Hero Tales and Legends of the Rhine

of the Rh

umstances-that these tales abound in the matter of folklore. This is, however, by no means the case, and even a superficial examination of them will prove most of them to be allied to the matter of romance in a much more intimate way than they approach

word derived from the old High German lur, to lurk, and lai, a rock. The height from which the bewitching water-spirit sent her song f

Lo

resented as an undine, combing her hair on the Lorelei-berg and singing bewitching strains wherewith to lure m

ken at the melancholy occurrence, longed to avenge his son's death on the evil enchantress who had wrought such havoc. Among his retainers there was but one who would undertake

andward side. Just as they reached the summit the moon sailed out from behind a cloud, and behold, the spirit of the

ith me?" she cried,

ceress," said Diether roughly, "w

rowned him not. 'Twas his own

dark hair streaming over her shoulders, some strange, unearthly quality in her beauty, a poten

ursued, smiling at the helpless warrior. "'Tis not I wh

ung it on the water and cried aloud: "Father, send me

ounted the steep, and into the hollowed trough behind them the Lorelei stepped as into a chariot, to be whirled out into the stream. Meanwhile Diether and his companions were almost overwhelmed by t

d, would they seek t

rsaken

popular legend of the Lo

of the country. The dismissed lovers wandered disconsolately in the neighbouring forests, vowing to take their lives rather than suffer the pangs of unrequited passion; while occasionally the threat was fulfilled, and a brave knight would cast himself into the Rhine and perish for love of t

dour and desire for glory triumphing over his love. Years had gone by, yet he did not return, and Lorelei thought that he had perished on the field of battle,

n who saw their menfolk succumb to the fatal charms of the Maid of Bacharach. Mothers noticed their sons grow pale and woe-begone because of her; maids their erstwhile lovers sighing out a hopeless passion for the beautiful Lorelei; so they brought against her accusations of sorcery, which in those days generally led to the death of the victim by b

sides she was treated with the greatest respect and kindness. The old prelate assured her that she would not be judged harshly, but begged to hear from her own lips that she was innocent of the foul charge brought against her. This assurance sh

die. I know, alas! that many true knights have died for love of me

by the pathetic story, laid his h

t across the river, and charge the abbess to treat her with the greatest kindness. Having blessed the maid once more, he bade them go. On their way to the convent they must needs pass the rock since kn

the river, and as she gazed on it Lorelei uttered a loud cry, for there in the bow stood her truant lover! The knight and his train heard the shriek and beheld with horror the maiden standing with outstretch

together they sleep the sleep of de

ing of

is reputed to be inhabited by a 'Green Lady,' who emerges from her watery dwelling at twilight and rings the great bell of the old manor-house. On visiting the vicinity for the purpose of verifying the legend information was gleaned respecting another story of a captured lady who had been incarcerated in a room in the mansion and had written some verses to her lover with her diamond ring on a window-pane. The strange thing is that these stories, though obviously of different origin, appear now to have become fused in the popular

Ni

hich perhaps means 'to wash.' There is perhaps some truth in the statement which would derive the Satanic patronymic of 'Old Nick' from these beings, as spirits extremely familiar to the Teutonic mind. On fine sunny days the nixies may be seen sitting on the banks of rivers, or on the branches of trees, combing their long golden locks. Previous to a drowning accid

marshes boome

lless sits wit

ble, friendles

destiny, Nicke

of the M

s one of gloom and tragedy, albeit a

d jokes with them. One evening while they were thus employed there came among them a stranger, a young lady beautifully clad and carrying an ivory spinning-wheel. With becoming modesty she asked to be allowed to join the company, which permission the simple youths and maidens readily accorded. None was more eager

he again appeared and, seeing her cavalier of the previous day, smiled and bowed to him. The young man glowed with pleasure, and diffidently renewed his attentions. Day after day the lady of the spinning-wheel joined the company, and it was noted that the girls were brighter and more diligent, and the young men more gentle and courteous, for her coming. It was whispered among them that she was a nixie from the Mummel-lake far under the mountains, for never mortal was so richly end

emed 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 d

the lake by some woodcutters, and the ni

ild H

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

ld do it very well himself. So on reaching home he sat down to the composi

ILD H

ve winds hi

o horse, ha

ourser snif

g serfs thei

ack, from c

he bush, the b

g hound, and h

n echoes st

f God's own

yonder spi

ng sinful

d deep the bel

e Wildgrave

loo, and

ing from op

horsemen jo

stranger, l

uess, but da

nd steed was

he swarthy

d horseman, y

as like the

rom eye of

t lightning'

huntsman's

ome, welcome

an earth, or

princely ch

ud bugle's cl

r youth with

votion's ch

rude, unhal

ill-omened c

t summons t

warning s

ou mayst mou

e spurred hi

ng forward w

y drowsy pr

the jovial h

our manly s

fools go ch

spoke, my dar

loo, and

spurred his

moor, o'er h

left and

r horseman f

from yonder

white than m

ung the Wild

rd, forward

retch has cr

e thundering

ho can, or

rd, forward

on simple f

autumn's bles

e at the Wild

n with toil

! mercy! n

r's pittance,

sweat these b

g hours of

hound, so

scourge's e

y rung his

rd, forward

o done-a s

or labourer's

man, and hors

ecember's s

horse, and ho

sweep the

g o'er the

arks the madd

did the her

thou noble b

, a widow's

an orphan's

dog! To st

y cant and b

an spirits

of these ca

inds his b

rd, forward

the herd in

is furious

throttled v

eir mangled h

us cries th

rts, new-ner

meared, and wh

e tears of a

mid the for

hermit's ha

mid the rou

rmit poured

blood God's

altar, an

brute has rig

ged by crue

ce on the ru

length, and

r horseman an

d whooping, po

Earl no wa

keeps the

ot, or rig

nd its righ

martyrs' s

elf shall ma

horse, he w

rd, forward

whirlwind's

he hut, the

d man, and h

of the cha

nd howls, an

ilence rei

he affrighte

n vain to w

call; for

is anxious l

he sinner's

he solemn s

cloud of

oice of thu

r of crea

pirits' ha

od! Scourge

e of thy c

or ever thro

am the affr

fate instruc

t creature i

one flash of

tinged the f

ildgrave's br

illed each ne

he call-her e

rifts, with

ulphureous f

gotten do

y huntsman

uess, but da

midnight li

he swarthy

flies o'er b

shriek of

ound, and ho

away, and

espair's re

behind, he ma

fangs, and

fear he s

hall last the

tself shall

cour earth's c

s witching h

orn, and houn

e 'lated pe

signs the f

ld din inva

s and

gend of Elfeld. The Heldenbuch, the ancient book in which are collected the deeds of the German heroes of old, says that "God gave the dwarfs being because the land on the mountains was altogether waste and uncultivated, and there was much store of silver and gold and precious stones and pearls still in the mountains. Wherefore God made the dw

loits in Cologne. These were obviously of the same class as the brownies of Scotland, Teutonic house-spirits who attached themselves to

no man, for the little people used always to make, overnight, as much black and white bread as th

ittle folk had stolen elsewhere and brought to their favourite. When, with time, his family increased, the little ones used to give the tailor's wife considerable aid in her household affairs; they washed for her, and on holiday

wed peas all down the stairs that they might fall and hurt themselves, and that so she might see them next morning. But this project missed, and since that time the Heinzelm?nnchen

uld only hear the music, for no one could see the mannikins themselves, who forthwith got into a ship and went away, wh

Ur

onnexion with Rhenish mythology is that

f her parents, who were again troubled by the thought that their dynasty would fail for want of an heir. Charmed with the rumour of her virtues, a German prince, Agrippus, asked her as a wife for his son, but the suit was declined by the maiden until an angel appeared to her in a dream and said that the nuptials ought to take place. In obedience to this heavenly mentor, St. Ursula no longer urged her former scruples, and her father hastene

saintly procession to Cologne. Here they were received with great honours by the Roman governor of the place; but soon they left the city to ascend the stream to Basel on their way to Rome, to which holy city St. Ursula had determined upon making a pilgrimage. Wherever upon their journey they met the officers of state they were received as befitted their heavenly mission, an

rth invaded the place, and having gained possession of the city, they slew the virgin retinue of St. Ursula, the venerable Pope, the saint herself, and her spouse Coman, after inflicting the most horrible tortures upon them. Some were nailed living to the cross; some were burned; others stoned; but the most refined cruelties were reserved for the most distinguished vi

or G

many parts of Germany a custom existed during the Middle Ages of rolling about a ship on wheels, much to the scandal of the clergy, and this undoubtedly points to moon-worship, the worship of Holda, or Ursula, whom Germ

esided over the Ercildoune, or Hill of Ursula, in the south of Scotland, the modern Earlston, after which Thomas the Rhymer took his territorial designation, and whose story la

in Rhi

of his appearance are distinctly Teutonic in character, and are such as to make one doubt that the Devil of the German peoples has evolved from the classical satyr. May it not be that the Teutonic folk possessed some nature-spirit fro

e Rhine Legend

ales undoubtedly consist of older materials not necessarily mythical in origin, over which a later medieval colour has been cast. Unhappily many of these beautiful old legends have been greatly marred by the absurd sentimentality of the German writers of the early nineteenth century, and their dramatis personae, instead of exhibiting the characteristics of sturdy medieval German folk, possess the mincing and lackadaisical manners which mark the Franco-German novel of a century ago. This contrasts most ludicrously in many cases with the simple, almost childlike, honesty which is typical of all early Teutonic literature. Had a Charles Lamb, a Leigh Hunt, or an Edgar All

eval Romance (London, 1913), preface, an

try of

es wandering in foreign parts; for surely an analogous feeling has been experienced sometimes by every traveller of sensitive and imaginative temperament, particularly the traveller exiled irrevocably from his home and longing passionately to see it. Horatius, about to plunge into the Tiber, addressed it as his father and god, charging it to care well for his life and fortunes-fortunes in which those of all Rome were involved for the time being. Ecce Tiber! was the glad cry of the Romans on beholding the Tay-a cry which shows once again with what ardent devotion they thought of the river which passed by their native city; while Naaman

mour has wound itself about the river, a halo which appeals potently even to many who have never seen the Vaterland. Am Rhein!-is there not magic in the words? And how they call up dreams of robber barons, each with

e legendary and anonymous writings, a poem which soon drifts into recollection is one whose scene is laid near the little town of Lorch, or Lordch. Hard by this town is a mountain, known to geographers as Kedrich, but hailed popularly as 'the Devil's Ladder.' Nor is the name altogether misplaced or undeserved, the mountain being exceeding precipitous, and its beetling, rocky sides seeming well-nigh inaccessible. This steepness, however, did not daunt the hero of the p

dy-love to a

eagle might

iron nor battl

ut from her pr

wings but t

s, be they ne

e end the knight is represented

rah! 'Tis ga

broken, the

hold of the m

s with her da

ernard, sh

f the elves of t

ern

nd being of a religious disposition, he threw in his lot with a band of crusaders. For a long while, in consequence, he was absent from his ancestral domain; and at length, returning thither, he was told by various lying tongues that his beautiful wife, Genofeva, had been unfaithful to him in his absence, the chief bearer of the fell news being one Golo. This slanderer induced Siegfried to banish Genofeva straightway, and so the lady fled from the castle to the neighbouring forest of Laach, where a little later she gave birth to a

les of Laach the hun

he falcon, and dee

ount Siegfried for

noble heart, a gl

from his home-he ca

loveliest of all

enofeva!-and at

or ever looked upo

ers hurry by, and tu

blue lake spreads its

linden-tree, there

ge maiden clad in

dappled skin of th

ck she bears, besi

r golden hair adown h

rosy child is smi

ses quicken. He knows well that only a miracle could have preserved her during all this period of estrangement, and reflects that on behalf of the virtuous a

in Andernach upo

h revelry, the city

her paler beams up

te was seen the tr

Brot

pristine audiences, yet it was probably the pathos with which it is coloured that granted it longevity,

nuptials drew near, but it happened that, in the interim, the young knight of Sterrenberg had become infected with a desire to join a crusade; and now, despite the entreaties of his fiancée and his father, he mustered a troop of men-at-arms, led them to join the Emperor Conrad at Frankfort, and set off for the Holy Land. Year after year went by; still the warrior was absent, and betimes his friends and relations began to lose all hope of ever seeing him again, imagining that he must have fallen at the hands of the infidel. Yet this suspicion was never actually confirmed, and the elder brother, far from taking the advantage which the strange situation offered, continued to eschew paying any addresses to his brother's intended bride, and invariably treated her simply as a beloved sister. Sometimes, no doubt, it occurred to him that he might win her yet; but of a sudden his horizon was changed totally, and changed in a most unexpected fashion. The rover came back! And lo! it was not merely a tale of war that he brought with him, for it transpired that while abroad he had proved false to his vows and taken to himself a wife, a damsel of Grecian birth

entered cou

d on woma

s to the gra

of all th

upon the m

two cas

heir lords,

owly to

shakes the t

urg's ba

other's r

ual fur

gh Sternberg's

y moonbe

umbling wal

ry Lieb

llustrate the poetry of the Rhine.

enf

rward a body of his compatriots came to his aid, worsted his foes, and set him free. A joyful day was this for the crusader, but it was not his pious vow that he thought of first; he made for Argenfels, eager to see again the bright eyes of the lady who had enchanted him. Day and night he rode, and as he drew nearer to the castle his passion grew stronger within him; but, alas! on reaching his destination his hopes were suddenly dashed to the ground. War had meantime been waged in the neighbourhood of Bertha's home; her father had been involved, his castle burnt to the ground, and the two daughters had disappeared. Peradventure they had perished, surmised the knight; but he swore he would leave nothing undone which might lead to the restoration of his beloved. Making inquiries far and near throughout the country, he heard at last from an old shepherd that two ladies of gentle birth were sequestering themselves in a disused hermitage near the summit of a mountain called Stromberg. "Is it indeed they?" thought Sir Dietrich. He clambered up the rocky steep leading to the hermitage and a wistful sound greeted his ears, the sound of maidens' voices offering up ve

Songs of

n the river chances to be particularly low; and in olden times, whenever this stone was seen, the event was hailed by the townsfolk as an omen that their next grape harvest would be an exceptionally successful one. It is with this 'Altar of Bacchus' that the poem in question deals. But coming to modern times, many of the Rhine drinking songs are also concerned to some extent with patriotism-an element which seems to go hand in hand with the bacchanal the world over!-and a typical item in this category is the Rheinweinlied of Georg Hervegh, a poet of the first half of the nineteenth century. A better patriotic song of Rhine-land, however, is one by a slightly earlier poet, Wolfgang Müller, a native of K?nigswinter, near Bonn, who sings with passionate devotion of the great river, dwelling lovi

t little known, and inquires whether none of the great German authors were ever inspired to song by their beloved river. The name of Heinrich Heine

on its beauty, we think first of its gentle, andante music, a

cht was soll

so trau

en aus al

ir nicht au

tour de force in the craft of landscape-painting; for not only are the externals of the scene summoned vividly befor

st kühl un

fliesst

l des Ber

dsonnea