Wigington, Patti. 33. Trans. James Stallybrass Grimm's Teutonic Mythology Volume 1. He also identifies strong morphological similarities with the earlier goddesses Hecate / Artemis, Artio, the Matres of Engyon, the Matronae, and Epona, as well as figures from fairy-tales, such as Cinderella. But who is she, and why would she be of interest to scholars of Germanic Paganism?The first scholar to fully describe Frau Holle was Jacob Grimm in his seminal work 'Teutonic Mythology', which furnished us with the following description of what might be considered her basic characteristics:"In popular legends and nursery-tales, frau Holda (Hulda, Holle, Hulle, frau Holl) appears as a superior being, who … Many attempts have been made to interpret this name. [1], Frau Holle (also known in various regions as Holla, Holda, Perchta, Berchta, Berta, or Bertha) was initially a pre-Christian female legendary figure who survived in popular belief well into the 19th century. By the end of the High Middle Ages, Scandinavian paganism was almost completely marginalized and blended into rural folklore, in which the character of Frau Hulda eventually survived. sometimes requiring the help of a peasant to repair it. Directed by Juraj Jakubisko. Like many deities, Holda/Hulda/Holle is a complex one with many aspects. There's a lovely heathen spindle ritual by Shirl Sazynski over at Witches & Pagans that's worth exploring, or incorporate other domestic tasks into a ritual context. Frau Holle, Frau Percht, und verwandte Gestalten: 160 Jahre nach Grimm aus germanistischer Sicht betrachtet. In other words, she is tied to the cycle of death and eventual rebirth, as new life springs forth. Similar to type 1539, Tricksters and Their Victims: 62: The Queen Bee : Die Bienenkönigin: Type 554, The Grateful Animals: 63: The Three Feathers: Die drei Federn: Type 402, The Animal Bride: 64 "Frau Holle" (/ˌfraʊ ˈhɒl/ HOL; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Children's and Household Tales in 1812 (KHM 24). Frau Holle. [5], Marija Gimbutas names Hulda (or Holda, Holla, Holle) as having originally been an ancient Germanic supreme goddess who predates most of the Germanic pantheon, including deities such as Odin, Thor, Freya, and Loki, continuing traditions of pre-Indo-European Neolithic Europe.[6]. Grimms Fairy Tales and Legends (11) The Good Bargain. The Little Peasant: Das Bürle: Type 1535, The Rich Peasant and the Poor Peasant. Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm, transl J.S. Let's celebrate Thanksgiving! Demons (5) Mally Dixon Frederick and Catherine 30. At night, seven lights can be seen above the Spillalutschenstein. Some details were added in the second edition (1819), most notably rooster's greetings, based upon the account of Georg August Friedrich Goldmann from Hanover. Her name means “friendly, benevolent one” (in Old High German the word “Hold” meant benevolent or faithful) or “hidden one”. Learn Religions. Basement and barn, pantry and kitchen are full and we are well supplied for the winter. When she came to Frau Holle's house, she likewise took service there, but before long fell into her lazy, careless ways. [7], The Spillaholle (Silesian German also Spillahulle,[17] Spillahole,[18] Spillahôle,[19] Spiellahole;[20] Standard German: Spindelholle;[19] English translation: "spindle Holle") is a legendary creature exclusively found in German folkore of formerly German Silesia[19] including Austrian Silesia. In other stories, she is young, beautiful, and fertile. In some Scandinavian traditions, Frau Holle is known as the feminine spirit of the woods and plants, and was honored as the sacred embodiment of the earth and land itself. Those who honored her were required, as faithful Catholics, to do penance. With Marianne Sägebrecht, Herbert Feuerstein, Johanna Gastdorf, Lea Eisleb. As she leaned over the well to wash the blood away, the spindle fell from her hand and sank out of sight. There was once upon a time a far-sighted, crafty peasant whose tricks were much talked about. Her feast day is December 25, and typically, she is seen as a goddess of hearth and home, although in different areas she has clearly different purposes. In the german state of Hessen, around the mountain “Meißner” near the cities Eschwege and Bad Sooden-Allendorf, there was a lot of worshipping of Frau Holle… View Test Prep - Exam 1 Study Guide.docx from GER 1502 at University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus. Comparison between Frau Holle and a weather or earth goddess is inevitable. Learn Religions, Aug. 28, 2020, learnreligions.com/legend-of-frau-holle-2563015. "The Legend of Frau Holle." If the little strand will be finished soon. "That is what you have earned", said Frau Holle, and closed the gate. [1875]. One legend has a peasant man stumbling into a cave in a mountain where Holda is seated enthroned with maidens clustered about her. * That is why, in Hessen whenever it snows they say that Frau Holle is making her bed. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. When they are still spinning during evening and night, then there will be slight or even severe punishments. Jakob lives in the sky with a fairy until he ventures into the human world and falls for a peasant girl. A peasant had driven his cow to the fair and sold her for seven talers. [18] The Bohemian Frau Holle is accompanied by small deformed wights which she orders to beat outrageous spinsters with rods. The Grimms say Perchta or Berchta was known "precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda leaves off, in Swabia, in Alsace, in Switzerland, in Bavaria and Austria. You can spin or weave, knit or sew. Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. The widow favored her younger biological daughter, allowing her to become spoiled and idle while her older stepdaughter was left to do all the work. If all the tow is already spun, then there will not only be no punishment, even one of the nettles will be left in the house to ward the house of misfortune for the whole coming year. After a time, the girl became homesick and told Frau Holle that it was time for her to return home. With a baker's peel, she took all the loaves out and then walked on. Stallybrass. Frau Holle beats them with a batch of stinging nettles. Frau Holle figures in some pre-Christian Alpine traditions that have survived to modern times. By contrast, Frau Holle resides somewhere above the Earth, and the protagonists must go to her, paradoxically by diving into a spring. They were sitting and resting, and the latter asked them what they were doing there. She offers to give the dazed man a gift; humbly, he asks for the cluster of blue flowers in her hand. [21], The appearance of the Spillaholle is mainly during the winter months,[21] especially during Advent,[20] Christmas[22] or during the Zwölften (twelve nights of Christmas). There were early challenges to connecting this figure with a pagan goddess,[12] since her earliest definite appearance links her with the Virgin Mary, commonly called the "Queen of Heaven": An early-13th century text listing superstitions states that "In the night of Christ's Nativity they set the table for the Queen of Heaven, whom the people call Frau Holda, that she might help them". She is sometimes associated with winter snowfall as well; it is said that when Frau Holle shakes out her mattresses, white feathers fall to the earth. Movie & TV guides. If you have performed participation in this unbelief, you are required to do penance for one year on designated fast-days. According to Erika Timm, Perchta emerged from an amalgamation of Germanic and pre-Germanic, probably Celtic, traditions of the Alpine regions after the Migration Period in the Early Middle Ages. Her connection to the spirit world through the magic of spinning and weaving has associated her with witchcraft in Catholic German folklore. Witches (4) The Witch of Treva The Girl Who Transformed Herself into a Hare Ridden by a Witch The Werewolf of Jarnitz. [17], When spinsters are not finished with their spinning, then the Satzemsuse will sit in their lap during spinning or even give them igneous spindles instead of normal ones. She also gave her the spindle which had fallen into the well. [17] The Bohemian Frau Holle is a small and ugly old woman which carries a batch of stinging nettles. Once upon a time there was a rich farmer. In Germanic pre-Christian folklore, Hulda, Holda, Holle, and Holla were all names to denote a single being. [24], Like many of the other tales collected by the Grimm brothers, "Frau Holle" personifies good behavior and bad, and the appropriate reward meted out for each. Snowdrop (Brothers Grimm) 32. Across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are found a closely related group of popular legends involving a faded heathen goddess associated with both the plow and the spinning wheel. These women would leave their houses in spirit, going "out through closed doors in the silence of the night, leaving their sleeping husbands behind". If you'd like to celebrate the spirit of winter by honoring Frau Holle, it's a good time to focus on domestic crafts as part of ritual. [19] She appears hooded (characterized by the name Popelhole[20] or Popelhôle;[19] Standard German: Popelholle; English translation: "hooded Holle"[20]) or wearing ragged clothing (as shown by the name variant Zumpeldrulle[20] or Zompeldroll). https://www.learnreligions.com/legend-of-frau-holle-2563015 (accessed April 8, 2021). If a spinster is working anyway, she will be punished by Frau Holle. The stepdaughter feared that she would be punished for losing the spindle, and in panic she leapt into the well after it. The bread asked to be taken out before it burned. T T Info. Likewise, Holda was often identified with Diana in old church documents. Ginzburg (1990)[8] has identified similar beliefs existing throughout Europe for over 1,000 years, whereby men and women were thought to leave their bodies in spirit and follow a goddess variously called Holda, Diana, Herodias, Signora Oriente, Richella, Arada, and Perchta. Legends in some parts of Germany portray her as a toothless hag who appears in the winter, much like the Cailleach of Scotland. Frau Holle soon dismissed her. The woman identified herself as Frau Holle, and cautioned the girl to shake the featherbed pillows and coverlet well when she made the bed, as that would make it snow in the girl's world. The girl agreed to take service with Frau Holle, and took care to always shake the featherbed until the feathers flew about like snowflakes. As the lazy girl stood at the gate, a kettle of pitch spilled over her. [19] In Bohemia, she is simply known as Frau Holle ("Mrs. She is said to dress in white with keys on her belt. Deutsche Mythologie 4th ed. According to the Aarne and Thompson classification system of fairy tales, Mother Hulda is a story of type 480, The Kind and the Unkind Girls. Frau Holle may have evolved from an early pre-Christian deity, known as Hulda, who predates the Norse pantheon. 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