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Despite its compact size, Luxembourg has its fair share of fables, folktales, myths and legends, from a mermaid and a wild woman to a wolfman and an underwater bogeyman.
In this series of articles, Chronicle.lu will be delving into some of these tales and their lasting impact in Luxembourg.
Next up is the Wild Hunter/Knight (Grieselmännchen).
Nicolas (Nikolaus) Gredt, author of Sagenschatz des Luxemburger Landes (1963), described this as "one of the most famous legends" of Luxembourg. According to his version of the legend, the "Grieselmännchen" (also known as the "Scheuermann", among other names) was a wealthy but cruel knight from the Scheuerburg castle, located at the end of a hill between the villages of Schandel and Vichten.
Hunting was his greatest passion and he harmed (often killed) those who roamed or damaged his forests. One morning, on an unsuccessful hunt, he was thrown from his horse and died. Owing to the atrocities he had committed, the knight was condemned to wander the area every night, often taking different forms. Sometimes he is engulfed in flames, other times he appears as a hunter with a gun and dogs (giving rise to the name "the wild hunter").
In Ettelbruck, there is a local legend of a "Schappmännchen", who was condemned to wander as a ghost for all eternity for hunting on a Sunday (holy day in Christianity). There are similar accounts of the "Schankemännchen" (bone man), a ghostly hunter who is often accompanied by dogs and/or depicted as being on fire. There is even a statue of the Schankemännchen in front of the town hall in Grosbous, where a local theatre group is also named after the spooky figure.
