#kludde

KLUDDE

A monster from the folk traditions of Belgium which preyed upon travellers at night on lonely roads. It has much in common with the Black Dog, and with the Kelpie of Celtic tradition, but unlike these it had the ability to change its shape. It could appear as a giant dog, or as a cat, frog, bat or horse. However, a telltale blue flame that flickered around its head would identify it. It was reported that if the Kludde jumped on the back of an unsuspecting traveller, it would then grow heavier and heavier, finally forcing its victim to the ground, at which point it savaged them to death.

Kludde is a mythical creature from the folklore of the Netherlands and Belgium. It is a demonic canine that is often associated with water. The creature is also known as Kleure, Klerre, Kledde, or Waterkledde.

According to legend, Kludde is a shape-shifting monster that preys on unsuspecting victims, especially children. It is said to have the ability to change its shape and size, making it difficult to identify. Kludde is often described as a horrifying tormentor that inspires fear among the peasants, who avoid venturing into forests, fields, or roads that are believed to be haunted by the creature. Despite being a creature of myth and folklore, there have been occasional claims of sightings throughout history, mostly confined to the remote countryside areas of Belgium...

Kludde [Flemish folklore]

While bridges aren’t particularly scary of themselves, you might be surprised by how many evil bridge spirits there are in world mythology. Kludde, for example, is an evil spirit from Flemish folklore. He spent his time underneath bridges and could be recognized by the sound of the heavy iron chain that he has to wear on his ankle (in some versions, he has iron chains all over his body). When travelers are walking on the country roads at night, Kludde would suddenly jump on their neck, after which the innocent traveler has no choice but to give the creature a ride for the duration of the night. Depending on the story, he can also shapeshift into a giant black bird, a cat or a giant dog. How dangerous he is varies between different versions of the folklore, but his appearance as a giant dog is his most common depiction.

According to the story, the creature attacked a poor woman at night. Desperate to escape, she threw the things she was carrying at her assailant. A piece of cloth ended up in the mouth of the creature, getting stuck between its fangs and confusing it for long enough to give the woman an opportunity to run away. The next morning, she talked to all the men in the village. One young man, an unassuming servant, had fibers stuck between his teeth that matched the piece of cloth the woman had been carrying that night. The villagers banded together and formed an angry mob to chase the servant away. And the village never heard from Kludde again.

The second image shows Kludde (on the left) how he is depicted in the Suske & Wiske comics, which every Belgian kid is familiar with. This image is from the comic “De Zwarte Madam” from 1949. In this series, Kludde is usually depicted as a short dwarfish man with a fish tail, emphasizing his role as a bridge spirit.

Schelle – in Antwerpen – has a regional tale about Kludde: the people of a common household were talking at the dinner table one day, as usual, until someone brought up Kludde. Immediately, the sound of heavy iron chains was heard coming from the hallway, and everyone kept silent because they feared they accidentally summoned Kludde. The family started praying and the sound eventually stopped, but none of them managed to get some sleep at night. The family learned their lesson and didn’t carelessly talk about evil spirits again (come to think of it, I suppose you shouldn’t read this post out loud) but the next morning, they heard the sound again. This couldn’t continue, so the family went to the town butcher: a strong and kindhearted man who lived right across the street. The butcher, brave as always, said: “if this ever happens again, just slip out through the back door and come get me.”

As was expected, the spirit was heard again the next night. The father of the family went to fetch the butcher and true to his word, the butcher came along and took his giant cleaver with him. Fearlessly he opened the front door, and a giant dog with flaming eyes was sitting in the hallway. But the brave butcher was having none of his bullshit and slashed away without warning. Not expecting resistance, Kludde was heavily wounded and fled, never to return again.

Another story, coming from Moorsel, tells of a young boy named Benoit Wouters, a servant and no older than 14. He worked and lived at a farm, only coming home to his mother on Sundays to bring the money he earned and his dirty clothes. One night, when he left home to return to the farm, a large dog jumped on his back. The boy couldn’t shake it off and had to carry Kludde all the way to the farm, where the dog – apparently capable of speech – said “nu heb ik u vastgehad, hé!” which literally translates to “now I got you!” but a better translation would be something like “surprise, it’s a prank!”. The dog jumped off his back and disappeared into the night, but a tuft of Benoits hair turned grey, and it always remained that way.

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 

In Belgian folklore, the Kludde is a type of evil spirit. Often appearing as a large black dog with bat-like wings and chains around its thoat, it can change its form into many animals, including cats, snakes, ravens, frogs and bats.

The Kludde often appears as a half-starved horse, who will lure in a groom or stableboy and then drown them, much like the each-uisge. The Kludde is greatly feared, so much so that people will avoid roads, fields and forests purported to be haunted by the spirit.

Image source.

Monster master list.