Klabautermann
Encyclopedia
Kobold
The kobold is a sprite stemming from Germanic mythology and surviving into modern times in German folklore. Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialise in the form of an animal, fire, a human being, and a candle. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size...
(or nix
Nix
The Neck/Nixie are shapeshifting water spirits who usually appear in human form. The spirit has appeared in the myths and legends of all Germanic peoples in Europe....
) who assists sailors
Sailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
and fishermen on the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
and North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in their duties. He is a merry and diligent creature, with an expert understanding of most watercraft, and an unsupressable musical talent. He also rescues sailors washed overboard. The name comes from the Low German
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
verb klabastern meaning "rumble" or "make a noise". An etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
deriving the name from the verb kalfatern ("to caulk") has also been suggested.
His image is of a small sailor in yellow with a tobacco pipe and woollen sailor's cap, often wearing a caulking hammer. This likeness is carved and attached to the mast as a symbol of good luck.
Despite the positive attributes, there is one omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
associated with his presence: no member of a ship blessed by his presence shall ever set eyes on him. He only ever becomes visible to the crew of a doomed ship.
More recently, the Klabautermann is sometimes described as having more sinister attributes, and blamed for things that go wrong on the ship. This incarnation of the Klabautermann is more demon- or goblin-like, prone to play pranks and, eventually, doom the ship and her crew. This deterioration of image probably stems from sailors, upon returning home, telling stories of their adventures at sea. Since life at sea can be rather dull, all creatures - real, mythical, and in between - eventually became the centre of rather ghastly stories.
Klabautermann in fiction
- In "The Musician's Tale" in Tales of a Wayside InnTales of a Wayside InnTales of a Wayside Inn is a collection of poems by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.-Overview:The poems in the collection are told by a group of adults in the tavern of the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, 20 miles from Cambridge, and a favorite resort for parties from Harvard College...
by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, the "Klaboterman" appears to the crew of the doomed ship Valdemar, saving only the honest cabin boy.
- In the mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series One PieceOne Pieceis a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
, the pirate ship Going Merry, unknown by the crew, has its own Klabautermann. This Klabautermann fixed the boat when it was too damaged to go on, and spoke to Usopp, telling him not to worry because the boat would carry everyone a little longer. It was later revealed that the boat was beyond repair. This Klabautermann was portrayed in a manner strongly in line with the original, benevolent version of the creature (minus the pipe). Strangely enough, it was ranked as the 49th most popular character in One Piece (with 46 votes), 2 votes more than the Going Merry itself.
- Dschinghis KhanDschinghis KhanDschinghis Khan was a West German pop band, created in 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. The name of the band was chosen to fit the song of the same name, written and produced by Ralph Siegel with lyrics by Bernd Meinunger....
released a single in 1982 called "Klabautermann" - PumucklPumucklPumuckl is a Kobold from a German radio play series for children. He is a descendant of the Klabautermänner.He is invisible to people around him except for the master carpenter Eder with whom Pumuckl lives....
, a German TV (1980s) and radio (1960s) series Kobold, descends from the dynasty of the Klabautermänner.
- In "Jeder stirbt für sich allein" (published in English as Every Man Dies AloneEvery Man Dies AloneEvery Man Dies Alone or Alone in Berlin is a 1947 novel by German author Hans Fallada. It is based on the true story of a working class husband and wife, Otto and Elise Hampel, who committed acts of civil disobedience in Berlin during World War II before being caught, tried by infamous Nazi judge...
or "Alone in Berlin") by Hans FalladaHans FalladaHans Fallada , born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen in Greifswald, Germany, was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include Little Man, What Now? and Every Man Dies Alone...
, the author depicts the "resistance of the little people" to the Nazi regime. The novel shows the determined and sustained two year campaign of Berlin residents Otto and Anna Quangel to protest against the government by the act of writing and distributing anti-Nazi postcards. This brave act, which begins when the couple lose their son in combat in France, eventually unleashes severe and disastrous consequences for many, not least for the main investigator assigned to the case, Kommissar Escherich of the Gestapo. In pursuit of the perpetrator for most of the novel, it is Escherich who nicknames the postcards' author "der Klabautermann".