Kornmann (grain demon)

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The grain man is a male grain demon and child fright of the German legend who stays in fields and fields.

Names

The Kornmann has different names. Some of them have to do with field crops, so Hafermann, Roggenmann, Weizenmann, Barstenmann, Weizenalter, Barstenmann, Kornvater, Erdäpfelmann and Fruchtmann.

Other names refer to other field plants or to the harvest itself, such as Grummetkerl, Grasteufel, Feldmann, Erntemann and Schewekerl.

The Kornmann is also named in the diminutive , which indicates its sometimes dwarf-like shape. Corresponding names include Kornmännchen, Kornmännlein, Kornmannl, Getreidemännchen, Troadmannl, Hafermännchen, Holmmandl, Feldmännlein, Kleemännchen and Graamannl.

Appearance and character

Appearance

The Kornmann wears a big black hat and a huge stick. He has red eyes and a fiery mouth. The Kornmann is also thought of as bright white. He has a black face, which is why he is also called a black man.

The Kornmann is also often thought of as dwarfed, as indicated by names in the diminutive. As a dwarf , he is a black or gray male resembling a dwarf . The dwarfish Kornmann wears a red cap. His song is the chirping of crickets.

The Kornmann is also an elderly figure. This is what names like old man, grandfather and old man refer to.

Essence

The Kornmann lives in an underground cave. He transforms the grain piles in the field. Wherever he sits down, the grain lies smoothed on all four sides. The grain man lures and teases the hikers, leads even those who meet him through the air, just as the wild hunter does. It also fits that, as a black man, he is also connected to the weather. If a thunderstorm approaches the harvest, the black man will come.

It is said that the grain man, also called the sowing man, has the seed cock. That is why children at Salzwedel are sent to the fields with some kind of green bushes during the sowing season to fetch the seed cock. Elsewhere, on the first day of fasting, the children drive the evil sower out of the field with burning straw.

Jacob Grimm mentions the Heidmann in his German Mythology , a ghost who looks in through the windows of the houses at night. Whoever he looks at will have to die for years and days. The name Heidmann is strongly reminiscent of Heidemann and Heidemänneken, two names of the Kornmann.

Even the wild man lives in the grain. He throws with an iron stick .

Kornmann as a child fright

The Kornmann catches the children and takes them with him. He puts children in his sack and takes them to his underground cave. Sometimes the grain man only takes the children with him for a limited period of time, for example taking them into the forest and bringing them back to the field after a year. More often he takes them with him permanently.

Sometimes the Kornmann takes their hats away from children. He also hits or shakes the children. He is said to be the cause of the freckles.

In some places the Kornmann also often takes on child- frightening functions from various appearances of the Roggenmuhme or the Kornhexe . So the Kornmann cuts off the children's heads, strangles them or presses them to death on his iron chest. He puts children in the churn or hits them in the pants for purposes. The Kornmann also blinds the children or beats them with lameness. The Roggenmuhme is also similar to the Kornmann in that it appears with sickles, scythes or knives. Hence his name is sickle man, grim reaper or chair man. He cuts off the children's legs or other body parts. Sometimes the Kornmann even slaughters the children. In addition, the Kornmann eats children or sucks their blood out of them.

Sometimes the Kornmann also assumes the nature of a will- o'-the-wisp . The Kornmann also appears as a stool .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  2. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 24.
  3. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 25.
  5. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 66.
  6. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  7. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 66.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 24.
  9. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  10. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  11. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 66.
  12. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  13. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  14. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 24.
  15. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  16. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  17. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 68.
  18. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  19. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  20. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  21. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 24.
  22. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  23. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  24. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 24.
  25. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  26. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 18.
  27. ↑ Jacob Grimm: German Mythology . Wiesbaden 2014, p. 1321.
  28. ↑ Jacob Grimm: German Mythology . Wiesbaden 2014, p. 870.
  29. ↑ Felix Dahn, Therese Dahn: Germanic gods and heroic sagas . Wiesbaden 2010, p. 593.
  30. ^ Wilhelm Mannhardt: Die Korndämonen: Contribution to Germanic morality . Bremen 2014, p. 23.
  31. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  32. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  33. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  34. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  35. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 68.
  36. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 61.
  37. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  38. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 37.
  39. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  40. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.
  41. ^ Richard Beitl: Investigations into the mythology of the child: edited by Bernd Rieken and Michael Simon . Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2007, p. 67.