Rübezahl
Encyclopedia
Rübezahl is a folklore
mountain spirit (woodwose
) of the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge, Karkonosze, Krkonoše), a mountain range along the border between the historical lands Bohemia
and Silesia
. He is the subject of many legend
s and fairy tale
s in German folklore
.
, which recounts how the character once abducted a princess who liked turnips .
When he planted them for her, she asked him to count (zählen) the seeds. While he counted, she escaped. Other etymologies are:
Rübezahl is a name of ridicule, the use of which provokes his anger. The respectful name is "Lord of the Mountains" or "Lord John". The Czech name, Krakonoš, is simply derived from the name of the mountains. In Poland a lottery under the name "Liczyrzepka" existed. In one Silesia
n folktale, he is called "Prince of the Gnomes". 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica gives him the moniker “Number Nip.”
In legends Rübezahl is a capricious giant
, gnome or mountain spirit. With good people he is friendly, he teaches medicine and gives presents. If someone derides him, however, his revenge is severe. He sometimes plays the role of a trickster
in folk talkes.
The origin of the stories is from pagan
times. Rübezahl is the fantastic Lord of Weather
of the mountains and is similar to the Wild Hunt
.
Unexpectedly or playfully he sends lightning
and thunder
, fog
, rain
and snow
from the mountain below, even while the sun is shining. He took the appearance of a monk in a gray frock
(like Wotan in his mantel of clouds) and holds a string instrument in his hand (the storm harp
), and walks so heavily that the earth trembles around him.
In the area is a botanical locality with an especially large number of plants with the name "Rübezahl's Garden." Some unusual stone buildings in the area are named after him as well, for example the Rübezahlkanzel an den Schneegruben.
, Germany
, opened the Rübezahl Museum in May 2005, thanks to the work of Ingrid Vettin-Zahn (1938 - April 10, 2006). Originally from Lauban (Lubań)
in Lower Silesia
, Vettin-Zahn had been expelled
, and resettled in Switzerland in 1945.
in the Daemonologia Rubinzalii Silesii (1662). The character later appeared Johann Karl August Musäus
's Legenden vom Rübezahl and Carl Hauptmann's Rübezahl-Buch as well as Otfried Preußler
's Mein Rübezahl-Buch. Finally, there is Ferdinand Freiligrath
's Aus dem schlesischen Gebirge from Ein Glaubensbekenntnis, 1844 and Robert Reinick
's Rübezahls Mittagstisch. He is potentially inspiration for the character 'Huhn' in Gerhart Hauptmann's "Und Pippa Tanzt!".
"The Return of Rübezahl" is the title of an instrumental track on the LP "Yeti
" (1970) by the German psychedelic rock
band Amon Düül II
.
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
mountain spirit (woodwose
Woodwose
The wild man is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century...
) of the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge, Karkonosze, Krkonoše), a mountain range along the border between the historical lands Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. He is the subject of many legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
s and fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s in German folklore
German folklore
German folklore shares many characteristics with Scandinavian folklore and English folklore due to their origins in a common Germanic mythology. It reflects a similar mix of influences: a pre-Christian pantheon and other beings equivalent to those of Norse mythology; magical characters associated...
.
Name
The origin of the name is not clear. One interpretation is from the story How Rübezahl Got his Name by Johann Karl August MusäusJohann Karl August Musaus
Johann Karl August Musäus was a German author from Jena. He studied theology at the university of Jena, and would have become the pastor of a parish but for the resistance of some peasants, who objected that he had been known to dance.From 1760–62 Musäus published in three volumes his first...
, which recounts how the character once abducted a princess who liked turnips .
When he planted them for her, she asked him to count (zählen) the seeds. While he counted, she escaped. Other etymologies are:
- Hriob Zagel from the Old High GermanOld High GermanThe term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
and CzechCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
-derived word for "fierce storm." - Riebezagel from a combination of the personal name Riebe and the Middle High GermanMiddle High GermanMiddle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
zagel, meaning "tail", from his pictorial representation as a tailed demon.
Rübezahl is a name of ridicule, the use of which provokes his anger. The respectful name is "Lord of the Mountains" or "Lord John". The Czech name, Krakonoš, is simply derived from the name of the mountains. In Poland a lottery under the name "Liczyrzepka" existed. In one Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n folktale, he is called "Prince of the Gnomes". 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica gives him the moniker “Number Nip.”
Legends
"...Rübezahl, you should know, has the nature of a powerful genius: capricious, impetuous, peculiar, rascally, crude, immodest, haughty, vain, fickle, today your warmest friend, tomorrow alien and cold; ...roguish and respectable, stubborn and flexible...—Musäus
Johann Karl August MusausJohann Karl August Musäus was a German author from Jena. He studied theology at the university of Jena, and would have become the pastor of a parish but for the resistance of some peasants, who objected that he had been known to dance.From 1760–62 Musäus published in three volumes his first...
, 1783
In legends Rübezahl is a capricious giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
, gnome or mountain spirit. With good people he is friendly, he teaches medicine and gives presents. If someone derides him, however, his revenge is severe. He sometimes plays the role of a trickster
Trickster
In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...
in folk talkes.
The origin of the stories is from pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
times. Rübezahl is the fantastic Lord of Weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
of the mountains and is similar to the Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...
.
Unexpectedly or playfully he sends lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
and thunder
Thunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...
, fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
, rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
and snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
from the mountain below, even while the sun is shining. He took the appearance of a monk in a gray frock
Frock
Frock has been used since Middle English as the name for an article of clothing for men and women .- History of the frock :...
(like Wotan in his mantel of clouds) and holds a string instrument in his hand (the storm harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
), and walks so heavily that the earth trembles around him.
In the area is a botanical locality with an especially large number of plants with the name "Rübezahl's Garden." Some unusual stone buildings in the area are named after him as well, for example the Rübezahlkanzel an den Schneegruben.
Museum
The city of GörlitzGörlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, opened the Rübezahl Museum in May 2005, thanks to the work of Ingrid Vettin-Zahn (1938 - April 10, 2006). Originally from Lauban (Lubań)
Luban
Lubań is a town in southwest Poland north of the Jizera Mountains on the Kwisa river, with 22,137 inhabitants . Situated within the historic Upper Lusatia region, it today belongs to the Lower Silesian Voivodeship...
in Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
, Vettin-Zahn had been expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
, and resettled in Switzerland in 1945.
Appearances in literature and popular music
Rübezahl was first mentioned in 1565 as Ribicinia in a poem by Franz von Koeckritz. The Rübezahl story was first collected and written down by Johannes PraetoriusJohannes Praetorius
Johann Richter or Johannes Praetorius was a Bohemian German mathematician and astronomer.- Life :...
in the Daemonologia Rubinzalii Silesii (1662). The character later appeared Johann Karl August Musäus
Johann Karl August Musaus
Johann Karl August Musäus was a German author from Jena. He studied theology at the university of Jena, and would have become the pastor of a parish but for the resistance of some peasants, who objected that he had been known to dance.From 1760–62 Musäus published in three volumes his first...
's Legenden vom Rübezahl and Carl Hauptmann's Rübezahl-Buch as well as Otfried Preußler
Otfried Preußler
Otfried Preußler is a German children's books author. His best-known works are The Robber Hotzenplotz and The Satanic Mill ....
's Mein Rübezahl-Buch. Finally, there is Ferdinand Freiligrath
Ferdinand Freiligrath
Ferdinand Freiligrath was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator.-Biography:Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher. He left a Detmold gymnasium at 16 to be trained for a commercial career in Soest...
's Aus dem schlesischen Gebirge from Ein Glaubensbekenntnis, 1844 and Robert Reinick
Robert Reinick
Robert Reinick was a German painter and poet.Reinick was born in Danzig and died in Dresden.- External links :* * *...
's Rübezahls Mittagstisch. He is potentially inspiration for the character 'Huhn' in Gerhart Hauptmann's "Und Pippa Tanzt!".
"The Return of Rübezahl" is the title of an instrumental track on the LP "Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
" (1970) by the German psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band Amon Düül II
Amon Düül II
-Studio Albums:-Live Albums:-Compilations:-Singles:-External links:*...
.
Further reading
- Henning Eichberg: Rübezahl. Historischer Gestaltwandel und schamanische Aktualität. In: Jahrbuch der Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau, Sigmaringen, 1991; 32: 153-178.
- Stephan Kaiser: Der Herr der Berge Rübezahl. Katalog zur Ausstellung. Königswinter-Heisterbacherrott: Museum für schlesische Landeskunde, 2000 (Hrsg.)
External links
- Musäus: Rübezahl und das Hirschberger Schneiderlein, illustrated by Arpad Schmidhammer, Fischer & Franke, Berlin 1901
- Carl Hauptmann: Rübezahl-Buch on Projekt Gutenberg-DEProjekt Gutenberg-DEProjekt Gutenberg-DE is a collection of German language literary texts, distributed via the web and on CD-ROM. It is run by a small publishing company called Hille Partner, run by Gunter Hille, and its web presence is hosted by the weekly magazine Der Spiegel....
- Rübezahl and music
- Rübezahl – Sage und Wirklichkeit
- http://www.muellers-lesezelt.de/miszellen/ruebezahl.pdf