liquid gore.

Nachzehrer

A bizarre type of vampiric ghoul, the 'shroud-eater' was a person who, post-death, would drain the life force from their family members. It didn't do this in any blood-sucking way or by physically attacking anyone; instead, it would sit in its coffin and eat its burial shroud and ultimately itself. I wish I had a better grasp of German to understand this one, as a lot I read seemed to not make great sense, so I could only glean aspects of the full legends. I'll try to hit some bullet points, and you can dig deeper if you like.

The Nachzehrer, instead of leaving the grave and risking a good old-fashioned decapitation, would rather use other spirits to go about draining life force from others, or use some form of sympathetic magic through the act of eating its shroud. On the rare instances it did leave the grave, its shadow could kill people. Also, it could go clatter about with church bells, and whoever heard them would also die, so seemingly it did have a few methods of killing 'in-the-flesh,' as it were. Last weird bits: it could transform into a pig to sneak about without getting caught, which is a bit less goth than the more traditional/cliché bat, and it also got a kick out of tying cows' tails together.

Roggenmuhme

The Rye-Aunt is probably one of the most intense and visually striking of the field spirits. She is a demon of the corn with fiery fingers, bosoms full of tar, a birch whip that sparks, and parts of her may be made of iron. Quite a creepy vision, and fun to draw. She roams the fields eating corn, and if the harvest is bad she will punish the farmer, though seeing her in the fields is generally seen as an omen that the crop is good. She is mother to the rye-wolves, though that doesn't mean she is in any way to be trusted around kids. She is prone to leaving changelings, mashing kids up in her churn or forcing them to drink from her poisonous bosom, which is problematic at best. Definitely will not be asking for the Rye-Aunt to babysit

Also featured on the map:

Bahkauv

Buschgroßmutter

Der Lange Mann

Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten

Doppelgänger

Drachen

Drak

Drei Jungfrauen

Feuermann

Frau Gauden

Haalgeist

Irrlicht

Klabautermann

Klageweib

Krampus

Lorelei and Isa

Morbach Monster

Niß Puk

Petermännchen

Poplitzer Popelmännchen

Rübezahl

Schlangenkönig

Schöne Lau

Sennentuntschi

Tatzelwurm

Walrider / Alp

Uglei