Top Ten Tuesday - Halloween Freebie

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish".

It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

Halloween Freebie

We don't really celebrate Halloween over here though some kids seem to be going around. Also, I'm not into fantasy, science fiction and/or horror stories, so not many recommendations. Instead of coming up with something that I don't really enjoy or have no relation to, I thought I'd tell you a little about our German autumn customs.

First of all, there is the festivity of St. Martin of Tours. There is a legend that he cut his coat in half and shared it with a beggar. Now, he rides on a horse through the villages and the children follow him with their lanterns, often to the church. The lanterns are mostly self-made, either at home or in playgroup/elementary school. You can buy them everywhere but the own ones are so much more fun. When I was little, we had real candles in them and had to be very careful for them not to burn down. Nowadays, you put an electric one in, safer and still the same amount of fun.

But we also used to go out on other nights. People had decorations up and you would go to the houses in the neighbourhood, sing some songs and get sweets as a "reward". So, you might have little visitors all through autumn, as soon as the nights got longer.

One of my favourite artists, Frank Koebsch, has painted two beautiful pictures of this even, one of them I published in my "Happy September" blog from 2018, the other one is from 2011, both of them depict the custom very well.

"Lasst uns Laterne gehen"

"Ich geh mit meiner Laterne"

And here are some of the songs we used to sing.

Ich geh mit meiner Laterne

Ich geh’ mit meiner Laterne und meine Laterne mit mir. Da oben leuchten die Sterne und unten da leuchten wir. Mein Licht ist aus, ich geh’ nach Haus. rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

English translation: I Walk with My Lantern I walk with my lantern, And my lantern with me. Above, there shine the stars, And we shine down here. My light is out, I go home, Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

Listen to this song on YouTube

Laterne, Laterne

Laterne, Laterne, Sonne, Mond und Sterne, brenne auf mein Licht, brenne auf mein Licht, aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht.

English translation: Lantern, Lantern Lantern, Lantern, Sun, moon and stars, Burn down, my light, Burn down, my light, But not my dear lantern.

Listen to this song on YouTube

We would sing the lantern songs at the houses, but here is a song that tells the whole legend and is usually sung when following "St. Martin".

Sankt Martin

Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind, Sein Ross, das trug ihn fort geschwind. Sankt Martin ritt mit leichtem Mut, Sein Mantel deckt' ihn warm und gut. Im Schnee saß, im Schnee saß, Im Schnee, da saß ein armer Mann, Hat Kleider nicht, hat Lumpen an. "O helft mir doch in meiner Not, Sonst ist der bitt're Frost mein Tod!" Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin zog die Zügel an, Sein Ross stand still beim armen Mann. Sankt Martin mit dem Schwerte teilt Den warmen Mantel unverweilt. Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin gab den halben still: Der Bettler rasch ihm danken will Sankt Martin aber ritt in Eil Hinweg mit seinem Mantelteil. Sankt Martin legt sich still zur Ruh, da tritt im Traum der Herr hinzu. Der spricht: "Hab Dank, du Reitersmann, für das, was du an mir getan.

English translation St. Martin St. Martin, St. Martin, St. Martin St. Martin rode through snow and wind, His horse carried him quickly away. St. Martin rode with light courage, His cloak kept him warm and good warm. In the snow sat, in the snow sat, In the snow, there sat a poor man, He didn't have clothes, he wore only rags: "Oh help me in my distress, Otherwise the bitter frost will be my death!" St. Martin, St. Martin, St. Martin pulled the reins, His horse stood still near the poor man, With his sword St. Martin cut the warm cloak in half. St. Martin, St. Martin, St. Martin quietly gives half, The beggar's wants to thank him quickly, But St. Martin was riding away in haste With half his cloak. St. Martin lies down quietly to rest, In a dream the Lord appears. Who says: "Thank you, horseman, For what you did to me."

Listen to this song on YouTube