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La Coulobre is a fantastic creature, a sort of drac or dragon, who haunted the fountain of Vaucluse. According to legend, Saint Véran, Bishop of Cavaillon, miraculously rid the Sorgue. The coulobre was invented by the church people to chase the peasants who practiced water worship.

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Les Sorgues (Vaucluse) : La Coulobre et le trésor dans le gouffre de la Fontaine

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The coulobre lived in this river.

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La Coulobre

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The coulobre lived in this river "fontaine de Vaucluse". presentation of our region and its history.

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Fontaine de Vaucluse-Source de la Sorgue

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In Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan condemned to hold up the celestial heavens for eternity after the Titanomachy. Atlas also plays a role in the myths of two of the greates. According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, Atlas stood at the ends of the earth in extreme west. Later, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa and was said to be "King of Mauretania". Atlas was said to have been skilled in philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. In antiquity, he was credited with inventing the first celestial sphere. In some texts, he is even credited with the invention of astronomy itself.
Watch the video in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOslovZl9OE

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Martinico. Origin: Castilla- La Mancha
Manchego goblin of naughty character and prankster like other members of his species, close relative of the Andalusian "duende Martín" (dwarf Martín). He likes the company of children, to whom he appears in secret to play with them and, like the Basque “etxajaun”, the Galician “trasno” or the Catalan “diablot”, prefers to live close to humans rather than in the solitude of the forests, not be in the service of some powerful creature.

A martinico has the approximate size and complexion of a ten-year-old child, the skin a greenish hue, the broken teeth, long and yellowish, and the large, wart-covered nose.

It covers its not very graceful body with a long tunic with hood, of earthy brown color, that remembers to the habit of the capuchins. Anyway, few are the ones who have seen him, because he prefers to stay invisible.

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The Female of Stavoren

Stavoren (Friesland) was once a very important port city on the Zuiderzee. But there is nothing more far from the mighty city of the 12th century, which was caused by the greed of 1 woman, the female of Stavoren. The people here used to be very prosperous, the richest of them all was Stavoren's female. She lived in the most beautiful and largest house in the city. She was the widow of a merchant who owned huge merchant ships. They sailed all over the world and brought many things that cost a lot of money. Every day she became richer and richer. Because of her wealth she found herself much better than the other people of the city and everyone had to crawl through the dust for her. They had to bow to her and call her Stavoren's wife. But as rich as she was she was still not satisfied, they always wanted more.

One day she handed a crate full of gold to a captain. He had to bring the most valuable, the most beautiful and the most expensive thing that no one in the world has.

The captain sailed all over the world. He arrived in India and found the most beautiful silk and ivory (tusks) there, but he didn't like it enough. Even in Russia he was offered the rarest fur, but the captain always dared not buy anything.

After a journey that lasted for years, he arrived in a large German trading city and there he found what he was looking for, the most precious thing in the world. It was grain, but not ordinary grain, it sparkled like gold. He knew for sure that nobody in the world had this. And after years the captain came back excitedly. The news spread quickly in Stavoren. People came running from all sides, of course they all wanted to know what the captain had brought. But Stavoren's wife thought it was just grain. The captain had to throw everything into the sea. But the old man said: "Don't do it, don't throw it away. It is very expensive for us, if you do that you would one day live in poverty. But Stavoren's wife did not believe him. She said: "No, dude, I'd rather have this ring back than that old prediction come true." And she threw the ring in the water with the grain after it. She was convinced that she would never see the ring again.

Life went on. Despite heavy storms, Stavoren's wife abandoned ships. Until one day, one of her servants was cutting a fish, and what was in it? The ring! She ran to Stavoren's wife and showed the ring.

Soon the prediction began. In no time, all her ships went down in storms, there were debt claims every day (she has to give money) at her door and she even had to sell her house. In 3 months she no longer owned a penny. She went begging on the street but she didn't get anything.

But that did not stop there, slowly Stavoren perished. Because on the place where the grain had been thrown into the sea, an island had emerged: the women's sand. That island blocked the entire island. No ships could pass through and that was the end of the port city. And slowly the mighty Stavoren became a small poor village.

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Witches, devils and Walpurgis

The area of the Harz Mountains is very famous for old myths, legends and traditions. Therefore a lot of tourists come here...
Especially the night from 30th April to 1st May is a great event our days which is connected to those old mayths and legends. It is known as 'Walpurgis' regions of northern and central Europe.

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ELLEFOLK

Ellefolk lived in forests and marshes. Like humans, they lived

in families. Every Elle-king had a family consisting of Elle-girls, Elle-wives and Elle-children.

The Elle-king was an old man, who could be recognised by his white hat. If you were to see an old man bathing in the bog during a full moon, you ought not get too close. If you got tooo close the Elle-king would blow a toxic wind towards you. ’

The Elle-wives were very beautiful when they were young. They had long fair hair, crystal blue eyes and always wore white, sparkling dresses.

The Ellefolk looked like humans. They only way to know for sure if you were standing afce to face with an Ellefolk was to see them from behind. Unlike humans, Ellefolk had a hole in their back.

The Ellefolk were neat-freaks. An everyday task for them was to wash their clothes in forest lakes or marshes. Humans and Ellefolk were often in close contact. The Ellefolk would often help humans. They would visit their farms and sing wonderful songs to humans. However, the Ellefolk could be very untrustworthy and dangerous. The Ellefolk had magic abilities and could easily put a spell on a human being or offer their magical brew to a by-passer. When there was a fog and the bogs were brewing and steaming it was said that Elle-girls would be close by dancing. They were known to lure young men and women into the forest to dance with the them. One could not decide on their own to stop dancing and many were forced to dance until they dropped dead. Or they might use magic to capture humans and bring them into the forest where they would turn them into Elleskudteor ellevilde(turning humans delusional) The Ellefolk were also prone to stealing. They especially enjoyed stealing small children.

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THE SPIRITS OF THE SOLSE GAT
In the middle of the Veluwe - in the forest between Putten, Garderen and Drie - lies the Solse gat, a large pit between the hills. There once stood a mighty monastery with many towers. It was surrounded by a canal and a wide, stately avenue led to the gate.

But it was an angry monastery; the superior and all the monks had sold their souls to the devil. They led a life of excess and luxury. In the middle of the night the black mass was read in which all the witches and ghosts from the area took part. They drank wine from buckets and plentiful meals were served all night. The devil made sure the supply never ran out and he mixed the wine himself. They danced, sang and cursed until the early morning. Many had heard strange and terrifying noises inside the monastery at night, and everyone knew that the windows of all the halls were bright all night.

That lasted until a stormy Christmas night, now centuries ago. The villagers stayed anxiously in their homes during that storm and suddenly heard one heavy thunderbolt in the middle of the night. The next morning a little boy came running into the village and told me that the monastery in the forest had completely disappeared and that an icy deep pit had formed on that spot. The trees around it were rooted to the ground. All residents wanted to see the miracle. A street paved with cobblestones and a wide, stately avenue were found; that was all that remained of the monastery. The earth had opened and closed again.

Since that time, a strange sound comes from the depth of the Solse gat midnight. The bells of the sunken monastery begin to ring irregularly and hoarse, as if they were all cracked; soft at first, but increasingly harder and more anxious. Then from the darkness of the broad avenue come the spirits of the monks. Complaining, they walk in a long, gloomy line: slowly and bent, they walk around the hole, from which a blue glow rises. Then they all float restlessly, stepping forward again out of the shadow of the lane into a long line. This continues until the daylight, then they suddenly wailing away in the deepest darkness of the gloomy pit.

As soon as the sun shines, it is as if nothing has happened. Everything is quiet there and one would almost doubt that the shadows have disappeared just before in the water in the middle of the pit of the Solse gat.

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De Witte Wieven
The Wise Women

In pre-Christian (around the 6th/7th century) mythology a group of wise women were considered as protectors of the peasant folk. These women could either protect or hinder daily life. Once these women died and left the world of the living, they kept on living as spirits. De Witte Wieven were mostly seen around graveyards en cemeteries, especially on misty or foggy places. People who had bad intentions were mostly hindered by De Witte Wieven. Historically De Witte Wieven were herbalists and medical healers. In more European cultures herbalist powers given to people were worshiped, e.g. Panoramix in Astérix.
In a Dutch theme park, there is a roller coaster. Its theme is about a rich Baron who wants to dig up gold out of a mine. Herefore the Baron wants to hire mine workers who can dig up the gold for him. However De Witte Wieven want to disencourage the Baron’s plan. De Witte Wieven are warning the miners not go down, because De Witte Wieven will protect the gold. The thrill ride is of course based on De Witte Wieven taking revenge on the miners/passengers on the train. Again, de Witte Wieven protect heritage.

In the Netherlands, the mystical Witte Wieven culture is mostly found in the South-East part of the country. When the Netherlands were christianized, the Catholic tried to ban the Witte Wieven culture out of everyday life, without success.

Jan Toorop, who is one of my favourite painters made an awesome painting of De Witte Wieven in the end of the 19th century. You can see two examples of De Witte Wieven on a graveyard.

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De kabouter
The gnome

Kabouter is the Dutch word for gnome or leprechaun. In folklore, the Dutch Kabouters are akin to the Irish Leprechaun, Scandinavian Tomte or Nisse, the English Hob, the Scottish Brownie and the German Klabauter or kobold.

In the folklore of the Low Countries, kabouters are tiny people who live underground, in a hill for instance. (In modern children's stories they live in mushrooms.) They are also spirits who help in the home. The males have long, full beards and wear tall, pointed red hats. They are generally shy of humans and in stories often punish people for spying on them. Throughout Flanders and the Netherlands they exist under a number of different local names like alvermannekes or auwelkes.

The Dutch illustrator Rien Poortvliet played an important part in modern Kabouter lore with his publication of Leven en werken van de Kabouter (English title "Life and works of the Gnome"), later translated into English and published as "Gnomes".

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Jean-Paul from The Great Kingdom of the Netherlands

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Jean-Paul from The Great Kingdom of the Netherlands

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The myth of Blue Gerrit

Blue Gerrit is a figure from the old folk tales of the Veluwe. The story goes that this old Germanic forest spirit danced like a blue light among the trees and shrubs of the Veluwe forest. In deserted places he jumped on hikers' shoulders and made himself heavier so that they were exhausted when they finally reached civilization again. However, he also helped Veluwe people who were in trouble. For example, if a miller did not grind his grain on time, or a farmer did not harvest his crop on time, it would happen that Gerrit secretly finished the remaining work for them at night.

Eyewitness reports (old stories from the Veluwe)

The squire of Bussloo came to Voorst with an empty weitas on a winter evening. He sees Hanna, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a poor widow, and grabs her. He takes her on his horse, but the girl screams and says he sees Blue Gerrit. The squire does not believe in stories like this, but his horse is standing still and doesn't want to go forwards or backwards anymore. The being shows itself as a vision; the squire and the girl see the ghost with eyes like fiery balls, wrapped in a fluttering, luminous blue dress. The squire is stabbing with his weapon, but there is only air. The squire escapes on foot, but Blue Gerrit leaves the horse alone and jumps on the man's back. The squire sends Hanna on horseback to the pastor of Gietel, he has a magic book. But Hannah drives to her mother and both thank God. They forget to warn the pastor and the squire is only released from the heavy burden in daylight. He comes back to Bussloo with sweat and looks thirty years older in this night. Hanna brings the horse back and gets two hands full of gold from the squire. She is rid of poverty.

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Ulli Form Germany
There are lots of devils figures ...

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The Tarasque [taʀask] 1 is an animal of Provencal folklore.

It was supposed to haunt the swamps near Tarascon, destroying everything in its path and terrorizing the population.

This monster is a kind of dragon with six short legs like those of a bear, a torso like that of an ox, covered with a turtle shell and with a scaly tail ending in a scorpion sting. His head has been described as that of a horse-eared lion with an old man's face. The Tarasque Tarasque was inscribed on the inventory of intangible cultural heritage in France in 2019, however since 25 November 2005, the Tarasque festivities in Tarascon have been proclaimed by UNESCO as part of the oral heritage and immaterial of humanity.Several versions exist to explain the end of the monster. One day, a young girl from Bethany, Saint Martha, who came to evangelize Basse-Provence, decided to brave the beast. With all the compassion that her Christian faith gave her, she obtained the submission of the creature who allowed herself to be led on a leash: Saint Martha had tied up forever this symbol of paganism. But the village had suffered so many losses that its inhabitants rushed on the monster and killed it.

Or, sixteen young people would have defied and killed the Tarascan and only eight would have emerged victorious and founded the towns of Tarascon and Beaucaire.

An androphagous monster of pre-Roman tradition, covered with scales (known as "Tarasque de Noves") is the first known representation. It also appears in the North gallery of the cloister of the abbey of Montmajour.

This legend gave birth to festivities (created by King René d'Anjou in 1469). They were held over two days, the second Sunday after Pentecost, and then resumed on 9 July for the feast of Marthe, patroness of Tarascon. This king created the order of the Tarasquaires

These festivities were intended to exorcise the evil that, for the residents of the Rhone, resulted in the excessive overflowing of the river. Among other things, the Tarasquewas accused of upsetting the dams that had been painfully established, of breaking the dams that prevented the waters from flooding the Camargue.

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De Bokkenrijders: heinous crimes and executions.

The legend of the Bokkenrijders still appeals to the imagination, especially in Limburg. Buck riders were criminals - mainly thieves and robbers, but sometimes they also committed murders - who, according to legend, flew on bucks through the air. The folk tales only circulated in the Maasgouwen in the eighteenth century: the old duchy of Limburg, the Landen of Overmaas and the county of Loon, an area in present-day South Limburg.

Were these Bokkenrijders protocommunists, revolutionaries, expired soldierska or papeans? Victims of a decayed legal system with a disastrous torture practice? Are the Bokkenrijders trials a legal error that is unparalleled in the Netherlands?

Robbery

Between 1730 and 1742, the South of Limburg was flooded with robberies and robberies.

“An armed group of eight to ten men overpowered the residents of a remote farm or parsonage at night, and they committed horrific threats and sometimes torture (...) A robbery in a group yielded the most loot: money, valuables and clothing that in suits were tied and taken. Society, and especially the farming communities, were virtually powerless against this type of crime. The outrage and "social unrest", as it is called in the current criminal justice debates, was very great. The pressure on the judiciary to act vigorously and "rock-hard", correspondingly high (...) When the residents defended themselves, it could lead to murder. In 1737 a brutal robbery of the pastor had happened in Walhorn. The perpetrators were arrested. "(104-105)

The groups of criminals proceeded in various ways. For example, they regularly blackened their faces to make themselves unrecognizable and there was a club of robbers who, as a standard torture method, kept fire under the soles of the victims - or burned their faces or pubic areas - to get more loot. Another group distinguished themselves by binding the residents and throwing them in the basement.