Nickel (Ni), a silvery-white metal with a lustrous sheen, is a transition element essential to industry and commerce, and known in...

Hematite, an iron oxide mineral with the chemical formula Fe2O3, is prevalent around the world. Known for metallic luster and red earth...

Christian Rosenkreuz is the legendary founder of the Rosicrucians (Order of the Rose Cross). Three writings attributed to him appear in...

Sweet oranges in Europe and northern regions are a special treat at Christmas, going back to St Nicolas of Myra (270 - 343) in today's...

Pfaffenkellnerin means "parson's waitress". She's the housekeeper of a parish priest before the Protestant Reformation. Screaming and...

Noisy spirits of Germanic mythology are any who scream, moan, wail, knock or rumble. They include Klagefrau the wailing woman;...

Poltergeist is one of the best known entities of European and American lore. It's classed among the "noisy spirits" of German myth, along...

White Ladies (Weisse Frauen, Weiße Damen) appear in folk and pagan traditions of Germany and other parts of Europe. White ladies manifest...

Heimchen are house crickets (Acheta domesticus) in German folklore, said to bring luck or foretell disaster. Dwarfs might take the form...

In German Alp can refer to an Elf or a mountain. An antiquated term, Alp for Elf drops out of common vocabulary in the Middle Ages and...

Sträggele is the wife of the Dread Huntsman, der Türst of Lucerne canton in Switzerland. In Lucerne the huntsman, Sträggele and their...

Fänggen are fearsome female tree spirits who dwell in the alpine forests of Tyrol, Austria, between Germany and Italy. Giants as big as...

Klagfrau or Klagefrau is the Wailing Woman of German folklore. To hear her is an omen of death or disaster. She goes by many names but...

Klabautermann is a water kobold of the Baltic and North Seas. He's one of the noisy spirits, who can scream like the wind. In general he...

The mystic Dragon is among the plentiful Harvest Spirits, nature spirits and legendary creatures in Germany. Appearing in various shapes...

In the 1st century BCE Julius Caesar writes about the tribes of Germania. He's struck by the apparent sparsity of the Germanic pantheon,...

Sprites are small, charming faerie people with no grudge against humans. Their interest in the mortal realm is limited. Sprite magic is...

House spirits such as Kobolds , domestic elves , gnomes and the earth hen are popular figures in Germanic myth and folklore. They have...

Beloved in gardens, gnomes bring blessings of Earth. Thought to dwell in underground tunnels, caverns, soil and rocks, chthonic gnomes...

Among the Old Gods of German mythology is Ziu (pr. Ts-ee-ew) the Sky God. He's equated with the Norse Týr, the one-handed god. The Sky...