Aquarius (mythology)

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Nök am Meeresgrunde in Treptower Park by Otto Petri, 1907

The term Aquarius is a generic term for male water spirits . He is a figure from many legends , myths and fairy tales and occurs throughout Europe. He is of a rather evil character, but also appears ambivalent. In contrast, the water woman is rather good-natured and well-disposed towards people. Other female mythological beings with similar characteristics are mermaids , mermaids , well women , nymphs , nereids and sirens .

Types of Aquarius

Nock

The Nöck by Ernst Josephson (1882)

The Nöck , also known as Nix , Neck , Näck , Nickert or Flussmann , guards the fords on rivers and lives in lakes , ponds , ponds , springs , wells or drops of water . The name comes from Old High German nihhus , niccus or nichessa and means "water spirit".

It is said that he seduces young girls with harp sounds and lures them into his underwater kingdom. Older legends do not describe the Nöck as cruel or evil, but merely as capricious and changeable, like the element water. Rivermen are said to be able to unleash storms, but also to warn people of the danger of drowning. They can teach people the Elf Kings Song. In some regions, Aquarius is said to attract people with gifts, then pull them into the water and keep their souls under pots there. Often it is young girls whom he steals; For example in the song Donaustrudel ( When we were recently in Regensburg ), in which a Nix is ​​mentioned that draws Miss Kunigund into the floods of the river. According to a legend, the Styrian Erzberg near Leopoldsteinersee in Austria was found by an Aquarius. After he was held captive by the local population, he bought his release through a trade, whereupon he disappeared in what is still known as the Wassermannsloch , a small spring. A water man lives under the picture stone of Sjellebro near Djursland , as well as on Osobłoga (Hotzenplotz), in Schwarze Lacke and in Konotop . Alleged means of protection against the Nöck should be steel or a saying that you have to recite before taking a bath in a body of water:

“Neck, neck, needle thief, you're in the water, I'm on land.
Neck, neck, needle thief, I'm in the water, you're on land. "

On land they should usually be recognizable by the wet tips of their clothing, but also by their teeth, which are either green or look like fish teeth. In Germany, the Nix, the little sailors, water men, pond or bridge men, hacklers and nickel men are known. They should show themselves as handsome young men with golden curls and a red cap. The Hakemann , the Franconian Hägglmoo and the Krappenmann from the Moselle pull their victims into the water with a fishing hook . Similar water spirits are the Kropemann from Attert in Luxembourg , the Alsatian Hokemann, Henri-Crochet from Lorraine , the Belgian Pépé-Crochet, or Manneken-Haak from Flanders . The English Grindylows live in lakes, swamps or moors and pull children into the water with their long, sinewy arms. In Scotland, the shellycoat draws unwary hikers to their wet deaths. The Urisk can also be counted among the Aquarians. The Nikkisen live on the Isle of Man and lead the procession of the drowned people when the moon is full. The Scandinavian Söetrolde and mermaids wear red hats and always a golden harp. The hallmarks of the Swedish Strömkarl are red stockings and a hooded coat, as well as blue knee breeches. He should be able to sing beautifully and play the harp or fiddle . The Norwegian Fossegrim is said to prefer gray clothing. Its name is derived from Norwegian foss "waterfall".

Merman

The Sea Bishop, illustration by Johann Zahn (1696)

Mermen are said to live on the coast, such as the Frisian Ekke Nekkepenn , who lives on the bottom of the North Sea . They are said to appear mostly as ancient water spirits, with long beards and green fish teeth. They can take many forms. It is also said that they kidnap drowned people and keep them trapped in their palaces on the seabed. Mermen can cure diseases, brew magic potions, but also curse and harm curious people. A nautical thread says that mermen would be especially happy when deceased sailors were given to the sea as a gift. It is said that captains were also in high regard if they had a merman as a friend, since the ship would always arrive at the home port unscathed. In 1531 a merman is said to have been sighted in the Baltic Sea ( Johann Zahn : Specula physico-mathematico-historica , 1696). That is why natural scientists of the 16th and 17th centuries described the figure of the sea ​​bishop . Some researchers assume that Grendel could be a merman in the epic Beowulf because Grendel's mother is described as a sea woman.

Mermen can be found anywhere in waters where there is salt water ( sea , ocean , fjord , inland sea, etc.). The fjord men usually appear as black horses with inverted hooves. In Scotland , the Kelpies and Fuaths appear as giant water horses. The Daoine Mara have a beard, are hairy and are said to have a large mouth and a flat nose. The Selkies can also be counted among the Aquarians. The Finfolk ( people of fins ) in the waters off the Orkney Islands are said to have magical powers and avoid human contact. The Finman is described as tall and thin with a dark, sinister face. The Irish Merrows have green eyes and teeth, arms shaped like fins, small eyes, and red noses. With their red hats they can cross the sea. The Icelandic Marmennills or Marbendills ( sea male ) living on the lake bottom, and can predict the future. They are related to the mermaids . In the Mediterranean have the mermen a human torso, a fish tail and ride with her trident on dolphins . They are often depicted as companions of Poseidon , Triton, and Neptune . The Bosnian / Serbian / Croatian Seemaćić likes to eat pancakes and lives in the Adriatic . The Dutch Neckers sigh a lot and are smaller than other mermen. The Scandinavian mermen all have green hair and beards, as well as greenish fish teeth. The Havmand has a fishtail and is still very young, the Nökke has only one nostril, slit ears and wears a green hat. In addition to these mermen known in Scandinavia, there are said to be numerous sub-genera, such as B. Söedouen, Nikkur, Näcken and Näkke.

Vodyanoi

Vodyanoy by Ivan Jakowlewitsch Bilibin (1934)
Vodník near Nové Město n. Metují

The vodjanoi or vodyanoy plays a bigger role , especially in the legends and fairy tales of the Slavic peoples . As Wódny muž he can be found in the folklore of the Sorbs . Sometimes he plays well with people, sometimes badly. His generally weak magical abilities are tied to the water and he prefers to stay under mill wheels , in mill streams, lakes, springs and ponds. He is usually depicted as a bloated corpse of water or as a naked, old, fat man with a hanging stomach. Furthermore, he appears in the form of a pike or fish man. The Czech Vodník (or Hastrman from German Wassermann) shows himself to be a wealthy farmer with a hat, a beard and a tails that are always wet on the tip of his coat . The Bohemian Hastrman always wears a hat, has long green hair and likes to sit on the bank smoking a pipe. The Upper Silesian Utoplec or Topielec appears as a boy, as a white or naked man with a fish tail or a dog's head, but can also appear as an animal.

The Vodyanoy is said to be a pagan and drinker, likes to play cards, but does not use a card with a cross. It can cause floods and storms. In the spring he wakes up starving and rowdy, the result is floods. He devours the bodies of the drowned and keeps their souls trapped in upturned clay pots. Only young girls can escape it. Especially girls who have committed suicide in the water should then be able to decide for themselves whether they want to live as Rusálka or Víla on the side of the Vodyanoy. When he's not drinking or playing, he sits on the bank with a club and tries to kill curious children. In the form of a pot with water lilies , he tries to pull people who reach for them into the water. Bathers without a pectoral cross can be drowned by it. Since the vodyanoi often lives in mill ponds, it is customary for the miller to donate a black pig in the spring, and fishermen pour oil into the water. A handful of earth or toasted bread thrown into the water before taking a bath should also help. In southern Slavic countries, similar watermen are called Vodni Moz ( Slovenian povodni mož). The Povoduji is known on the border with Italy, in Switzerland there is the Houggä-Ma.

Glashan and Shopiltee

The male water spirits who live in the northern European lakes are a special form of the water men and, like the blood ham, are mostly coarse monsters . But not all Aquarians look like sea ​​monsters . The Glashan on the Isle of Man appears as a weak foal or a yearling lamb, while the Scottish Shopiltees appear in the form of a Shetland pony . These water spirits are just as bloodthirsty as the related Aquarius men with human appearance. The Shopiltee likes to drink the blood of the drowned, the Glashan rapes bathing women. Similar water spirits are the English Brags, who mostly show themselves as horses, donkeys, calves or as naked men without heads and who like to crouch on hikers . The Scandinavian Bäckahästen (= brook horses ) jump into the water with their riders and drown them. The Icelandic Nykr, Vatnahestr or Nennir (= water horses ) pull their riders down into the water.

Gwragedd Annwn

The few water men of the Welsh Gwragedd Annwn ( Women Annwns ) live with their sea maids in palaces on the bottom of the Welsh lakes. They are said to be immortal and a very old race of Elves . At night they come ashore to dance, on full moon nights they hover over the floodplains until the cock crow. The men are old with long white beards, but they are strong and stately built. They are said to be most commonly seen in Wales, but there are also said to be similar Elves in England, Scandinavia, France, Brittany and Germany.

Sea gods and river gods

The gods of the sea such as Poseidon , Neptune or Nethuns or the Greek river gods ( Peneios , Styx , Acheron etc.) do not count among the mermen. In the mythologies , these beings embody the divine aspect, while the Aquarians can be counted among the nature spirits and elves .

Trivia

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music

literature

Water child at Charles Kingsley's, illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith (around 1916)
  • In the German sagas of the Brothers Grimm from 1816/1818, several stories deal with Aquarius.
  • In the ballad Der Nöck by August Kopisch (published 1856) the Aquarius lives in a wild waterfall. His character is benign; he plays the harp and sings beautifully.
  • 1863 wrote Charles Kingsley , the book The Water Children ( The Water-Babies ), a small chimney sweep transformed into the into a water baby.
  • In his picture story The Two Sisters (1880), Wilhelm Busch has the evil sister Adelheid abducted from the old cold water corner.
  • In 1915 Gerdt von Bassewitz wrote the fairy tale Peterchens Mondfahrt , in which - in the chapter The Castle of the Night Fairy - an Aquarius appears.
  • In 1956, the writer Otfried Preussler took up the figure in the children's book Der kleine Wassermann . Here the Aquarius lives in a mill pond, has green hair on his head, wears trousers made of fish scales and a red pointed cap .
  • The children's novel The Mermaid in the Shell House by Lisa-Marie Blum , published in 1968, tells the story of the little mermaid and the Aquarius Tangmütze .
  • In the children's novel Hinterm Haus der Wassermann by Gudrun Pausewang , published in 1972, an Aquarius tries to save a little princess from her evil aunts and puts himself in great danger.
  • In Volume 4 of the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , published in 2000, the Aquarians experience an eerie renaissance when Harry Potter and his competitors have to compete underwater in the " Triwizard Tournament ".
  • A special variant of the Swedish neck or tease appears in the 2013 novel by Evelyn Boyd Kjell - The Secret of the Black Water Lilies , in which the story of a tragic love between man and water spirit is told.

Movie and TV

Others

See also

Literature and Sources

  • Nancy Arrowsmith: The World of Nature Spirits. Field research in the Elven realm. Handbook for determining the forest, field, water, house, mountain, hill and air spirits of all European countries. Translated from the American and provided with an afterword by Michael Korth (Orig. 1977, German 1984) special edition. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main, 1994. ISBN 3-522-71685-X
  • Nicolaus Equiamicus (ed.) Die Geisterwelt Diedorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-86608-086-7
  • Paul Herrmann: German Mythology. 3rd edition 1994, structure TB, Berlin. With a foreword by Thomas Jung (Berlin, Nov. 1990). ISBN 3-7466-8015-8
  • Adalbert Kuhn and Wilhelm Schwartz: North German legends, fairy tales and customs. From Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Saxony, Thuringia, Braunschweig, Hanover and Westphalia. 2nd reprint of the Leipzig 1848 edition. Folklore sources series. Reprints of European texts and studies. Ed. V. H. Bausinger et al. Volume IV: Sage. Georg Olms, 1983. ISBN 3-487-04300-9
  • Leander Petzoldt : Small lexicon of demons and elemental spirits , 3rd edition Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-49451-X
  • Ron van Valkenberg: Atlas of the nature spirits. Customs. Fairy tale. Meditations Verlag: Ludwig, Munich (October 2002) ISBN 3-7787-5067-4

Web links

Wiktionary: Aquarius  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Merman  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Nöck  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Vodyanoy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jacob Grimm : Deutsche Mythologie , Verlag In der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung 1835, p. 275 ( online )
  2. ↑ Wilhelm Wägner, Jakob Nover: Unsre Vorzeit: Nordic-Germanic Gods and Heroes , Verlag O. Spamen, 1887, p. 108 (restricted preview )
  3. ^ Arrowsmith, p. 101, p. 111
  4. ^ Arrowsmith, pp. 101-104
  5. ↑ Ernest W. Mark Wick: The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland , published by B. T. Batsford, London 1975
  6. ↑ Konrad von Maurer : Icelandic folk tales of the present, mainly based on oral tradition , Verlag J. C. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1860, p. 31 ( online )
  7. ^ Arrowsmith, pp. 119-122
  8. ^ Theodor Vernaleken : Myths and customs of the people in Austria: As a contribution to German mythology, folk poetry and morality , Verlag W. Braumüller 1859, pp. 161–162 ( online )
  9. ^ Alfred Karasek-Langer, Elfriede Strzygowski: Sagen der Deutschen in Galizien , Verlag G. Wolff 1932, pp. 106, 109, 110
  10. ↑ Arrowsmith, pp. 192-195
  11. ↑ Arrowsmith, pp. 263-265
  12. ↑ Konrad von Maurer : Icelandic folk tales of the present, mainly based on oral tradition , Verlag JC Hinrichs, Leipzig 1860, pp. 32–34 ( online )
  13. ↑ Elias Owen: Welsh Folk-Lore. A Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales , Kessinger Publishing 1896, p. 3 ( online )
  14. ↑ Arrowsmith, pp. 280-283