Elbst
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 A 1829 map of Lucerne | |
| Grouping | Creature of Belief |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | The Elbst; Great Elbst |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Region | Lucerne |
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Elbst is a giant aquatic creature of belief/ local water spirit, believed to be inhabiting in the Lake Selisbergsee, Lucerne, Switzerland. It is one of the oldest recorded European lake monster, from its earliest reporting in 16th to the 20th century. [1]
Accounting Figure[edit]
Renward Cysat (1545 – 1614) was a pharmacist , notary , cartographer, city councilor in Lucerne. [2][3]Renward Cysat was the first person to mention this reportedly aquatic creature/ spirit of Lake Seelisberg.
Accounts[edit]
Renward Cysat - “on a clear day, two phantoms of different shapes swimming here and there. They then metamorphosed, one into a big log, the other into a haystack. As soon as witnesses approached, both objects vanished. The people of the country take this as an omen of disaster."
Léopold Cysat (son/ nephew of Renward Cysat) completed the record in 1611 -
"..we saw a herd of pigs on the bottom, which, in the blink of an eye, transformed and rested upside down like raw/ unbleached calfskin that has just been peeled off. "
further mentioned that the lake Seelisbergsee supposedly has a secret communication channel with Lake Lucerne. [4][5][6]
Josef Müller (1870 -1929) was a Swiss hospital priest and collector of folk tales. During his stay as a hospital priest between (1903 - 1925) Pastor Müller collected stories and incidents from the locals, he collected around 1,600 legends or stories. He is believed to be one of the most important sources of folklore in the Alpine region. He recorded various different accounts of the creature by locals of Uri in the 2nd volume of “Sagen aus Uri”.[7]
Description[edit]
From various accounts over last four centuries some believe “Elbst” to be some form of shape shifting phantoms. Assembling the different records the creature appear to be long serpentine creature with a huge head resembling like a pig. The body of the creature is believed to be covered with hard armour like overlapping scales. From the different sightings sometimes it appeared as a bulky creature with the size of two boats side by side in the water, sometimes as moss-covered log or haystack or a drifting island. They have four feet with claws, like that of a dragon. Others have reported the creature as an enormous fish with legs. [8][9]
Behaviour[edit]
From the various collected account it is believed that this creature of belief can change shapes or metamorphosize. At night, it comes ashore in the form of a reptile and kills livestock. The locals believe that it appears rarely, some even saying once in seven years or even in 20 years. They generally believed to appear after a rain or thunderstorm. [10][11]
Superstition[edit]
There are various superstitions regarding the creature like, it would bring bad omen in the place if they kill it. Or that it has the ability to bring massive flood that would dessimate the place and hence sometimes it is regarded as the Beast of Apocalypse.
In Folklore[edit]
The creature Elbst is mentioned in Swiss folklore. Clemens Kohlrusch (1818–1892) Swiss writer and journalist author of “Schweizerisches Sagenbuch” published in 1854 mentioned about the aquatic creature Elbst. [12]
In the passage named "Der Elbst" author mentioned about the monster's habitat in the depths of the Selisbergsee and locals call it the "Elbst". It has the shape of a snake, a scale-armored body, feet with claws like dragons; but rarely it show its true form. Sometimes it swims as a trunk overgrown with moss, sometimes as a narrow, green patch of islands, torn from the banks, sometimes as a flowering branch on the surface of the lake. Misery strikes to whoever dares to approach the creature.
Often at night it rolls up to the shores of the lake and moves in hideous form over the pastures of the Alps. The next morning, local herdsmen witness gruesome death of cattle, strangled, scattered with occasional traces of sharp claw marks.[13]
Location[edit]
Elbst is said to be found at Lake Seeli or Selisbergsee, a serine lake in Seelisberg, the Canton of Uri near Lucerne, Switzerland.
Bibliography[edit]
- Cysat, Renward; Schmidt, Josef (1977). Collectanea chronica und denkwürdige Sachen pro chronica Lucernensi et Helvetiae (in German). Luzern: Diebold Schilling Verlag.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- Müller, Josef (1926). Bächtold-Stäubli, Hanns, ed. Sagen aus Uri. II. Basel: G. Krebs. Search this book on
- Kohlrusch, Clemens (1854). Schweizerisches Sagenbuch. Leipzig: R. Hoffmann. pp. 206–207. Search this book on
- Rose, Carol (2001). Giants, monsters, and dragons. New York: Norton. Search this book on
References[edit]
- ↑ Meurger, Michel (1982). Monstres des lacs du Québec : mythes et troublantes réalités. Montréal: Stanké. Search this book on
- ↑ "Cartographica Helvetica 2 (1990) 20–26: Summary". www.kartengeschichte.ch. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ↑ "Die Luzernerkarte von Hans Heinrich Wägmann und Renward Cysat 1597-1613 - Kanton Luzern". staatsarchiv.lu.ch. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ↑ Zeno. "Märchen der Welt im Volltext: 912. Der Elbst im Seeli (nach Cysat)". www.zeno.org (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ↑ Klöti, Thomas (1990). "Die älteste Karte des Kantons Luzern : von Hans Heinrich Wägmann und Renward Cysat, 1597-1613, die Originalzeichnung und die Nachbildungen". Cartographica Helvetica : Fachzeitschrift für Kartengeschichte.
- ↑ Meurger, Michel (1982). Monstres des lacs du Québec : mythes et troublantes réalités. Montréal: Stanké. Search this book on
- ↑ Zeno. "Märchen der Welt im Volltext: Spitalpfarrer Josef Müller". www.zeno.org (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ↑ Zeno. "Märchen der Welt im Volltext: Josef Müller: Sagen aus Uri". www.zeno.org (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ↑ Rose, Carol (2001). Giants, monsters, and dragons. New York: Norton. Search this book on
- ↑ Zeno. "Märchen der Welt im Volltext: Josef Müller: Sagen aus Uri". www.zeno.org (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ↑ Meurger, Michel (1982). Monstres des lacs du Québec : mythes et troublantes réalités. Montréal: Stanké. Search this book on
- ↑ Vernaleken, Theodor (1858). Alpensagen Volksüberlieferungen aus der Schweiz, aus Vorarlberg, Kärnten, Steiermark, Salzburg, Ober und Niederösterreich. L. W. Seidel. Search this book on
- ↑ "Der Elbst - Sage, C. Kohlrusch". www.maerchenstiftung.ch. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
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