LL-L "Folklore" 2001.12.04 (03) [E/Norwegian]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 04.DEC.2001 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Lone Elisabeth Olesen <baxichedda at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Folklore" 2001.12.04

Hello -

R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com> wrote:

> > In the Low Saxon (Low German) dialect areas of
> Oldenburg and Eastern
> > Friesland (northwestern Germany near the
> Netherlands border) there is
> > occasionally mention of a mythological figure
> named "Waalriedersch(e),"
> > "Waalriedersk(e)," etc. (a feminine name).  In
> dictionaries it is
> > explained as something like "nightmare," "ghastly
> nocturnal visitor,"
> > "apparition," "ghost," etc.  I have a few
> questions about this.
> >
> > (1) What kind of stuff does this creature get up
> to?
> >
> > (2) Someone once explained it to me as originally
> a sort of counterpart
> > of the Irish "banshee" (Irish Gaelic _bean sídhe_
> < Old Irish _ben síde_
> > "woman of the fairies") whose horrifying wailing
> is heard when nearby
> > someone is dying.  Is this correct?
> >
> > (3) How can these names "Waalriedersch(e),"
> "Waalriedersk(e)," etc., be
> > explained etymologically?
> >
> > (4) Those areas used to be Frisian-speaking. Are
> this figure and its
> > names originally Frisian, and are there related
> figures in other Frisian
> > areas, and in other Lowlandic areas for that
> matter?

Provided this being has something to do with bad
dreams and nightly visits, there is another witch-like
creature to be mentioned, and that is the night-Mare
herself. In Danish a bad dream is a "mareridt" = the
ride of the Mare. The Mare is an evil creature who
torments people and animals (physically) in their
sleep.
She was said to come into the house at night, and she
would "ride" you, thus causing the bad dreams -
nightmares. I have always thought, given the name,
that it must be the same creature in English.
Also, if in the old days a farmer had closed up the
stable too well and found the horses all sweaty and
unrested in the morning, it was said that the Mare had
come into the stable and had ridden them all night.
A bad thought can "ride me like a Mare" in Danish =
torment me, never leave me in peace.

Greetings, Lone Olesen

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Folklore

Lone,

Thanks for your input (above).  It's always interesting and usually relevant
to get information from north of the Lowlands, especially from Denmark which
in many regards act as a link between the North Germanic world and the
Lowlands world.

I wonder if what you described is a case of folk etymology, one which assumes
the Danish woman's name Mare (= Mary) with the old, otherwise defunct noun
_mare_ 'goblin', 'demon'.

I found what you described in a Norwegian dictionary
(http://www.dokpro.uio.no/ordboksoek.html):

Bokmål:
"mare: f1 el. m1 (norr mara)
1) i folketroen: kvinnelig vette som setter seg på brystet til en som sover;
mareritt ..."

Nynorsk:
"mare: f2 (norr mara)
1) i folketru: kvinneleg vette som set seg på brystet til ein som søv;
mareritt _vere plaga av_, _få mara_ ..."

So it is a female creature that sits on a sleeping person's chest, a.k.a. a
"mare's ride."

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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