Support Flemish Folktales Retold on Kickstarter Tell me, is someone knocking on all the doors in the village to let the people know that there will be dancing and rejoicing around a bonfire tonight? Has someone told the innkeeper that he will sell more beer today than on any of the feast days? Are you …
Continue reading Flemish Folktales Retold: The Last Letter of Sefa Bubbels
Support Flemish Folktales Retold on Kickstarter “I need another barn, and the devil may build it for all I care. I must have another barn,” Joost said as he stared at the bundles of sheaves piled so high they were doomed to rot. The farmhand had stacked them in front of the timber barn Joost’s …
De Roesschaert In the 18th century a woman who was known as de Roesschaert lived in a crumbled cottage in the dunes around Blankenberge. It’s said she never left her home but she was happy and lived the best life she could away from the busybodies and blabbermouths who populated the markets and squares. Others say …
Continue reading Witch Tales From the Sea and Sailor Superstitions
In this post we’re travelling to the Belgian coastline which is best known for its unsightly concrete apartment buildings and its dreary beaches, but fortunately I have some ghosts for you who make the shore, if not more appealing, at least much more interesting. The Eternal Fisher Fishing for shrimp on horseback was an important …
Continue reading Ghost Ships and Other Spectres that Haunt the Seaside
For this fairy and snake folktale we're travelling to Wallonia which is the French speaking part of Belgium. Because the region is known for its misty forests, enchanting waterfalls, streams crammed with mossy rocks and dark caves, it’s unsurprising that tales about fairies follow you everywhere you tread. The otherworldly beings who call The Ardennes …
Not far away from the Belgian city of Ypres there’s a small village called Beselare that has all the appearances of just being another, normal village where nothing unusual ever happens. There’s a town square, a flower shop, a church, a bakery and a lot of other ordinariness, but at some point you’ll start to …
Continue reading The Village Where More Witches Lived Than People Without Magical Abilities
For this folktale we’re meeting a nixie in the municipality of Lichtervelde in the province of West-Flanders, although it’s not a creature you would have liked to encountered in the flesh. The story goes that many moons ago there was a ditch that was feared and avoided by the locals who often woke up in …
According to a Flemish folktale a man no longer wished to be a werewolf. Howling at the moon and terrorising villages were no longer any fun. In fact, it had become boring. To cease to be transformed into a werewolf against his will the man had to revisit all the villages he had brutally attacked. …
Continue reading Short Folktale: The Werewolf Who Went on a Tour of Redemption
Besides the medieval facades, the cobbled alleys and the charming bridges, the city of Bruges is also well-known for the elegant swans that majestically swim in the narrow canals, and several folktales tell the story how these swans came to Bruges. The first tale is my favourite and the lesser-known narrative of the two. According …
In a small town near the Belgian city of Antwerp there once lived a free-spirited lady who was feared and shunned wherever she went. Not that she minded. The unnamed woman dragged her spinning wheel outside every day and spun until the sun went down while a black cat rested at her feet. The other …
Signe Maene 