Legends -- France; Legends -- Germany; Legends -- Rhine River Valley
One day, thinking to prolong her visit, the young man put back the hands
of the clock. When the hour drew near for her to depart, he slipped out
of the house so that he might follow her and find out where she lived.
When the hour struck, the lady, who seemed to have feared that she was
late, walked hastily from the house in the direction of the lake. So
quickly did she walk that the youth following in her path could scarcely
keep pace with her. She did not pause when she reached the shore, but
plunged directly into the water. A low, moaning sound rose from the
waves, which boiled and bubbled furiously, and the young man, fearing
that some evil had befallen the maid, sprang in after her, but the cruel
currents dragged him down, and he sank out of sight.
Next day his body was found floating on the lake by some woodcutters,
and the nixie of the Mummel-lake was seen no more.
The Wild Huntsman
One of the most interesting Rhine myths is that concerning the Wild
Huntsman, which is known all over Rhineland, and which is connected
with many of its localities. The tale goes that on windy nights the Wild
Huntsman, with his yelling pack of hounds, sweeps through the air, his
prey departing souls. The huntsman is, of course, Odin, who in some of
his aspects was a hunter-god. The English legend of Herne the Hunter,
who haunts Windsor Park, is allied to this, and there can be little
doubt that Herne is Odin. Indeed, it is here suggested that the name
Herne may in some way be connected with one of Odin's titles, Hari,
the High One. It was the legend of the Wild Huntsman that inspired Sir
Walter Scott to write one of his finest ballads of the mysterious. An
Edinburgh friend had perused a ballad by Burger, entitled Lenore, but
all he could remember of it were the following four lines: Tramp, tramp,
across the land they ride; Splash, splash, across the sea. Hurrah! the
dead can ride apace, Dost fear to ride with me?
This verse fired Scott's imagination. He liked this sort of thing, and
could do it very well himself. So on reaching home he sat down to
the composition of the following ballad, of which we give the most
outstanding verses:
THE WILD HUNTSMAN
The Wildgrave winds his bugle horn:
To horse, to horse, haloo, haloo!
His fiery courser sniffs the morn,
And thronging serfs their lord pursue.
The eager pack, from couples freed,
Dash through the bush, the brier, the brake
While answering hound, and horn, and steed,
The mountain echoes startling wake.
The beams of God's own hallowed day
Had painted yonder spire with gold,
And, calling sinful men to pray,
Loud, long, and deep the bell hath tolled.
But still the Wildgrave onward rides;
Haloo, haloo, and hark again!
When, spurring from opposing sides,
Two stranger horsemen join the train.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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