Drudenei

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A Drudenei even Hexenei or Krückei , is in the former German popular belief an unusually small egg , one Drude brought and hen foisted. Drude is said to have taken the correct, larger egg for it. In addition to this idea, the Drudenei seemed suitable for warding off natural hazards.

Harmful effect

To the girl Rhoda, who is sitting alone in the room, an alp in the shape of a male appears on the fireplace. Illustration to the story A Fire Story by the American entertainment writer Jane Goodwin Austin, 1868.

Drude (also Trude) is a female spiritual being in the German-speaking area who sits down on the sleeper's chest at night and is held responsible for nightmares . Beings who exert such pressure on the sleeper that they sometimes fear a risk of suffocation belong to the elves , who as male or female demons are regionally called Alp, Alb, Alf and Elbe. There are always terrifying figures that appear in dreams as animals or in an ugly and bizarre human form. Some are also presented in the stories without form, for example by falling like a sack on the floor or disappearing like white fog. This indicates their ability to change. In addition to the main activity of these nature spirits of pressing their victims at night and even riding them, they are also able to suckle on children, men and especially women who have recently given birth, so that their breasts become excessively large.

For women who had recently given birth, there was also the danger that elves would steal the infant and replace it with a changeling . The chickens were threatened with the same danger: the Drude broke into the hen house and exchanged a normal-sized egg for a very small one. To protect yourself against this in the future, the Drudenei should be thrown backwards over the roof of the house. If it burst open on the floor, the Drude shattered. You could also get rid of the Drude by promising her an egg, they say. Tales from the early modern period suggest that witches also steal eggs from the nests. Conversely, witches should cause the chickens to lay many eggs through a magic feed.

Apotropaic meaning

The egg in cultural history is primarily a symbol of fertility and life, such as the tradition of the Easter egg is based on. Therefore, like the human baby, it requires special protection and, in popular belief, is exposed to similar attacks by otherworldly powers. Numerous magical practices have developed in connection with the egg, including one used in egg oracles . Here the egg does not prove to be in need of protection, but rather as a powerful, driving force. According to a story around 1800, a weather witch was supposed to be burned in the Upper Palatinate. When she was standing at the stake, she asked for an egg, and when she finished it, she suddenly disappeared. Another way to get rid of the drude other than tossing the drude's egg across the house was supposedly to offer her an egg.

The Drudenei was said to have an apotropaic effect. Against the risk of a lightning strike, it should also be thrown over the house roof, stored in the roof structure, nailed to the stable door in a rag or buried under the door. In these actions the life force of the egg is used in the sense of an offering.

In German popular belief, eggs that are unusual are not only characterized by their small size, they can also acquire a magical meaning through other properties and their laying date. One wanted to be able to recognize a witch with the eggs of a black hen - in Austria so-called Antlass eggs, if they were laid on Maundy Thursday ; especially when a hen was slaughtered, the egg that had not yet been laid was removed and it was carried to church to track down the witches. Such eggs buried under the doorstep were supposed to prevent a conflagration. A Maundy Thursday egg should also drive away hail; Good Friday eggs have been ascribed many magical effects .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Drudenei. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 2 : Beer murderer – D - (II). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1860 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
  2. ^ Kurt Ranke : Alp. In: Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer , Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli (ed.): Concise dictionary of German superstition . Volume 1 (Aal – Butzemann). De Gruyter, Berlin (1927) 1987, col. 281-305, here col. 285f, 295
  3. ↑ F. Eckstein: Egg. In: Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer, Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli (ed.): Concise dictionary of German superstition . Volume 2 (CMB women wear). De Gruyter, Berlin (1930) 1987, Sp. 605, 609