LL-L "Folklore" 2001.12.05 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 05.DEC.2001 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: "Luc Hellinckx" <luc.hellinckx at pandora.be>
Subject: Folklore and femininity in southern Dutch dialects...

Hello,

Lone Olesen wrote :

"...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...."

Well, here in Dutch speaking Belgium the same is said in a slightly different
way :
"...van de maar bereden zijn..." or also "...van de maar gereden zijn..."
...when one wants to express that a person had a very bad dream at night...
I have the impression that "maar" originally had little to do with the word
for a female horse, which sounds quite different in dutch,namely
"merrie"
(or "meurre" in my native dialect)...on the other hand, the french are using a
word like "cauchemar"...could there be a relation ?

When suddenly a gust of wind is blowing, another "wild (mythical) female
creature" is mentioned here in the following phrase : "De
barende vrouw is daar"... (in my native dialect : "De baannde vraa és
daa)...which litterally used to mean : "The hollering, yelling woman
is there"...(in this case "baren" should not be confused with the same
sounding dutch word for "giving birth to a baby"...)

Anybody else refers to a raging woman when a blast of wind occurs ?

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

In Low Saxon (Low German), 'nightmare' is _Nachtmahr_ ~ _Nachtmohr_
['nax(t)mQ:3] (cf. German _Nachtmahr_ ['naxtma:r]) or _Nachtmaart_ ~
_Nachtmoort_ ['nax(t)mQ:3t].  The nightmare experience may also be referred to
as _Mahrgresen_ ['mQ:3grE:zn], _Gresen_ being 'horror' or 'terror' (verb
_gresen_ 'to be horrified', adj./adv. _gresig_ 'horrible').

In German, _Mahr_ alone may be used in the sense of 'nightmare', as apparently
may Danish _mare_, Norwegian _mare_ and Swedish _mara_.  According to the
_Herkunftsduden_, these words (< _mara_) go back to the name for an Old
Germanic female ghoul.  Non-Germanic cognates are found in Celtic and Slavic;
e.g., Old Irish _mor-(r)ígain_ 'female ghoul or vampire', Russian _mora_ as in
_kikí-mora_ 'nocturnally haunting ghoul'.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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