Scary Stories for a Dark Season

Grimms' Saga No. 277: The Advent Flibbertigibbet

On the mountain road to Haenlein, but also in the area around Lorach, people call the Ignis fatuous (or phosphorescent lights that can be seen there), flibbertigibbets.  Purportedly they only appear during advent and a funny rhyme has been composed about them:

“Flibbertigibbet, ho, ho,
Burn like straw, oh, oh,
Strike me like lightening if you will!
Flibbertigibbet wisp-o-will!”

More than thirty years ago a young girl saw a flibbertigibbet in the evening and recited the old rhyme But the flibbertigibbet ran after the girl pursuing her into the house of her parents.  It followed quick on her heels and entered the room at the very same time she did.  It struck all the people assembled there with its fiery wings so that from that time forth her family was both dumb and blind.

A Field Guide to Werwolves

Fairy Tale of Prince and Horse, Chapter 12, Part 3

Walpurga continues: During the day, the werewolves, meerwolves, beerwolves, Werwatz werewolves and Blitzwolf himself have no power over you. You must make your way to the Elfmound during the day. At night you must sleep within the confines of a holy refuge. Your silver spoon will tell you if a place is holy or foul. If it rests peacefully on your palm, the place  is godly. But should the spoon agitate, you must not linger another moment. 

In this manner prince and horse made their way to the Elfmound. The prince was determined to free his bride, celebrate the long-postponed nuptials and finally make it back to his kingdom. The horse was dedicated to supporting this endeavor and looked forward to bright days in green pastures.

The Werwatz Werwolves and the Berserkers

Chapter 12, Part 2, Fairy Tale of Prince and Horse

Walpurga speaks:  the reason you hear the Werwolf lullaby is because  some werewolf mothers sing a Wolfslied to their young wolf pups. These young dogs then grow into giants, They are the Werwatz Werwolves, shape-shifters, sometimes wolves, sometimes monstrous behemoths.  One particularly giant werewolf is named >>>>>  BLITZWOLF. His power is unleashed in a burst of lightening when he takes on the form of giant, but his ferocious strength is of limited duration. He mows down all he encounters eviscerating his prey in a blink of an eye; seconds later he returns to his prior form. Those who have witnessed the Blitzwolf’s carnage say no human, once attacked, can survive. Others have said those assailed become Berserkers.  Unable to die, they can only rage on.

But their cruelty only controls the night. The sun dispels their power, and goodness and love return at dawn.

Peregrinatio Religiosa

Fairy Tale of Prince and Horse, Chapter 12

Willibald and Winibald Announce their Departure, Embrace a Life of Pious Rootlessness,and Embark on Peregrinatio Religiosa,Walpurga Arrives

Willibald looked off to the distance, past the garden gate and the monastery walls while Winnibald stood near.

“There is a time and season for everything under heaven!” he said.

Winnibald continued: “A time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,”

“A time to weep and a time to laugh,” Willibald added, and 

 then he paused and smiling at Winibald grasped his hand: 

“A time to come and a time to go.”

With that the two walked toward the monastery gate, opened it and then departed. Thus began their peregrinatio religiosa*. Soon only their small silhouette could be seen on the dusty road leading from the monastery.

The heavy gate remained open. Prince and horse stood silently, they didn’t know what to do next.  But gradually another figure came into focus on the horizon. It approached slowly now visible, now concealed by the damp morning fog. Obscured by a black cucculus and cape, the figure arrived at the gate.  Prince and horse slowly approached the hooded figure. It was Walpurga, Abbess of Heidenheim.

* Religious rambling.

Fairy Tale of Prince and Horse

Life in the Monastery

Chapter 11, Part 5

Prince and horse lived in the monastery seven years. The garden provided nourishment and the beehives sweetness. Each night the two friends lay down in a grassy pasture to sleep, but the werewolves always bedeviled them. In darkness they tossed and turned in restless agitation while the lycanthropes raged outside the cloister walls. Just before the first rays of dawn announced the end of night, the werewolf mother sang her lullaby to the were-pup and the demons were silenced.  Prince and horse then awoke and followed Winibald and Willibald as they attended to their monastic duties. And so the time slipped by.

One morning the prince was deep asleep, his horse was snoring loudly and the sun was rising rapidly. He felt a boot nudging his ribs. Then it tapped and finally, it was planted firmly on his breast. The mounting pressure caused him to wriggle and squirm. Pushing it away, he jumped up. 

Willibald and Winibald stood before them. “The old things have passed away; “ Willibald stated flatly, “And behold,” Winnibald continued  “new things have come.”