Tag: Elwetritsche

The Palatinate Connection

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They have many tales in the Palatinate about Elwetritsche – the descendants of various kinds of fowl bred with forest dwellers like elves and goblins. I once found an Elwetritsche egg on a hike in the Palatinate Forest and since it seemed abandoned I decided to put in my backpack and carry it with me. Unfortunately, the eggshell cracked when stumbled on a big root of an oak tree and the Elwetritsch hatched right there in my pack. It was the kind which has a beak and sharp teeth and it started to hack its way through the canvas. It managed to get out and immediately fluttered and hopped into the thicket where I just manage to glance a larger Elwetritsch whom the newborn followed. I was left bewildered, with a split backpack, a swollen ankle and tale to tell in the next pub over a dubbeglas filled with a dry local wine.

The Ragtag Daily Prompt: Furphy

Linked in Spirit

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There is a word in the dialect of the German southwest that sounds quite similar to eldritch: Elwetritsche. Etymologically they are not related, but there are certain similarities (besides one being an adjective, the other one a noun).

Both words have a connection to the mythical, the not-quite-explainable. Elwetritsche are said to have come about by cross-breeding wood spirits such as elves and goblins with domestic fowl. Somewhere along the lines, some also acquired antlers. Hunting them is great fun but one should avoid them at night when one is alone. A meeting might be quite scary or even dangerous, if not quite as horror-inducing as what eldritch suggests.

This is the Elwetritsche Brunnen or fountain in Neustadt a.d. Weinstraße.

Being descendants of fowl they lay eggs. The one just about to hatch inspired me to whip out my crayons.

The Ragtag Daily Prompt: Eldritch

Elwetritsche

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This fun fountain in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Germany sports a large variety of Elwetritsche – mythical creatures, supposedly bred from ducks, geese, chicken and woodland imps and gnomes.  The artist responsible is Gernot Rumpf.  More about Elwetritsche can be found on wikipedia.  I’ve posted pictures of their young ones before.

Cee’s Black &  White Photo Challenge is asking for fountains this week. For more wet photos click on the badge:

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Chickens aren’t the only ones

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Elwetritsche BrunnenElwetritsche Brunnen

The hatchling peeping out of an egg is an Elwetritsch, a mythical creature from the Southwest of Germany. This particular one is part of a fountain in Neustadt an der Weinstraße.  If you want to read up on Elwetritsche (apparently they’ve made their way to the New World where they are known amongst the Pennsylvania Dutch as Elbedritsch) you can look them up on Wikipedia.

This is in response to The Daily Post prompt “Egg” – more eggy posts can be found here.

 

The cat’s whiskers

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23 whiskers b
Not quite a handlebar, not quite a cowboy ‘stache.

23 whiskers c
Tiger, tiger, burning bright.

22 whiskers a
Now that’s a handlebar.

23 whiskers d
Women can wear whiskers, too.

23 whiskers f
Kitty style.

Elwetritsche Brunnen
This style is kind of wet (from the Elwetritsche fountain in Neustadt a.d.W.)

For Pick a Word in the Thursday’s Special Photo Challenge. I picked WHISKERS.

More Thursday’s Special contributions can be found here.