Klabautermann

Dutch/Belgian tales of kaboutermanneken described them as cave dwellers in mountains, who may help out humans who put out offerings of bread and butter, sometimes out in the open, but other times at their millhouse or farmstead.

The Klabautermann (also spelt Klaboterman, Klabotermann,[5] Kalfatermann[6]), sometimes even referred to by the name "kobold"[6] is a creature from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of Germany's north coast, the Low Countries (Netherlands, etc.)

[7][8] An etymology deriving the name from the verb kalfatern ("to caulk") has been suggested by the linguist Friedrich Kluge,[9][10][11] who considered "Klabautermann" merely to be a variant on "Kalfater" or "caulker" (attested by Temme[4]).

[10] The Grimms' dictionary had listed the forms klabatermann, klabotermann, klaboltermann, and kabautermännchen and conjectured the word to derive from Low German klabastern 'to knock, or rap'.

[19] Grimm also left a note that the Klabautermann could be tied to the shorter Dutch form kabout meaning "house spirit", found in an 1802 dictionary.

[25] His chapter under the German title "klabautermännchen" discusses folklore cave-dwelling earth spirits, localized in the Netherlands, where they are called in Dutch kaboutermanneken (cf.

[26] The Klabautermann possibly assimilates or conflates some of the lore of other spiritual beings, such as the Danish skibsnisse or "ship sprite" and the household spirit puk of Northern Germany (cog.

[6] According to one source, the fiery red-headed and white-bearded sprite has green teeth, wears yellow hoses with riding boots, and a "steeple-crowned" pointy hat.

[31] The rarely seen klabautermann (aka Kalfater or "caulker"), according to Pomeranian sources, is about two feet tall, wears a red jacket, a sailor's wide trousers, and a round hat, but others say he is completely naked.

[34] Feilberg on his monograph on the nisse compares these German examples of skibnsisse to the more general Danish belief that a person's soul, or a wight (vætte) resides in any tree that needs be harvested for timber[35][a]).

[25] But there will eventually come a time when the spirit gives up and determines the vessel's seaworthiness will not hold, and decide to leave, in which case the ship is forlorn and is bound to sink (cf.

[6][5] Thus he may help pump water from the hold, arrange cargo or ballasts, and hammer away to plug a leak that has sprung until a carpenter arrives at the scene.

[5] Other informants say that a klabautermann in a bad mood will indicate by noisy actions, throwing firewood around, rapping on the ship's hull, breaking objects, and finally even slapping around the crewmen, thus acquiring his name as noisemaker.

Bechstein applies the Germanized name Klabautermännchen, which he describes as dwarf-like earth spirits dwelling in caves, and are reputed to live in particular areas, of Holland; they are known in Dutch as the kaboter or the Kaboutermanneken.

[37][38] A different version places the Kaboutermannekensberg between Turnhout and Kasterlee in the Belgian part of the Kempen region, with a generally evil reputation of stealing livestock, money, even kitchen utensils.

[40] According to a version from Landorp [nl] (North Brabant province, Netherlands) the klaboutermanneken would do all sorts of household chores: make coffee, milk the cows, clean, and even do the favor of ferrying a man across the Demer.

[26] Belief in the Klabautermann dates to at least the 1770s according to the oral source who told Heinrich Heine in 1820s that the lore went back at least fifty years,[6] however, none of the attestations antedate c. 1810s, i.e. no written records exist that are a more than a decade older than when collection of legends were begun in the 1820s.

[44] Georg Engel, Hann Klüth, in his novel der Philosoph (1905) has the character Malljohann witnessing a giggling and hand-clapping klabautermann arising out of water.

[49][50] The maritime sprite has also appeared in the literary works of Friedrich Gerstäcker, Theodor Storm, and later, Christian Morgenstern[12][51] Klabund, a portmanteau of Klabautermann and Vagabund ('vagabond') was the adopted pen name of writer Alfred Henschke (1890–1928).