The Lidérc
In Hungarian folklore, if you keep a black hen's egg warm under your arm, a creature will hatch that brings you gold, and never lets you rest.
What was reported
The lidérc is a creature of Hungarian folklore with several forms. One, the 'miracle chicken', hatches from the first egg of a black hen, kept warm under a person's arm. It becomes its owner's servant, bringing gold and treasure, but it demands constant work and never sleeps.
Another lidérc is a demon lover who visits lonely people at night, taking the form of someone they miss, and slowly drains them. It may appear as a flickering light in the sky or marshes. Getting rid of it means setting it an impossible task, like carrying water in a sieve.
Explanations offered
Folklorists link the lidérc to the will-o'-the-wisp and to stories about the dangers of greed and of grief. The trick of the impossible task appears across European folklore as a way of defeating demons.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- The Great Hungarian Plain, Hungary
- Witnesses
- Hungarian folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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