Rübezahl

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Rübezahl, Moritz von Schwind, 1859
Rübezahl, Moritz von Schwind, 1859

Rübezahl (-German; Czech: Krakonoš; Polish: Liczyrzepa) is the mountain spirit (woodwose) of the Karkonosze (Krkonoše, Riesengebirge), or Giant Mountains, along the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. He is the subject of many legends and fairy tales, principally 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, which recounts how he 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." His Czech name, Krakonoš, is simply derived from the name of the mountains. The Polish name, Liczyrzepa, is a calque of the turnip-counter. In one Silesian folktale, he is called "Prince of the Gnomes".[2]

[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. There are numerous similarities between Rübezahl and Wotan, who in stories abducted Freya, similar to Rübezahl's abduction of the princess.

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 first 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 forced to immigrate to Switzerland in 1945.

[edit] Appearances in literature

The Rübezahl story was first collected and written down by Johannes Praetorius in the Daemonologia Rubinzalii Silesii (1662). Later appeared Johann Karl August Musäus's Legenden vom Rübezahl and Carl Hauptmann's Rübezahl-Buch. Otfried Preußler's Mein Rübezahl-Buch is also worth considering. Finally, there is Ferdinand Freiligrath's Aus dem schlesischen Gebirge[3] from Ein Glaubensbekenntnis, 1844 and Robert Reinick's Rübezahls Mittagstisch.

[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 is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.

  1. ^ Anthony S. Mercatonte, The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, New York: Facts on File, 1988, p. 562
  2. ^ a b Elizabeth Knowles, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Page 940.
  3. ^ Aus dem schlesischen Gebirge at Spiegel Online

[edit] External links