Rübezahl
Rübezahl (Polish: Liczyrzepa, Czech: Krakonoš) is a folklore mountain spirit (woodwose) of the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge, Karkonosze, Krkonoše), a mountain range along the border between the historical lands Bohemia and Silesia. He is the subject of many legends and fairy tales in German folklore.
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[edit] Name
The origin of the name is not clear. One interpretation is from the story How Rübezahl Got his Name by Johann Karl August Musäus, which recounts how the character once abducted a princess who liked turnips (German: Rübe). When he planted them for her, she asked him to count (zählen) the seeds. While he counted, she escaped.[1] Other etymologies are:
- Hriob Zagel from the Old High German and Czech-derived word for "fierce storm."
- Riebezagel from a combination of the personal name Riebe and the Middle High German zagel, meaning "tail", from his pictorial representation as a tailed demon.
Rübezahl is a name of ridicule, the use of which provokes his anger. The respectful name is "Lord of the Mountains" or "Lord John". The Czech name, Krakonoš, is simply derived from the name of the mountains. In Poland a lottery under the name "Liczyrzepka" existed. In one Silesian folktale, he is called "Prince of the Gnomes".[2] 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica gives him the moniker “Number Nip.”[3]
[edit] Legends
"...Rübezahl, you should know, has the nature of a powerful genius: capricious, impetuous, peculiar, rascally, crude, immodest, haughty, vain, fickle, today your warmest friend, tomorrow alien and cold; ...roguish and respectable, stubborn and flexible...
—Musäus, 1783
In legends Rübezahl is a capricious giant, gnome or mountain spirit. With good people he is friendly, he teaches medicine and gives presents. If someone derides him, however, his revenge is severe. He sometimes plays the role of a trickster in folk talkes.[2]
The origin of the stories is from pagan times. Rübezahl is the fantastic Lord of Weather of the mountains and is similar to the Wild Hunt. Unexpectedly or playfully he sends lightning and thunder, fog, rain and snow from the mountain below, even while the sun is shining. He took the appearance of a monk in a gray frock (like Wotan in his mantel of clouds) and holds a string instrument in his hand (the storm harp), and walks so heavily that the earth trembles around him.[citation needed]
In the area is a botanical locality with an especially large number of plants with the name "Rübezahl's Garden." Some unusual stone buildings in the area are named after him as well, for example the Rübezahlkanzel an den Schneegruben.
[edit] Museum
The city of Görlitz, Germany, opened the Rübezahl Museum in May 2005, thanks to the work of Ingrid Vettin-Zahn (1938 - April 10, 2006). Originally from Lauban (Lubań) in Lower Silesia, Vettin-Zahn had been expelled, and resettled in Switzerland in 1945.
[edit] Appearances in literature and popular music
Rübezahl was first mentioned in 1565 as Ribicinia in a poem by Franz von Koeckritz. The Rübezahl story was first collected and written down by Johannes Praetorius in the Daemonologia Rubinzalii Silesii (1662). The character later appeared Johann Karl August Musäus's Legenden vom Rübezahl and Carl Hauptmann's Rübezahl-Buch as well as Otfried Preußler's Mein Rübezahl-Buch. Finally, there is Ferdinand Freiligrath's Aus dem schlesischen Gebirge[4] from Ein Glaubensbekenntnis, 1844 and Robert Reinick's Rübezahls Mittagstisch. He is potentially inspiration for the character 'Huhn' in Gerhart Hauptmann's "Und Pippa Tanzt!".[5]
"The Return of Rübezahl" is the title of an instrumental track on the LP "Yeti" (1970) by the German psychedelic rock band Amon Düül II.
[edit] Further reading
- Henning Eichberg: Rübezahl. Historischer Gestaltwandel und schamanische Aktualität. In: Jahrbuch der Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau, Sigmaringen, 1991; 32: 153-178.
- Stephan Kaiser: Der Herr der Berge Rübezahl. Katalog zur Ausstellung. Königswinter-Heisterbacherrott: Museum für schlesische Landeskunde, 2000 (Hrsg.)
[edit] Notes
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.
- ^ Anthony S. Mercatonte, The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, New York: Facts on File, 1988, p. 562
- ^ a b Elizabeth Knowles, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Page 940.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Riesengebirge". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. - ^ Aus dem schlesischen Gebirge at Spiegel Online
- ^ Carolyn T Dussere, The Image of the Primitive Giant in the Works of Gerhart Hauptmann (U of Kentucky Press, 1977)
[edit] External links
- Musäus: Rübezahl und das Hirschberger Schneiderlein, illustrated by Arpad Schmidhammer, Fischer & Franke, Berlin 1901 (German)
- Carl Hauptmann: Rübezahl-Buch on Projekt Gutenberg-DE (German)
- Rübezahl and music (German)
- Rübezahl – Sage und Wirklichkeit (German)
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