#flodder

[obsessedbyneon]

Huub Stapel (Amsterdamned, Flodder, De Lift, etc.), 1986.

[rwpohl]

rumble fish, francis ford coppola 1983

[bestiarium]

The Flodder [Dutch folklore]

In Noord-Brabant, in the Netherlands, people would tell tales about supposed sightings of a dangerous swamp monster. Flodder is a large, hellish dog with black fur and four legs that end in frog-like webbed feet rather than paws. The creature is associated with hellfire, and it was said that when it shook water from its hide, you could hear the hot droplets sizzle when they hit the ground. He makes his home in the soggy swamp soil and only ventures above ground at night. His coming is often heralded by the sound of his barking, which has been described as resembling the noise of an otter, but short and hoarse and malicious.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what an otter sounds like.

Oddly, this creature is often referred to as ‘the flodder’ with an article and without a capital letter, as if it was a title rather than a name. The word ‘flodder’ is an old Dutch term for mud or mire, which is fitting for a swamp-dwelling monster.

Flodder was often sighted by smugglers at night. These encounters usually happened the same way: the victim would hear a panting noise before the monster jumped on their back, wrapping its four limbs around the victim’s body and pressing them to the ground with its weight. The victim usually blacks out and awakes the next morning, feverish and frightened on the cold swamp ground but otherwise unharmed. Not everyone was so lucky though: there is at least one account of a victim who was pressed into a swampy stream and drowned under the weight of the monster on his back. The man in question was a constable whom the locals convinced to kill Flodder, though needless to say, he did not succeed.

There is a story about a farmstead that the locals considered haunted, due to the strange phenomena happening there. One day, a farmer found a cat with pitch black fur and glowing fiery eyes sitting in a tree. The man asked the cat what it was doing there, upon which the animal replied ‘nothing, nothing at all!’ Hearing a talking animal frightened the farmer greatly, as cats are not usually capable of speaking.

The same farmstead was supposedly plagued by a werewolf, and people also claimed to have seen a black carriage flying through the sky.

Curiously, all of these hauntings would immediately cease whenever Flodder approached the farmstead. I don’t understand the significance of this. Perhaps other supernatural beings are as afraid of the Flodder as we are?

Sources: Sinninghe, J. R. W., 1980, Nederlands Sagenboek, Kruseman’s Uitgeversmaatschappij, Den Haag, 192 pp., p. 22- 26. Calisch, I. M., 1875, New complete dictionary of the English and Dutch languages, Volume 1, Campagne, 816 pp., p. 211. (Image source: Arnoud Paashuis, illustration for Nederlands Sagenboek)

[weirdlandtv]

Great shot during the chase scene in Dutch film, FLODDER (1986). Directed by Dick Maas. Saw it in the theatre when I was 9. A memorable flick, for several reasons…

[feliciore]

my 2023 art summary… thanks for all the love on the columbo posts throughout the year. it definitely inspired me to keep drawing! your comments and reblogs w tags especially are meaningful to me ♥️ thank you!

[elmasinthetree]

johnnie is echt een beetje homo (liefelijk)

[isailmyships]

Flodder fanfic

ik heb geen schaamte meer en wie weet vindt iemand anders dit ook leuk: Flodder fic! (ja het is gay)

[klik hier voor de AO3 link]

plusminus drie biljoen herhalingen op RTL - er moeten meer mensen zijn die de queer potential van alles van deze serie zien. ja ja de film is het origineel huub stapel hoehoe maar laten we het even over de serie hebben. lees mee en vertel me alles wat je denkt.

[itwouldbesonice]

Nelly Frijda, 1963