AKlabautermann (German:[klaˈbaʊtɐˌman]ⓘ) "hobgoblin";[1] orKalfater ("caulker"[4]) is a waterkobold in Frisian, German and Dutch folklore that assistssailors andfishermen on theNorth Sea in their duties.
Dutch/Belgian tales ofkaboutermanneken described them ascave 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 theirmillhouse or farmstead.
The Klabautermann (also speltKlaboterman,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, theLow Countries (Netherlands, etc.) in theNorth Sea and theBaltic countries as well.[6]
The Estonian counterpart are calledkotermann orpotermann, borrowed from foreign speech.[7][8]
Anetymology deriving the name from the verbkalfatern ("tocaulk") has been suggested by the linguistFriedrich Kluge,[9][10][11] who considered "Klabautermann" merely to be a variant on "Kalfater" or "caulker" (attested by Temme[4]).[13] This was accepted by GermanistWolfgang Stammler [de] (d. 1965) and has come to be regarded as the explanation "held in favor" for its word origin.[10]
The Grimms' dictionary had listed the formsklabatermann, klabotermann, klaboltermann, and kabautermännchen and conjectured the word to derive fromLow Germanklabastern 'to knock, or rap'.[14][15][16] It was evidently a piece of folk etymology told by lore informants that the name klabatermann derived from the noises they made.[17] Elsewhere, Grimms' dictionary under "kobold" citesCornelis Kiliaan's Dutch-Latin dictionary (1620) [1574] conjecturing thatkaboutermann may derive fromcobalus/κόβαλος,[18] where it is glossed in Latin as a "human-imitating demon", and Germankobal given as equivalent.[19] Grimm also left a note that theKlabautermann could be tied to the shorter Dutch formkabout meaning "house spirit", found in an 1802 dictionary.[20]
His name has been etymologically related to the caulking hammer,[21] perhaps bridging a gap between the "caulk" and "noise" theories.
Heinrich Schröder [de] thought an earlier form *Klautermann could be reconstructed, derived from verbklettern 'to climb'.[21]
The Klabautermann, has been classed as a ship-kobold by some sources.[22][23]
Müllenhoff's anthology placed No. 431 "Das Klabautermännchen"[17] in the category of "House-koboldsHauskobolde" Nos. 430–452.[24]
Ludwig Bechstein discusses klabautermann alongside thenis ornis-puk of Northern Germany as being both water sprites as well as house sprites.[25] His chapter under the German title "klabautermännchen" discusses folklore cave-dwelling earth spirits, localized in the Netherlands, where they are called in Dutchkaboutermanneken (cf.§ Kaboutermanneken below).[26]
The Klabautermann possibly assimilates or conflates some of the lore of other spiritual beings, such as the Danishskibsnisse or "ship sprite" and the household spiritpuk of Northern Germany (cog.puck of English folklore).[6][27]
The Klabautermann only shows itself if the ship is doomed to sink, according to lore.[28] Only a few have [lived to] see it, since seeing it was bad luck.[4] The sight of a Klabautermann is an illomen, and in the 19th century, it was the most feared sight among sailors.[28]
However, when it does appear to humans, it typically appears as a small humanlike figure carrying atobacco pipe and wearing a nightcap-style sailor's cap[22] and a red or grey jacket.[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 (akaKalfater or "caulker"), according to Pomeranian sources, is about two feet tall, wears a red jacket, a sailor'swide trousers, and a round hat, but others say he is completely naked.[4] Or it may appear in the guise the ship's carpenter.[6]
The physical descriptions are many and varied according to various sources, as collected by Buss.[32] This likeness is carved and attached to the mast as a symbol of good luck.[citation needed]
An oral source stated there was a way to catch sight of it without danger. One must go alone at night between 12 and 1 o'-clock to thecapstan-hole (German:Spillloch), and look between the legs and past the hole. Then the spirit can be seen standing in front of the hole. But if it appears naked, no article of clothing must be given by any means, for it will be enraged at being pitied upon.[4]
The Klabautermann is associated with the wood of the ship on which it lives. He enters the ship via the wood used to build it. A belief existed that if astillborn orunbaptized child was buried in the heath under a tree, and the wood was then used to build a ship, the child's soul in the form of the klabautermann would transfer onto that ship.[4][33][6]
(Also, the superstition recorded from the island ofRügen held that a child who suffered a fracture can be helped towards healing by passing him over a split oak three times at sunrise; that oak bound back together and allowed to grow would eventually host the soul of the mended person, which became a Klabauterman when this timber was used.[34]Feilberg on his monograph on thenisse compares these German examples ofskibnsisse to the more general Danish belief that a person's soul, or awight (vætte) resides in any tree that needs be harvested for timber[35][a].
But the ship's unsinkability was then assured by the spirit's presence.[4][33] Its presence aboard ship is said to ward against illness, fire, evenpirate attack.[25] But there will eventually come a time when the spirit gives up and determines the vessel's seaworthiness will not hold, and decides to leave, in which case the ship is forlorn and is bound to sink (cf. below).[4]
He is said to be usually sitting under thecapstan (Ankerwinde, "anchorwindlass").[31] But he makes himself useful to the needs of the ship when in disrepair or struck by a squall, etc., preventing the ship from sinking.[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] Objects broken on the ship by day will be magically repaired during the night by the sprite, so that he is also calledKlütermann or "joiner", "repairman".[17][16] However, they can also prankishly tangle up the lines if shipmates are callous about maintaining their tackle.[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.[17][16]
When the ship is beyond saving and will sink, he again turns into apoltergeist, the rancor of him running up and down the ladder of the ship will be heard, ropes will rattle, and the hold will make noises (or it may climb to the tip of the "bow-spritBoogsprit" orfore-mast and splash into water[4]), at which point it is time for the crew to abandon ship.[36] But others say the ship will remain seaworthy and will not sink, that is until he leaves.[17]
The Klabautermann's benevolent behaviour lasts as long as the crew and captain treat the creature respectfully. A Klabautermann will not leave its ship until it is on the verge of sinking. To this end, superstitious sailors in the 19th century demanded that others pay the Klabautermann respect. Ellett has recorded one rumour that a crew even threw its captain overboard for denying the existence of the ship's Klabautermann.[5] Heinrich Heine has reported that one captain created a place for his ship's Klabautermann in his cabin and that the captain offered the spirit the best food and drink he had to offer.[6] The Klabautermann is easily angered.[5] Its ire manifests in pranks such as tangling ropes and laughing at sailors who shirk their chores.[28]
More recently, the Klabautermann is sometimes described as having more sinister attributes, and blamed for things that go wrong on the ship. This incarnation of the Klabautermann is moredemon- orgoblin-like, prone to play pranks and, eventually, dooming the ship and her crew.[citation needed] This deterioration of the Klabautermann's image probably stems from sailors, upon returning home, telling stories of their adventures at sea. Since life at sea can be rather dull, all creatures—real, mythical, and in between—eventually became the focus of rather ghastly stories.[original research?]
Bechstein applies the Germanized nameKlabautermännchen, 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 thekaboter or theKaboutermanneken.[26] These tales have previously appeared inJohann Wilhelm Wolf [de]'s anthology of Dutch folklore.
According to one anecdote, there was a small hill called Kabouterberg, riddled with caverns, where the kaboutermanneken dwelled; this hill was situated near the village ofGelrode (outskirts ofAarschot, Belgium). The miller could leave out his worn-out millstone and hope to have it sharpened by the sprite by offering bread and butter with beer; it would also wash linen.[37][38] A different version places the Kaboutermannekensberg betweenTurnhout andKasterlee in the Belgian part of theKempen region, with a generally evil reputation of stealing livestock, money, even kitchen utensils.[39] But a miller in Kempenland did obtain the help of the mysterious being who performed work overnight in exchange for the bribe of bread and butter. But after remaining hid to spy on this kaboutermanneken, he discovered the sprite to be stark naked. Then he made the mistake of leaving him clothing, which the sprite gladly took, but would not return to the mill afterwards. The miller attempted to catch the sprite gone wayward, but was outwitted.[40]
According to a version fromLandorp [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 theDemer. But it played favoritism, and tormented the neighbors with endless pranks, drinking their cow's milk and spoiling their butter.[41]
Beings calledRothmützchen ("redcap" from GermanMütze) orklabber reputedly multiplied wood, or rather, it would bring a few scrawny twigs which appeared not to serve much use as kindling, yet once ignited maintained as much fire as a bundle of wood.[42]
In one tale, thekaboutermanneken aided a young man to marry a rich man's daughter by boosting the amount ofguilders in his possession from eight hundred to a thousand, the amount stipulated by the bride's father as condition for marriage.[43] Bechstein's embellishment makes the youth only have a paltry sum: "not even a hundredBatzen", or only a few guilders.[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.[6]
The two early folkloric sources both come from the North Sea, collected by T. F. M. Richter (1806) from Dutch sailors, and by Heinrich Heine from a sea captain of theFrisian island ofNorderney.[44][6]
German writerHeinrich Smidt believed that the sea kobolds, orKlabautermann, entered German folklore via German sailors who had learned about them in England.[45] However, historians David Kirby and Merja-Liisa Hinkkanen dispute this, finding no evidence of such a belief in Britain. An alternate view connects the Klabautermann myths with the story ofSaint Phocas of Sinope. As that story spread from theBlack Sea to theBaltic Sea.[46] Scholar Reinhard Buss instead sees the Klabautermann as an amalgamation of early and pre-Christian beliefs mixed with new creatures.[47][48]
InAugust Kopisch's poemKlabautermann, the poet take literary license to embellish thekalabutermann as a violin-fiddling and dancing gay-spirited musician.[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 ofFriedrich Gerstäcker,Theodor Storm, and later,Christian Morgenstern[12][51]
Klabund, aportmanteau ofKlabautermann andVagabund ('vagabond') was the adoptedpen name of writer Alfred Henschke (1890–1928).[52]
In the United States,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "The Musician's Tale: The Ballad of the Carmilhan" inTales of a Wayside Inn (1863), in which the "Klaboterman" appears to the crew of the doomed ship Valdemar, saving only the honest cabin boy.
Several Klabautermann sculptures have been publicly installed. A Klabautermann water fountain built byHermann Joachim Heinrich Pagels [de] (cf. fig. right) was placed in the schoolyard ofPestalozzischule Bremerhaven [de] (i.e., thePestalozzianum foundation's school atBremerhaven) in 1912,[53][54] but is now relocated near theGerman Maritime Museum, Bremerhaven.[55]
A bronze sculpture byWalter Rössler [de] (d. 1996) stands at theNordfriesland Museum Nissenhaus [de] (cf. above).[56]
