Trees are greening, flowers are blooming, birds are nesting – Spring is in the air! But despite the happy days this brings, be wary of what else may be lurking in the deep dark forest near you. Fresh from German folklore, CryptoVille explores the world of the Moss people!
In old German folklore, Moss people resemble dwarves in appearance, nearly the size of human children. They are covered in green moss, but their skin looks a bit gray, and they have a lot of hair that looks more like gray lichen. Their arms and legs look like “knotted maple bark.” Centuries ago, people considered them part of the fairy realm and they were dedicated to trees and the forest in general. For some reason, the Moss people population consisted of mostly females.
These “fairies” were known to borrow things from humans and at other times, ask for help with one thing or another. Occasionally they would ask humans for breast milk to feed their babies. They paid back their benefactors with either good advice or bread.
One had to be wary of their quick tempers, though. If you gave them caraway bread, they would be very angry and cry, “Caraway bread, our death!” Some tales describe them as behaving somewhat like changelings wherein they would sometimes steal very small human children.
Female moss people, called Mossfraulein (moss women), could cast a plague upon the land with one hand, and yet they were also able to heal the victims of these plagues. It was said that during epidemics, these Moss women would come out of the forest to show the people which herbs would cure or ward-off the sickness.
Shrub Grandmother
In a folktale description written by Ludwig Bechstein (photo below left) in the mid-19th century, he explains, “According to certain tales of the peasantry, a demonic creature dwells near Leutenberg and on the left bank of the river Saale, called the […] Shrub Grandmother. She has many daughters, called Mossfrauleins (“Moss ladies”), with whom she roves around the country at certain times and upon certain holy nights. It is not good to meet her, for she has wild, staring eyes and crazy, unkept hair. Often, she drives around in a little cart or wagon, and at such times it is wise to stay out of her way. Children, in particular, are afraid of this Putzmommel (hooded, female bogey) and delight in whispering tales of her to frighten each other. She is essentially the same spirit as […] the Wild Huntress – to whom local tales ascribe a following of children under the guise of the Heimchen (dwarves, pixies, brownies, hobgoblins) who constitute her attendants in the area she frequents.”
Wood Wives
Other tales refer to the Moss people as Wood Wives and these creatures appear young and lovely. Wood Wives were associated with a phenomenon known as the Wild Hunt. This occurred during Yuletide and Odin himself would ride his eight-legged horse through the forest. Ancient people believed all sorts of spirits would accompany this hunt through the forest and it was rather scary.
Even worse, at this time the Moss people/Wood wives were in peril for their lives and they had to run and disappear in order to save themselves. The only way they could escape their destruction was by hiding inside trees or stumps that had been marked with a cross, safe from Odin and his wild hunt.
Legend tells us that woodsmen of that era would take down trees as needed, but leave a large stump behind on which they carved a cross. In this way they helped protect the forest fairies that they loved.
Do They Exist?
So, after all is said and done, do we have any proof that these creatures actually exist or existed long ago? I’m afraid not. What we know about them comes 100% from folklore and old wives’ tales, not to mention research into historic literature that was done in the 19th century by Jacob Grimm (yes, of the Brothers Grimm fame), and Ludwig Bechstein.
But you know I never like to disappoint my CryptoVille friends, so I dug a little deeper and guess what I found?
Rising from the Murky Depths
According to an article in the Bangor Daily News, something strange can be found lurking in the streams along the outskirts of the city. In particular, in the Pushaw stream in Old Town, ME, naturalist Gudrun Keszocze spies a “gelatinous orb” nearly as big as a football.
What is it? A mass of moss animals, technically called bryozoans. The mass is covered in tiny tentacles and cilia and that’s what gives them the mossy look, as though they’re covered with something soft and fuzzy. See photo, right.
The animals use those tentacles and cilia to funnel food to their mouths. They have no skeleton, so they secure themselves en masse to underwater objects like sunken tree branches or stones for stability.
Not quite as benign as they initially sound, Keszocze explains, “Their defense mechanism is along their cilia. They give off some sort of irritant. And they actually give off a smell, a stinky smell. So, they try not to be very appealing.” Sounds like Mother Nature got that right!
So, what do you think about the legend of the Moss People?
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References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_people
https://bangordailynews.com/2018/07/04/outdoors/10-water-monsters-that-dwell-in-maine-waterways/
https://www.revolvy.com/page/Moss-people