Saeftinghe legend
Encyclopedia
The Saeftinghe Legend is an Old Dutch
folk tale that explains the sunken city of Saeftinghe
in eastern Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
near Nieuw-Namen
, The Netherlands, that existed until it was entirely flooded by sea waters in 1584. The legends says the city grew to be the most prosperous city on the fertile lands of the Scheldts but the inhabitants grew vain and proud. The farmers dressed in silk, their horses wearing silver and even the thresholds of homes were made from gold. The wealth attracted poor immigrants but the people of Saeftinghe showed no mercy and chased the migrants away with sticks and dogs. Greed corrupted the hearts of men and turned them blind for imminent threats.
On a foggy day, a fisherman caught a mermaid
on the waters of the Western Scheldt
. From the nets, the mermaid warned him Saeftinghe needed to change its ways or suffer the inevitable dire consequences. When the mermaid's husband surfaced and asked for his wife to be set free, the fisherman refused and yelled at him. The merman cursed the fisherman and his city, screaming "The lands of Saeftinghe will fall, only its towers will continue to stand tall!"
The people of Saeftinghe, occupied with greed, forgot to take care of their dikes. One day, when a maid went to get water from a well, she noticed cod and other fish swimming in it. The sea was nearing, the water turning salt. With the All Saints' flood (1570), a huge tidal wave washed over the lands of Saeftinghe, destroying the towns of Sint-Laureins, Namen and Casuwele, killing all inhabitants.
Saeftinghe withered and soon only its towers testified of its prosperous past until the city finally sank into the muddy swamps.
On foggy days, the tower bells call for help from what was once a wealthy place but is now a doomed world covered in mud, captured by the sea.
Old Dutch
In linguistics, Old Dutch denotes the forms of West Franconian spoken and written in the Netherlands and present-day northern Belgium during the Early Middle Ages. It is regarded as the primary stage in the development of a separate Dutch language...
folk tale that explains the sunken city of Saeftinghe
Saeftinghe
Saeftinghe was a city in eastern Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Belgium, near Nieuw-Namen that existed until 1584. Nowadays the area is a swamp known as the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe which is an official nature reserve area. The land is a crosspoint where the river Scheldt meets the salty waters of the...
in eastern Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
Zeelandic Flanders is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates the region from the remainder of Zeeland to the north...
near Nieuw-Namen
Nieuw-Namen
Nieuw-Namen is a town in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Hulst, and lies about 24 km south of Bergen op Zoom.In 2001, the town of Nieuw-Namen had 770 inhabitants...
, The Netherlands, that existed until it was entirely flooded by sea waters in 1584. The legends says the city grew to be the most prosperous city on the fertile lands of the Scheldts but the inhabitants grew vain and proud. The farmers dressed in silk, their horses wearing silver and even the thresholds of homes were made from gold. The wealth attracted poor immigrants but the people of Saeftinghe showed no mercy and chased the migrants away with sticks and dogs. Greed corrupted the hearts of men and turned them blind for imminent threats.
On a foggy day, a fisherman caught a mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
on the waters of the Western Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
. From the nets, the mermaid warned him Saeftinghe needed to change its ways or suffer the inevitable dire consequences. When the mermaid's husband surfaced and asked for his wife to be set free, the fisherman refused and yelled at him. The merman cursed the fisherman and his city, screaming "The lands of Saeftinghe will fall, only its towers will continue to stand tall!"
The people of Saeftinghe, occupied with greed, forgot to take care of their dikes. One day, when a maid went to get water from a well, she noticed cod and other fish swimming in it. The sea was nearing, the water turning salt. With the All Saints' flood (1570), a huge tidal wave washed over the lands of Saeftinghe, destroying the towns of Sint-Laureins, Namen and Casuwele, killing all inhabitants.
Saeftinghe withered and soon only its towers testified of its prosperous past until the city finally sank into the muddy swamps.
On foggy days, the tower bells call for help from what was once a wealthy place but is now a doomed world covered in mud, captured by the sea.
External links
- Zeeuwse Landschap (in Dutch)