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...

Belsnickel comes from the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. Part of the spirit of the season, Belsnickel is male but often dresses...

From the southern Germanic lands, past the Swiss border come tales of der Türst, the dreadful huntsman who rides like a demon through...

Kriemhild marries Germanic hero Siegfried of Xanten . A princess of Burgundy, she grows up in the halls of royal plots and suspicious...

A European phenomenon, the Wild Hunt is a supernatural event crossing several cultures including German, Norse, Roman, French, English...

Creating a Frau Holle festival altar is fun. Frau Holle is perhaps the most beloved of German deities, with a number of different...

The Festival of Frau Holle decks the halls from her Feast Day 25 Dec to the 5-6th of January. An ancient German goddess, Frau Holle...

Elwetritsch is a hybrid bird creature from the Palatinate region in southwest Germany. She's described as a chicken or woman-like bird...

Wolpertinger (Wolperdinger, Woiperdinger) lives in the dark alpine forests and rolling hills of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern...

The Little Elder Tree Mother is an 1845 Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. It's also known as The Elderbush. The Elder Tree...

Hags in folklore are old women associated with magic. They can be witches, demons, queens, crones or nature spirits, kindly or hateful....

Cultivation of apples goes back to the Middle Stone Age in central Asia. The wild ancestor of today's apples still grows in the region....

The Nachzehrer or German vampire is a type of Wiedergänger , a ghoul of the Undead who rises from the grave to terrorize mortals. A...

Caraway (Carum carvi) is a cooking and medicinal herb with a pungent anise taste, known for its strong spicy fruits, called seeds. It's...

The Erntebock (Harvest Goat) is a treacherous spirit. Sometimes he's accompanied by his better half, the Habergeiß or she-goat. In...

Elves emerge when the world is young. Fleeting spirits, they develop with the fecundity of creation into nature entities found in almost...

Magic, mystery and sinister plots unfold as the Victorian era infuses European politics and society. Queen Victoria is a German princess...

Moss people inhabit deep forests, trees, ancient rocks and rills. Nature spirits of German mythology, they can appear in various forms...

A poor shoemaker named Karl and his wife Frieda live above their shoe shop, near a small village. Hardship comes upon them. The shoemaker...