Legends about ghostly washerwomen, prophesying death, are found among some European peoples. But this belief is most common in Northern England and the French province of Brittany.
Bringing death
These are none other than banshees - otherworldly messengers of death. There are many varieties of banshees, including women in white who weep for the dead. In Ireland, banshees can be recognized by their eerie screams. But sometimes a scream replaces the knock of a laundry roll.
The banshee laundress is most often described as a small woman in white or green clothes, with an ugly thin face and bare feet, the toes of which are connected by membranes, like a duck. She usually does laundry by the pond in the evening or at night.
Only those who will soon have to lose someone close can see the "white washerwoman". She erases nothing more than a shroud for the future dead. Other options are bloodstained clothing and bloody insides. This activity lasts all night, from dusk to dawn.
In some places, this ghost is especially common, sometimes the "white washerwoman" informs a person which of his relatives will die. To do this, you need to sneak up on her from behind so that she does not hear, grab her tightly, not allowing her to escape, and ask your question, and after receiving an answer, immediately rush to run without looking. If the washerwoman turns around before the questioner comes up to her or he fails to hold her back, the ghost may disappear. And even worse - if the washerwoman, before leaving, whips wet linen on a person's legs, he will remain a cripple for life, will not be able to walk. If a person just gets too close to this ghostly creature or starts a conversation with her, she can strangle him or drag him into the water.
Sometimes the washerwoman grabs the curious by the arms and uses it to wring out the laundry. In the process of squeezing, she breaks the unfortunate hands. True, according to another version, this happens only with those who refuse to volunteer to help the ghostly workaholic.
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It turns out that approaching a banshee is generally dangerous, you can earn a lot of trouble. Better to look at her from afar or run away altogether.
Victims of the curse
No one knows if the sinister creature was once a living woman, or if it is exclusively a product of the other world. There is a version that during their lifetime these creatures were really laundresses, but after death they were punished for negligence when washing clothes. They also say that they are mothers cursed for killing their children. And the Scots have a legend about a washerwoman who died in childbirth before reaching a baby diaper. And she was forced to fulfill her duty after her death.
In folklore and literature
There are analogues of this folklore character among the most diverse peoples of Europe. Among them are Bavarian witches, Lithuanian laums, Slavic veshtits … Slavic myths tell about mermaids, who have bird paws instead of hands. They are usually located near springs, spread canvases and canvases on the ground, or wash them in spring water. In Germanic mythology, white sea wives and nyxes appear, and in Czech mythology, white pannas. All of them are engaged in washing shirts or hanging fabrics in the forest. And Polish and Galician foxes are replaced by large saggy breasts, with which they can also strangle a bystander.
However, skeptics argue that there is no mysticism here, just fear has big eyes. They say that in the old days women often went to wash their clothes at night (during the day, apparently, there was no time, or just at night no one interfered), and they really did not like it when they were spied on, especially men. Here's the "spy" and got from the laundress with a wooden roller.
The image of the "washerwoman of death" is reflected in literature, mainly based on the Celtic sagas. So, in the saga "The Destruction of Da Hock's House", the ghostly washerwoman Badb washes King Cormac's harness in the river, standing on one leg and covering one eye, which indicates that she belongs to two worlds at once - the human and the otherworldly. At the same time, the water turns bloody. Thus, Badb predicts the death of the king. In The Death of Cúchulainn, a laundress rinses the hero's chopped armor in water, and this is also a prophecy of his death … In the saga from the cycle of Finn McCumal, a ghostly woman named Morrigan washes the “bloody prey” at the ford. In the story "Victory of the Turlochs" Donnha O'Brien, going to battle with the Normans, sees an old woman who washes her severed heads and entrails in the lake before his eyes. When asked by the hero, she replies that these are the remains of Donnhee himself and his soldiers,who are destined to die in the coming battle …
By the way, the ghost washerwoman does not always bring only evil and death. They say that if you play with her in the right "questions and answers", you can get wealth or heal from the disease. And if you stand between the banshee and the edge of the water, then she will fulfill any three of your wishes … And if there is a daredevil who falls on the laundress's flabby chest and begins to suck her, then she will call him her adopted son and will help in business …