The ''Bergmönch'' ("mountain

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

") is a mountain spirit from

German folklore German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Partially it can be also found in Austria. Characteristics It shares many characteristics with Nordic folklore and English folklore due to th ...

. He is also known as ''

Meister ''Meister'' means 'master' in German (as in master craftsman, or as an honorific title such as Meister Eckhart). The word is akin to master and maestro. In sports, ''Meister'' is used for the current national, European or world champion (e.g. ...

Hämmerling'' ("master hammering guy").Wilhelm Grimm, Jacob Grimm: ''Deutsche Sagen''. Hamburg 2014, p. 34. The appearance of the ''Bergmönch'' is like a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

in size. He has white hairChrista Agnes Tuczay: ''Geister, Dämonen - Phantasmen: Eine Kulturgeschichte''. Wiesbaden 2015, p. 91. and fiery looking eyes as large as dining plates. The mountain spirit wears a black hooded

cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. Originally it may have referred simply to the hooded portion of a cloak. In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a clo ...

as used by monks, such leading to his name ''Bergmönch''. He also can be dressed like a miner. As such he is called ''Meister Hämmerling''. Additionally he can take the shape of a horse with long neck and terrible looking eyes and is also able to become invisible. The residence of the ''Bergmönch'' are pits and mines in the mountains. There he is active as well deep in the pits as up on the surface. Especially on Fridays this mountain spirit is very busy. He fills the excavated

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

s from one bucket to another. The ''Bergmönch'' should be given his head because he will violate anyone who dares to scold his futile effort. The mountain spirit generally is an erratic and dangerous being. His breath is poisonous, able to kill twelve people at once. Also he sometimes grasps a miner and puts him down at another place with so much strength that the miner's limbs are shattered. The mountain spirit loves hoaxing and is known as a very hot-tempered person. He doesn't like being denied or joked about and will surely punish those who deny him.Ludwig Bechstein: ''Deutsches Sagenbuch''. Meersburg, Leipzig 1930, p. 417. The ''Bergmönch'' can also be just and helpful, guarding the good miners and punishing the evil ones. He punishes

vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

s such as whistling and cursing, egoism, infidelity and idleness. For example, the mountain spirit killed an evil foreman of miners by crushing his head invisibly with his knees. The ''Bergmönch'' sometimes gives miners whose mining lamps are in danger of going out some of the oil from his giant pit lamp. This oil never diminishes and burns steadily even for years when the miner never reveals the secret that he got lamp oil from the ''Bergmönch''. He also has favorite miners whose work he does, excavating ores for them. This spirit is able to excavate more ores in one hour than miners are able to excavate in one week. He also shows his favourite miners hidden

lode In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the 1 ...

s of gold and silver but the miner has to throw some of his mining tools in the offered lode or it will be closed to never being seen by human eyes again. In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

also other mountain spirits are known. The most frequently appearing mountain spirits are the dwarves, whose are most commonly called ''Zwerge'' (sg. ''Zwerg'') but are also known under a wide range of other names. They often appear in droves. A malevolent mountain spirit of Swabian salt pits is the long-nosed ''Halgeist'' or ''Haalgeist'' (both "salt ghost") which throws everyone over the mountain who dares to make fun of its large nose.Ludwig Bechstein: ''Deutsches Sagenbuch''. Meersburg, Leipzig 1930, p. 604.

Literature

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, ...

, Jacob Grimm: ''

Deutsche Sagen ''Deutsche Sagen'' ("German Legends") is a publication by the Brothers Grimm, appearing in two volumes in 1816 and 1818. The collection includes 579 short summaries of German folk tales and legends (where "German" refers not just to German-speaki ...

: Vollständige Ausgabe mit Illustrationen von Otto Ubbellohde''. Kassel 1818, reprint at Nikol,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

2014, . *

Ludwig Bechstein Ludwig Bechstein (24 November 1801 – 14 May 1860) was a German writer and collector of folk fairy tales. He was born in Weimar, the illegitimate child of Johanna Carolina Dorothea Bechstein and Hubert Dupontreau, a French emigrant who disappe ...

: ''Deutsches Sagenbuch''. Meiningen 1852, reprint at F. W. Hendel Verlag, Meersburg,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

1930. * Christa Agnes Tuczay: ''Geister, Dämonen - Phantasmen: Eine Kulturgeschichte''. Marix Verlag,

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

2015, .

External links

Legends about the ''Bergmönch'' and other mountain spirits from German folklore.
Brothers Grimm Legend 2 ''Der Berggeist''
at www.zeno.org
Brothers Grimm Legend 3 ''Der Bergmönch im Harz''
at www.zeno.org
Ludwig Bechstein Legend 625 ''Meister Hämmerling''
at www.zeno.org
Ludwig Bechstein Legend 935 ''Breithut und andere Geister''
at www.zeno.org . Contains information about the ''Halgeist''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmonch German legendary creatures Fictional giants

See also

Literature

External links

References