Klagmuhme

The Klagmuhme or Klagemuhme (both: wailing aunt) is a female sprite from German folklore also known as Klagmutter or Klagemutter (both: wailing mother). She heralds imminent death through wailing and whining^[1] and is thus the German equivalent of the banshee.

Other name variants

The terms Klagmuhme, Klage, Klag, Wehklage (all: wailing), Klageweib, Klagefrau (both: wailing woman), and Klagmütterle (wailing mother) refer both to the Klagmuhme and to the owl with which the Klagmuhme often is identified. ^[2][3] The term Klagmutter also refers to the caterpillar of both the death's-head hawkmoth and of Arctiinae moths.^[4]

Further terms are Klagmütterchen (wailing mother), Winselmutter (whining mother), Haulemutter (wailing mother), Klinselweib (wailing woman), and Klagweh (wailing).^[4]

The Klagmuhme is first attested in 15th century Middle High German as klagmuoter (wailing mother), denoting an owl.^[5]

Appearance

The Klagmuhme often appears as an animal. So she roves howling around the concerned house in the shape of a longhaired black

Her appearance can also be neither human nor animal, though. She then appears as a distorted black figure or a rolling tangled clew,[4] particularly a misshapen blue clew spraying sparks.^[8]

Activities

The Klagmuhme's wailing being an

• Ludwig Bechstein: Deutsches Sagenbuch. Meiningen 1852. (reprint: F. W. Hendel Verlag, Meersburg/Leipzig 1930.)
• Mengis: Gespenst. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 3 Freen-Hexenschuss. Berlin 1931. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,
  ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0
  )
• Herold: Schaf. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 7 Pflügen-Signatur. Berlin 1936. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,
  ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0
  )
• Hoffmann-Krayer: Klagevogel. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 4 Hieb- und stichfest-Knistern. Berlin 1932. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,
  ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0
  )
• Jungbauer: Mitternacht. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 6 Mauer-Pflugbrot. Berlin 1935. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,
  ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0
  )
• Peuckert: Kauz. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 4 Hieb- und stichfest-Knistern. Berlin 1932. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,
  ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0
  )
• Ranke: Klage, Klagemutter, Wehklage. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens: Band 4 Hieb- und stichfest-Knistern. Berlin 1932. (reprint: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2000,
  ISBN 978-3-11-016860-0
  )