Twice ToldSchambach and Muller, Niedersachsische Sagen und Marchen, 1855: a note on Hackelberg
- Language
- German
- Reading
- transcribed from the page image
- Translation
- ours
- Retrieved
- 10 October 2026
Spelling as printed (Fraktur; long s written s). Line breaks are not kept. The first sentence and the second extract are two stretches of one note on p. 347; the village names in brackets are the places where the variant was collected. The first letter of “Nienhagen” is printed N.
Sollten auch genauere Untersuchungen einen geschichtlichen Hackelberg nachweisen, so wird das doch nicht dazu berechtigen, diese alte mythische Sage aus einer wirklichen Jagdbegebenheit abzuleiten.
[…]
Hackelberg erlegt den Eber (Nienhagen): er wird von dem Eber an der Hüfte verwundet (Hardegsen); er äußert vor seinem Tode den Wunsch, so lange zu jagen als die Welt steht (Vernewahlshausen), oder vor dem Himmelreiche bis an den jüngsten Tag zu schweben (Hardegsen). Statt des Nachtraben kennen die Harzsagen eine Eule (Tutursel oder Tutorsel genannt), welche bei ihren Lebzeiten eine Nonne war, nun aber dem wilden Jäger voran fliegt.
Translation
Ours.
Even if closer investigations were to prove a historical Hackelberg, that would still not entitle anyone to derive this old mythical legend from a real hunting incident.
[…]
Hackelberg kills the boar (Nienhagen); he is wounded by the boar at the hip (Hardegsen); before his death he voices the wish to hunt as long as the world stands (Vernewahlshausen), or to float before heaven until the last day (Hardegsen). In place of the night raven the Harz legends have an owl (called Tutursel or Tutorsel), which in her lifetime was a nun and now flies ahead of the wild huntsman.
Notes
What it is. The notes to a collection of Lower Saxon legends by Georg Schambach and Wilhelm Müller. This page sits in their notes on the wild huntsman and shows how many local versions the editors had.
What it gives. The editors’ view that a historical Hackelberg, if one were found, would not explain the legend. Versions in which the boar wounds him at the hip rather than the foot, and in which his wish differs from Kirchhof’s (to hunt as long as the world stands, or to float before heaven until Judgment Day). The owl called Tutursel is a former nun, flying ahead of him.
Reading. “Tutursel” is printed with a long s (“Tutursel”, “Tutorsel”); the same owl is “Tut-Osel” in Grimm and Nachtigal, and Grimm gives “tutursel” beside it.