Twice ToldJacob Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 1835: Hackelnberg, the stones, and Hackelberend
- Language
- German
- Reading
- transcribed from the page image
- Translation
- ours
- Retrieved
- 10 October 2026
Spelling as printed: Grimm writes nouns in lower case, “fs” for the long-s ligature (“stiefs”, “fufs”, “dafs”), and sets some words in italics. Line and page breaks are not kept. The two extracts are the paragraph on Hans von Hackelnberg (p. 518) and Grimm’s argument (p. 519), which comes straight after his remark that the stones of the Solling grave lie in a described order with two black hounds beside him.
Nach niedersächsischer sage war Hans von Hackelnberg braunschweigischer oberjägermeister und ein gewaltiger weidmann, er soll 1521 geboren, 1581 gestorben sein. drei stunden von Goslar, im garten eines wirtshauses, genannt der Klepperkrug, liegt sein grabstein. eines nachts, in schwerem traum, dauchte ihn, er kämpfe mit einem furchtbaren eber, und unterliege ihm zuletzt. wirklich traf er bald hierauf das thier und erlegte es nach hartem kampf; in der siegesfreude stiefs er mit dem fufs nach dem eber und rief: ‘hau nun, wenn du kannst!’ er hatte aber so heftig gestofsen, dafs des ebers scharfer zahn durch den stiefel drang und Hackelnbergs fufs verletzte. anfangs achtete er die wunde wenig, aber der fufs hub an zu schwellen, dafs der stiefel vom bein geschnitten werden muste und ein schneller tod eintrat. Nach andern liegt er zu Wülperode unweit Hornburg begraben.
[…]
Schon die unvereinbare verschiedenheit der örtlichen anknüpfung zeigt dafs hier, den grabsteinen im Harz und Solling zum trotz, ein mythisches wesen gemeint wird. ich bin geneigt, den westfälischen namen Hackelberend für die älteste, echteste form zu erklären. das ahd. hahhul, altn. hökull (masc.) und hekla (fem.), ags. hacele (fem.) bedeutet gewand, mantel, kutte, rüstung, hakolberand also im alts. dialect einen gerüsteten, geharnischten mann, vgl. alts. wâpanberand (armiger), ags. äscberend, gârberend, helmberend, sveordberend (gramm. 2, 589.) Nun aber erinnere ich an Odhins kleidung (s. 101), der gott erscheint in breitgekremptem hut, schwarzem, fleckichtem mantel (hekla blâ, flekkôtt): hakolberand ist unverkennbar ein alts. beiname des heidnischen gottes, des Wôdan, den man allmälich in Hakkelberg, Hakkelblok entstellte. wir gewinnen hierdurch nicht nur ein wichtiges zeugnis für den Wuotancultus mehr, sondern auch neue bestätigung der vom wütenden heer gegebnen deutung. zugleich leuchtet ein, warum sich die volkssage vom Hackelberg vorzüglich in Niedersachsen und Westfalen (wo das heidenthum länger haftete), nicht aber in Süddeutschland erhielt.
[Note at the foot of p. 519, marked * after the sentence on the Solling grave on p. 518:] Kirchhofs wendunmut no. 283. p. 342. deutsche sag. no. 171. nach den braunschw. anz. 1747 p. 1940 liegt der wilde jäger Hackelnberg im Steinfelde, unter einem stein, worauf ein maulesel und jagdhund gehauen sind.
Translation
Ours.
By Lower Saxon legend, Hans von Hackelnberg was Brunswick master of the hunt and a mighty hunter; he is supposed to have been born in 1521 and to have died in 1581. His gravestone lies three hours from Goslar, in the garden of an inn called the Klepperkrug. One night, in a heavy dream, it seemed to him that he was fighting a fearsome boar and lost to it in the end. Soon after, he really met the beast and killed it after a hard fight; in the joy of victory he kicked the boar with his foot and called: “Now strike, if you can!” But he kicked so hard that the boar’s sharp tusk went through his boot and wounded Hackelnberg’s foot. At first he paid the wound little heed, but the foot began to swell, so that the boot had to be cut from his leg, and a quick death followed. According to others he lies buried at Wülperode near Hornburg.
[…]
The irreconcilable variety of the local ties alone shows that, in spite of the gravestones in the Harz and the Solling, a mythical being is meant here. I am inclined to call the Westphalian name Hackelberend the oldest, truest form. Old High German hahhul, Old Norse hökull (masculine) and hekla (feminine), Anglo-Saxon hacele (feminine) mean garment, cloak, cowl, armour; hakolberand in the Old Saxon dialect therefore means an armed, armoured man, compare Old Saxon wâpanberand (armiger), Anglo-Saxon äscberend, gârberend, helmberend, sveordberend (Grammar 2, 589). Now I recall Odin’s dress (p. 101): the god appears in a broad-brimmed hat and a black, mottled cloak (hekla blâ, flekkôtt). Hakolberand is unmistakably an Old Saxon by-name of the heathen god, of Wodan, which people gradually distorted into Hakkelberg, Hakkelblok. With this we gain not only one more important witness for the cult of Wodan but also fresh confirmation of the reading given of the furious host. At the same time it becomes clear why the folk legend of Hackelberg survived chiefly in Lower Saxony and Westphalia (where heathenism lingered longer) and not in southern Germany.
[Note at the foot of p. 519:] Kirchhof’s Wendunmuth no. 283, p. 342. Deutsche Sagen no. 171. According to the Brunswick Anzeigen of 1747, p. 1940, the wild huntsman Hackelnberg lies in the Steinfeld under a stone on which a mule and a hunting dog are cut.
Notes
What it is. The chapter on the furious host (wütendes Heer) in the first edition of Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie, written for the argument that the wild hunt is a memory of Wodan. In Lower Saxony and Westphalia, Grimm says on p. 517 (read in the OCR text only), the wild huntsman is tied to the historical person of a master of the hunt; the passage above follows on p. 518 and carries his reasoning on p. 519.
What it gives. Birth in 1521 and death in 1581, both with “soll” (is supposed to), so as what the saga says and not as record. The gravestone is in the garden of the Klepperkrug, three hours from Goslar; “nach andern” at Wülperode. His footnote cites Kirchhof (no. 283, p. 342) and the Brunswick Anzeigen of 1747. His argument: the stones in the Harz and the Solling do not make a person, because the places cannot be reconciled; the name is an epithet of Wodan, “cloak-bearer”.
Grimm’s etymology is his own reading of 1835, and later scholars may not accept it; we cite it as his argument. “dafs” and “fufs” are Grimm’s spellings for daß and Fuß.