Lahnwaberl

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The Lahnwaberl is a figure from the legendary world of today's southern and western Styria .

etymology

The name Lahnwaberl is made up of “Lahn” (ad mhd. Lēne = Gießbach), the name of a local stream, and the diminutive form “Weib” = “waberl”.

Appearance in sagas

The Lahnwaberl is described as a ghost, a female monster or a goblin in the form of a woman. Once upon a time it should have been a sorceress and lady of the castle. Their castle, however, sank in the adjacent marshy river, the Lahn (a tributary Kainach ), which is why the ghost is said to still be in that area today. The Lahnwaberl shows itself to people in different forms, often in swampy regions: during the day as a woman in ancient costume with a bunch of keys or a headless figure and at night as a walking will- o'-the-wisp . Their malicious nature is part of many legends.

  • The Lahnwaberl is said to often appear near swamps or at footbridges to block passers-by and then offer them a bouquet of flowers to smell. However, this turns into thorns as soon as one obeys the request, which injures the person's nose
  • The Lahnwaberl also gets in the way of funeral trains that want to cross a footbridge over a swamp on their way to the church, forcing them to take long detours.
  • The Lahnwaberl is said to be a great danger for children. It attracts bathing children into the water and then keeps them under water until they drown. The Lahnwaberl is particularly attractive to unbaptized children. The Lahnwaberl also tries to pull away from the parents at footbridges on swamps, whereby the resulting wrangling is said to have partly led to the death of the infant. If the Lahnwaberl succeeds in empowering the baby, it disappears with him into the depths of the water.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Styria, rich in legends. In: Radio Steiermark. November 26, 2012, accessed December 2, 2017 .
  2. ^ Gunnar Strunz: Styria: the green heart of Austria (=  travel guide ). 2nd Edition. Trescher Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89794-182-3 , pp. 102 ( limited preview in Google Book search).