Schrat

Lore & Background

The Schrat is first attested in medieval sources. Old High German sources use the word to translate Latin terms for wood sprites (pilosi, fauni, satiri, silvestres homines) and nightmare demons (incubus, incubator, larva), suggesting the earliest Schrat was likely a furry or hairy fiend or an anthropomorphic or theriomorphic spirit dwelling in woods and causing nightmares. Middle High German sources continued to translate satyrus and incubus as Schrat, but one vocabularium glossed Schrat as penates (domestic sprite). The Middle High German story 'Schrätel und Wasserbär' (13th century) features a spirit haunting a peasant's house in Denmark, considered genuine house spirit (kobold) material. Martin von Amberg (c. 1350–1400) preached against offering the schretlein or trut pairs of little red shoes.

Reader's Guide

The Schrat's significance lies in its multifaceted nature, encompassing wood sprite, domestic sprite, and nightmare demon, reflecting a broad spectrum of folkloric beliefs across German and Slavic regions. Its medieval attestations show it was used to translate Latin terms for various supernatural beings, indicating its role as a catch-all for forest spirits and oppressive dream demons. Diminutive forms like Schrätel, Schrätlein, and Schrattel often carry the sense of an Alp (nightmare demon) or house spirit, and in southern Germany and Switzerland, the Schrat is specifically associated with nightmare pressure (Albdruck) and sickness. The creature also appears as a mining demon (Goldteufel) in Styrian legend, and its connection to witches and the living is seen in the belief that a Schratt can be a woman with joined eyebrows who goes out at night in the form of a white mouse to 'press' humans, cattle, or trees. This versatility makes the Schrat a key figure for understanding how medieval and early modern Europeans conceptualized spirits of the wild, the home, and the night.

Did You Know?

• The word Schrat shares roots with Old Norse skrati (sorcerer, giant), Icelandic skratti (devil), and English scrat (devil).
• In medieval sources, Schrat was used to translate Latin terms for wood sprites (pilosi, fauni, satiri) and nightmare demons (incubus, larva).
• In Swabia, the Schratt is a woman with an inherited ailment called schrättleweis gehen, whose soul leaves her body as a white mouse at midnight to 'press' humans or cattle.
• In Tirol, farmers hang a Schrattlgatter (a gate made of five interlocked wooden slats) in henhouses to protect livestock from the Schrattl's paralyzing pressure.