Bayrische Sagen: Von Nixen, Waldweiblein und Hausgeistern TeilI: Die Nixe vom Hechtsee

Hello dear friends, here is the Silbenfee again with a new post. Today it's supposed to be about Bavarian tales of Nixies, forest fairies and house spirits. And today I start with the Nixie from Lake Hecht. In this context, I would like to thank my dear friend Bettina Intveen for her inspiration with the Bavarian fairy tale book Inntaler Sagen. Yes, and I found it a pity if you only bring one or two tales out of it and I will always spread some in the channel program. So, today it's about the Nixies, as I said. The origin of Lake Hecht At the place where Lake Hecht is located today, near the state border to Austria, there were two beautiful farmsteads a long time ago. The two inhabitants hardly differed from each other and on each of the farms lived a farmer, who ran a land and forestry business. The two farmers were doing very well, but nevertheless they did not get along. The two farmers' families did not know why this enmity existed. The split between them had been established over the generations and no one knew what the cause of the quarrel was. In any case, the two farmers shouted at each other's whims and desires when they met. One day, however, these whims became reality. While the hostile farmers once again stood at the borders of their presence, made the worst of their wishes and became more and more angry, they sank with all their greed and good and all animals and people. Instead of farmhouses, fields and stables, a large lake was created. Because it was so deep, the people from the area assumed that somewhere in the dark green nothingness there was a connection to the sea. Yes, that was the origin of Lake Hecht in the legends. And then it goes on. The misfortune of the Hechter. In a mountain forest in Tyrol, near the state border, lies Lake Hecht. It is said that once a Nixie lived in the dark green water. She called herself Hechter and she had a special gift that enabled her to take on a human form and to be able to climb to the shore from the floods. One day she went for a walk on the shore of the lake in the form of a enchanting young girl. She met the young hunter Friedel. The two fell in love at first sight and met almost every day from then on. But the Nixie Hechter asked her lover never to ask for her name, because otherwise her love would be over. But just this circumstance aroused the hunter's curiosity. He began to listen to her and finally realized that a Nixie should live in Lake Hecht. Interested, he asked an old woman from Kiefersfelden for the name of the Nixie. After a short time he met again with his lover at Lake Hecht. They lay in each other's arms and he was so happy that he tenderly called her by her name. It was at this moment that a huge wave rolled over the lake, which rolled over the two lovers and both into the depths. Hechter lost her lover, because Friedel drowned in the depths of the lake. Yes, so far the two say. And the Nixie Hechter, who lives in Lake Hecht, of course, has mythological role models. Now I should say historical role models, let's say mythological role models. Because there has been a very popular story since about 1420, since the Middle Ages, until the 20th century, by a water fairy named Melusine. Melusine is a mythical water fairy of the Middle Ages. She marries a poor knight, on the condition that he should never see her in her true form. Melusine helps him to look and wealth, until the knight breaks the taboo and sees her in her true form. And that is one of the parallels to the story of the Nixie Hechter, the taboo. These so-called matrimonial marriages, I'll explain later what that is, are always associated with a taboo break. So in the story of Hechter from Bavaria, Friedel is not supposed to mention her name, and she doesn't ask for it either, but he does. And in the legend of Melusine, the knight is not supposed to visit her in the evening when she is bathing, but he does. The oldest relics of the Melusine legend date from the 12th century, even older. Yes, well, then that was the picture that I will show later from 1420, so from the 12th century. They belong to the popular old European myth. But they have precursors already in pre-Christian legends of the Greek, Celtic and even Asian culture. So here you can go from the precursor of the Greek or even more of the Celtic culture. At first, Melusine appeared as a demon, but in the court novels of the Middle Ages she was christened. Yes, she is not the only one who is christened. Until the 20th century, Melusine appeared again and again in popular stories of European cultures. Since the 20th century, her mention becomes rarer. The core of the Melusine myth, as well as the core of the Hechter saga, a human being connects with an extraterrestrial being. This is called the so-called Martian marriage. Martian marriage comes from Mar. You may still know the Old German night, Mar. In the Low German language, Mar is the name for the nocturnal alp, which sits on the chest and triggers nightmares and exerts pressure on the chest. That's why the word alpdraum comes from alp. So here we have in both cases Melusine and Hechter the classic Martian marriage. The erotic, sexually motivated love relationship, as in our saga, or marriage, is meant. Their duration is tied to the observation of a taboo. Martian marriage is always about the taboo. So here is the taboo, but I have already said that Friedel may not ask the Hechter for her name. In the Melusine saga, it is about the story of a water fairy who marries a poor knight and has many sons with him. She helps him to legendary wealth from otherworldly sources and thus enables him to build castles, cities and monasteries. The marriage is characterized by great love, but the knight may never visit his wife Melusine on Saturday. One day, his curiosity overwhelms him, so he also becomes curious, and he does. So the taboo breaks. He sees how her body in the bath turns into a tadpole. That's an old term for dragon or snake, tadpole, yes. He speaks publicly about what he has seen, and the two have to separate. Melusine turns into a winged snake and flies out to the window. She then only comes at night to suckle her little children. Yes, so then she most likely turns back, because a snake can't suckle. Yes, so. And Melusine, like all Nixons and water fairies, belongs to the archetype of the great mother. So the archetype. What is an archetype? It is a primordial image of the soul that is anchored in the collective unconscious. And Karl Gustav Jung shaped the term archetype. So there are numerous archetypes for all kinds of primordial images. And here we have the primordial image of the great mother, the great goddess. Yes, especially because of Melusine as a snake. The snake is an attribute of the great goddess. And in the story of the pike lake, the great mother, great goddess, primordial goddess, appears in the swallowing aspect. Whereby the pike does not itself pull the cradle into the depths. There are also such stories. From Nixons, who prefer to pull into the depths. One only thinks of the sirens, also shaping the Nixons. Or the Loreley, which then lets the ships run on cliffs. The Loreley from the Rhine, also a Nixon. So in the story of the pike lake, the swallowing aspect of the great mother. Whereby the wave comes from the outside in the story. So that has been mildered a bit. Not pike pulls the cradle to the bottom of the lake, but the wave rolls over both. But pike can of course swim. Then there is the mythological figure of the Undine. Also a female water spirit. The name Undine is derived from Old High German undia with the meaning wave. The figure of the Undine comes from the saga of the knight-sex of Staufenberg from the Upper Rhine. She first appears in a poem from 1320. The Undine is an elementary being, which belongs to the nymphs and the element water body. She lives in forest lakes, as we have one here. The pike lake is also a forest lake. The Undine lives in forest lakes or in waterfalls. Sometimes you can hear the enchanting singing of a Undine over the water. Yes, we don't have that here now. Pikes don't sing. We find singing in the sirens, as I said. From ancient Greece. The Loreley plays harp on her rock and sings. And moans the shivers. What else is there? The connection with the singing of water beings. Yes, it is quite pronounced. We don't have that here with the pike. I would rather refer to the Melusine. Because it is also a saga from the European cultural space. Or a mixture of both. The Melusine is a direct embodiment of the Great Mother. The archetype of the Great Mother. Because the Undine is a weaker elemental being. Which mostly appears in connection with other gods. You can see that. So, yes. The Undine only gets a soul when she marries a human. An unfaithful husband brings the Undine death. Yes, she doesn't like that. Yes. And with that we are already at the end of the Nixie Saga from the Hechtsee. Yes, of course there are many other forms of Nixie. You can also write in the comments what else you know. It is represented in many cultures and mythologies. The Nixie, I took that from the European or German language space. Because the Hechtsee Saga also plays in this cultural space. Yes, but that also exists in other cultures, of course. Yes. Then we are already at the end of the first part about the Nixies. And of course I'm happy about a thumbs up, if you liked it. And about more subscribers. And until next time, your Silbenfee.