#belgian folklore

Genoveva, Ludwig Richter, 1820-84

- A Belgian Folktale

Ages ago, when the giants were numerous on the earth, there lived a big fellow named Antigonus. That was not what his mother had called him, but some one told him of a Greek general of that name; so he took this for his own. He was rough and cruel. His castle was on the Scheldt River, where the city of Antwerp now stands. Many ships sailed out of France and Holland, down this stream. They were loaded with timber, flax, iron, cheese, fish, bread, linen, and other things made in the country. It was by this trade that many merchants grew rich, and their children had plenty of toys to play with. The river was very grand, deep, and wide. The captains of the ships liked to sail on it, because there was no danger from rocks, and the country through which it flowed was so pretty.

So every day, one could see hundreds of white-sailed craft moving towards the sea, or coming in from the ocean. Boys and girls came down to stand in their wooden shoes on the banks, to see the vessels moving to and fro. The incoming ships brought sugar, wine, oranges, lemons, olives and other good things to eat, and wool to make warm clothes. Often craftsmen came from the wonderful countries in the south to tell of the rich cities there, and help to build new and fine houses, and splendid churches, and town halls. So all the Belgian people were happy.

But one day, this wicked giant came into the country to stop the ships and make them pay him money. He reared a strong castle on the river banks. It had four sides and high walls, and deep down in the earth were dark, damp dungeons. One had to light a candle to find his way to the horrid places.

What was it all for? The people wondered, but they soon found out. The giant, with a big knotted club, made out of an oak tree, strode through the town. He cried out to all the people to assemble in the great open square.

Continued ⬇️

There's a 16th century Flemish ballad "Tjanne" where the children cry and pray on their mother's grave because their stepmother abuses them. She rises from the grave, nurses the youngest, but has to explain to her children she's a ghost and can't come with them in the end. https://youtu.be/v6NXjikJG7c

Oh my goodness that is so incredibly sad...

I found the text here, where the song is titled “Ach, Tjanne,’zeyde hy, ‘Tjanne” (Och, Tjanne, said he, Tjanne) because the song starts with the husband asking:

‘Och, Tjanne,’ said he, ‘Tjanne, Whyfor sing’st thou not? - ‘Och, what would I be singing, within three days I shall live not.’

So she knows she’s going to die and then she knows her children are suffering and then even though she can rise from her grave she can do nothing about it! I’m just going to wish very hard that Tjanne learns to use her ghost powers well enough to protect her children because this is just utterly heartbreaking!

A few nights ago, I had a dream where I, seeing through Qrow’s point of view, was fighting off a horde of Grimm very similar to the Belgian spirit, the Kludde. They’re basically big, demonic black dogs with red eyes, chains around their legs, and blue flames above their heads that walk on their hind legs, scream at you, and jump on you to wear you down and devour you. 

I’ve been fascinated/scared by these things for decades ever since I learned about them doing research for a fantasy story. (Seriously, Google Image them. They’re terrifying [at least to me...])

Anyway, I just think they’d make a neat basis for a Grimm concept, and if I had any art skills whatsoever, I’d try to draw one.

“ In Brabant - but mostly in parts of Belgium[1] - people feared the nocturnal "Kludde"-shouting monster; hence the name Kludde (also known as Kleure, Klerre, Kledde or Waterkledde). People know him as a horrifying Tormentor. Some people have described the Kludde as a water demon; supposedly a big dog that walks on its hind legs with heavy chains (at least one around its ankle), bear claws, a black beak, green glistening scales on the batwings on his back and crimson colored bulging eyes.[2] He's a Child Terror and pulls children into the water. The Kludde can move at immeasurable speeds and is said to spawn from the cremated bodies of witches and wizards. Some say if one were to kill the Kludde, 7 more would crawl from its corpse. He likes to play dangerous games such as jumping on unsuspecting passersby and becoming increasingly heavy. The monster can sometimes be found in the reeds, under bridges and inside of hollow trees. Should one encounter the beast, their best hope is that their feet are faster than the Kludde's claws “

https://dutch-folklore.fandom.com/wiki/Kludde 

mythology moodboards | kludde

in belgian folklore kludde is a malicious, shape-shifting spirit that often appears as a black dog, occasionally winged. it can be identified by a blue flame around its head, and is accompanied by the sound of chains rattling. it wanders the countryside attacking travelers.

Aka: Why Dutch, Belgian and Scottish mermaids would not get along

I feel like people often forget that it’s sirens, not mermaids, who sing to make sailors shipwreck on the cliffs. Furthermore, while sirens are pretty much confined to Greek mythology, mermaids show up in many different folklore traditions and they actually differ quite a bit across cultures. So please, allow me to introduce you to:

The Belgian mermaid. Their song is beautiful, but it is safer to listen to them from a distance. When they sing under water it’s usually safe, but when they come to the surface and you hear their song above the waves, you can be sure there’s a storm on the way. The mermaid’s song warns for rough weather and wise sailors and fishermen heed it.

The Dutch mermaid. Honestly just wants to be left alone. When they sing, it’s usually a prophecy and hardly ever good news. Whenever someone finds and catches a mermaid, either she or her family will start singing verses, fortelling bad omens, promising floods, poverty and ruin to the captors, until she is freed. The humans rarely show mercy and the prophecies always come true.

The Scottish mermaid. Often does have an alluring song, but lures people out into open water, after which she causes a storm that sinks the boat and drowns everyone on board. Most of the time this seems to be a recreational activity and occasionally it’s for some sort of revenge. They can also cause literal tidal waves to crash into the shore.

Which brings me and @petalproufaerie to the conclusion that this collection of cousins would not get along at all. The Scottish mermaid would be luring people into mermaid territory, greatly upsetting the Dutch one, who’d probably get herself kidnapped. Both of them would them probably proceed to either cause or predict a storms, so the poor Belgian one has to swim up to the surface and sing to warn everybody.

...then again, Belgian mermaids are not at all fond of being kidnapped either and unlike the Scottish stories it is not at all clear whether Dutch mermaids can actually cause storms and floods, or if they only predict them. So maybe they predict them first and then run crying to their Scottish cousins asking to summon a tidal wave or two, probably as an apology for luring the humans out here in the first place.