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What is the Flying Dutchman? The Legend of the Flying Dutchman

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"Flying Dutchman"(Dutch. De Vliegende Hollander, English. The Flying Dutchman) - a legendary sailing ghost ship that cannot land on the shore and is doomed to forever plow the seas. Usually people observe such a ship from afar, sometimes surrounded by a luminous halo. According to legend, when the Flying Dutchman encounters another ship, its crew tries to send messages ashore to people who have long been dead. In maritime beliefs, an encounter with the Flying Dutchman was considered a bad omen.

Origin

Legend has it that in the 1700s, Dutch captain Philip Van der Decken (or in some versions Van Straaten) was returning from the East Indies with a young couple on board. The captain liked the girl; he killed her betrothed and proposed to her to become his wife, but the girl threw herself overboard.

Other versions of the legend

Van der Decken vowed to sell his soul to the devil if he could pass the cape unharmed and not run into the rocks. However, in the contract he did not specify that this needed to be done only once, and therefore he was doomed to eternal wandering.
Due to strong storms, the ship was unable to round Cape Horn for a long time (according to another version, the Cape of Good Hope). The crew rebelled, asking the skipper to turn back. But the angry Van Straaten began to blaspheme in response and declared that he would storm Cape Horn, even if he had to sail until the second coming. In response to such blasphemy, a terrible voice was heard from the sky: “So be it - swim!”
The crew of a Dutch merchant ship fell ill with a terrible disease. For fear that the disease might be brought ashore, no port accepted the ship. The ship with sailors who died from illness, lack of water and food still roams the seas and oceans.
One version tells of Captain Falkenburg, who was doomed to wander the North Sea until the Last Judgment, playing dice with the devil for his own soul.
The crew of the Flying Dutchman was in such a hurry to get home that they did not come to the aid of another sinking ship, for which they were cursed.

Possible explanation

One of the possible explanations, as well as the origin of the name, is associated with the phenomenon of Fata Morgana, since the mirage is always visible over surface of the water.

It is also possible that the glowing halo is St. Elmo's fire. For sailors, their appearance promised hope for success, and in times of danger, for salvation.

Fata morgana of the ships.jpg

This image shows how the Fata Morgana changes the shape of the two ships. The four photographs in the right column are of the first ship, and the four photographs in the left column are of the second.

Fata Morgana of a boat.jpg

A chain of changing mirages.

There is also a version that yellow fever played a role in the origin of the legend. Transmitted by mosquitoes that bred in containers of food water, this disease was quite capable of destroying an entire ship. An encounter with such a ghost ship was truly life-threatening: hungry mosquitoes immediately attacked living sailors and transmitted the infection to them.

In art

In fiction, the legend has been presented in many variations. In 1839, the English writer Frederick Marryat's novel The Ghost Ship was published. (English)Russian, which tells about the wanderings of Philip Van der Decken, the son of the captain of the cursed ship. Nikolai Gumilyov’s poem “” from the series “Captains”, IV, published in 1909, is dedicated to the Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman is mentioned in the story “Captain Duke” by Alexander Greene.

The expression has been used more than once in cinema as an allusion. The title “The Flying Dutchman” was borne by such films as the film by Vladimir Vardunas, shot at the Yalta film studio “Fora Film” in 1990, and the film by the Dutch director Jos Stelling, released in 1995.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing The Flying Dutchman

Natasha was going to the first big ball in her life. That day she got up at 8 o'clock in the morning and was in feverish anxiety and activity all day. All her strength, from the very morning, was aimed at ensuring that all of them: she, mother, Sonya were dressed in the best possible way. Sonya and the Countess trusted her completely. The countess was supposed to be wearing a masaka velvet dress, the two of them were wearing white smoky dresses on pink, silk covers with roses in the bodice. The hair had to be combed a la grecque [in Greek].
Everything essential had already been done: the legs, arms, neck, ears were already especially carefully, like a ballroom, washed, perfumed and powdered; they were already wearing silk, fishnet stockings and white satin shoes with bows; the hairstyles were almost finished. Sonya finished dressing, and so did the Countess; but Natasha, who was working for everyone, fell behind. She was still sitting in front of the mirror with a peignoir draped over her slender shoulders. Sonya, already dressed, stood in the middle of the room and, pressing painfully with her small finger, pinned the last ribbon that squealed under the pin.
“Not like that, not like that, Sonya,” said Natasha, turning her head away from her hair and grabbing the hair with her hands, which the maid who was holding it did not have time to let go. - Not like that, come here. – Sonya sat down. Natasha cut the tape differently.
“Excuse me, young lady, you can’t do this,” said the maid holding Natasha’s hair.
- Oh, my God, well, later! That's it, Sonya.
-Are you coming soon? – the countess’s voice was heard, “it’s already ten.”
- Now, now. -Are you ready, mom?
- Just pin the current.
“Don’t do it without me,” Natasha shouted, “you won’t be able to!”
- Yes, ten.
It was decided to be at the ball at half past ten, but Natasha still had to get dressed and stop by the Tauride Garden.
Having finished her hair, Natasha, in a short skirt, from which her ballroom shoes were visible, and in her mother’s blouse, ran up to Sonya, examined her and then ran to her mother. Turning her head, she pinned the current, and, barely having time to kiss her gray hair, again ran to the girls who were hemming her skirt.
The issue was Natasha's skirt, which was too long; Two girls were hemming it, hastily biting the threads. The third, with pins in her lips and teeth, ran from the Countess to Sonya; the fourth held her entire smoky dress on her raised hand.
- Mavrusha, rather, my dear!
- Give me a thimble from there, young lady.
- Soon, finally? - said the count, entering from behind the door. - Here's some perfume for you. Peronskaya is already tired of waiting.
“It’s ready, young lady,” said the maid, lifting the hemmed smoky dress with two fingers and blowing and shaking something, expressing with this gesture an awareness of the airiness and purity of what she was holding.
Natasha began to put on her dress.
“Now, now, don’t go, dad,” she shouted to her father, who opened the door, still from under the haze of her skirt, which covered her entire face. Sonya slammed the door. A minute later the count was let in. He was in a blue tailcoat, stockings and shoes, perfumed and oiled.
- Oh, dad, you are so good, dear! – Natasha said, standing in the middle of the room and straightening the folds of the haze.
“Excuse me, young lady, allow me,” said the girl, standing on her knees, pulling off her dress and turning the pins from one side of her mouth to the other with her tongue.
- Your will! – Sonya cried out with despair in her voice, looking at Natasha’s dress, “your will, it’s long again!”
Natasha moved away to look around in the dressing table. The dress was long.
“By God, madam, nothing is long,” said Mavrusha, crawling on the floor behind the young lady.
“Well, it’s long, so we’ll sweep it up, we’ll sweep it up in a minute,” said the determined Dunyasha, taking out a needle from the handkerchief on her chest and getting back to work on the floor.
At this time, the countess entered shyly, with quiet steps, in her current and velvet dress.
- Ooh! my beauty! - the count shouted, - better than all of you!... - He wanted to hug her, but she pulled away, blushing, so as not to crumple.
“Mom, more on the side of the current,” Natasha said. “I’ll cut it,” and she rushed forward, and the girls who were hemming, did not have time to rush after her, tore off a piece of smoke.
- My God! What is this? It's not my fault...
“I’ll sweep it all away, it won’t be visible,” Dunyasha said.
- Beauty, it’s mine! - said the nanny who came in from behind the door. - And Sonyushka, what a beauty!...
At a quarter past ten they finally got into the carriages and drove off. But we still had to stop by the Tauride Garden.
Peronskaya was already ready. Despite her old age and ugliness, she did exactly the same thing as the Rostovs, although not with such haste (this was a common thing for her), but her old, ugly body was also perfumed, washed, powdered, and the ears were also carefully washed , and even, and just like the Rostovs, the old maid enthusiastically admired her mistress’s outfit when she came out into the living room in a yellow dress with a code. Peronskaya praised the Rostovs' toilets.
The Rostovs praised her taste and dress, and, taking care of her hair and dresses, at eleven o'clock they settled into their carriages and drove off.

Since the morning of that day, Natasha had not had a minute of freedom, and not once had time to think about what lay ahead of her.
In the damp, cold air, in the cramped and incomplete darkness of the swaying carriage, for the first time she vividly imagined what awaited her there, at the ball, in the illuminated halls - music, flowers, dancing, the sovereign, all the brilliant youth of St. Petersburg. What awaited her was so beautiful that she did not even believe that it would happen: it was so incongruous with the impression of the cold, crampedness and darkness of the carriage. She understood everything that awaited her only when, having walked along the red cloth of the entrance, she entered the entryway, took off her fur coat and walked next to Sonya in front of her mother between the flowers along the illuminated stairs. Only then did she remember how she had to behave at the ball and tried to adopt the majestic manner that she considered necessary for a girl at the ball. But fortunately for her, she felt that her eyes were running wild: she saw nothing clearly, her pulse beat a hundred times a minute, and the blood began to pound at her heart. She could not accept the manner that would make her funny, and she walked, frozen with excitement and trying with all her might to hide it. And this was the very manner that suited her most of all. In front and behind them, talking just as quietly and also in ball gowns, guests entered. The mirrors along the stairs reflected ladies in white, blue, pink dresses, with diamonds and pearls on their open arms and necks.
Natasha looked in the mirrors and in the reflection could not distinguish herself from others. Everything was mixed into one brilliant procession. Upon entering the first hall, the uniform roar of voices, footsteps, and greetings deafened Natasha; the light and shine blinded her even more. The owner and hostess, who had already been standing at the front door for half an hour and said the same words to those entering: “charme de vous voir,” [in admiration that I see you], also greeted the Rostovs and Peronskaya.
Two girls in white dresses, with identical roses in their black hair, sat down in the same way, but the hostess involuntarily fixed her gaze longer on thin Natasha. She looked at her and smiled especially at her, in addition to her masterful smile. Looking at her, the hostess remembered, perhaps, her golden, irrevocable girlhood time, and her first ball. The owner also followed Natasha with his eyes and asked the count who was his daughter?
- Charmante! [Charming!] - he said, kissing the tips of his fingers.
Guests stood in the hall, crowding at the front door, waiting for the sovereign. The Countess placed herself in the front row of this crowd. Natasha heard and felt that several voices asked about her and looked at her. She realized that those who paid attention to her liked her, and this observation calmed her somewhat.
“There are people just like us, and there are people worse than us,” she thought.
Peronskaya named the countess the most significant people who were at the ball.
“This is the Dutch envoy, you see, gray-haired,” said Peronskaya, pointing to an old man with silver gray curly, abundant hair, surrounded by ladies, whom he made laugh for some reason.
“And here she is, the queen of St. Petersburg, Countess Bezukhaya,” she said, pointing to Helen as she entered.
- How good! Will not yield to Marya Antonovna; Look how both young and old flock to her. She is both good and smart... They say the prince... is crazy about her. But these two, although not good, are even more surrounded.
She pointed to a lady passing through the hall with a very ugly daughter.
“This is a millionaire bride,” said Peronskaya. - And here are the grooms.
“This is Bezukhova’s brother, Anatol Kuragin,” she said, pointing to the handsome cavalry guard who walked past them, looking somewhere from the height of his raised head across the ladies. - How good! isn't it? They say they will marry him to this rich woman. And your sauce, Drubetskoy, is also very confusing. They say millions. “Why, it’s the French envoy himself,” she answered about Caulaincourt when the countess asked who it was. - Look like some kind of king. But still, the French are nice, very nice. No miles for society. And here she is! No, our Marya Antonovna is the best! And how simply dressed. Lovely! “And this fat one, with glasses, is a world-class pharmacist,” said Peronskaya, pointing to Bezukhov. “Put him next to your wife: he’s a fool!”

Sailing the seas in ancient times was fraught with many dangers. The death of people during storms not only caused fear of the elements, but also gave rise to many sad songs. Sometimes there were ships at sea with not a single person on them. There were also ships on which only human remains were found. And immediately various mystical tales and legends arose. A whole series of legends was created about the “Flying Dutchman” - a ghost ship, a meeting with which at sea did not bode well. It is believed that the legend of the “Flying Dutchman” originated in Holland at the beginning of the 17th century.

In ancient times, there lived in Holland a red-haired captain, Van Straaten, who was said to love gold more than himself. He recruited his crew for the ship from inveterate thugs, and they all obeyed him unquestioningly. He was harsh and cruel to everyone and to pacify the disobedient he carried with him a whip with a lead ball at the end.

Van Straaten was considered the luckiest captain. Getting on his ship meant making good money. He paid his sailors good money. Van Straaten sailed to the shores of India, Australia, and New Zealand. From there he took on board valuable stones, gold items, spices, and silk fabrics. Often he brought with him living goods - slaves. They sold well on the slave market and brought considerable profit to the captain.

Captain Van Straaten loved to talk about his adventures. From him, residents of coastal fishing villages learned about fatal currents, treacherous storm winds, abandoned ships plowing the sea, treasures hidden by pirates on distant islands, sea maidens and devils hiding in the abyss. Van Straaten was considered fearless and lucky. With him, the sailors were not afraid of stormy currents, strong winds, storms or sea devils.

One day Van Straaten bet with a visiting captain that he could easily go around Cape Horn, the end point of South America, going against the current and against the wind. When he returns, he will tell about his adventure, and as evidence he will bring with him the American Indians. All the captains present at the fishing restaurant made a bet with him.

Cape Horn is the most dangerous place for ships to pass. The waters of three oceans meet there, and the winds are always raging there. Even experienced “sea wolves” rarely dared to go around it. They said that this was a cursed place, where a sea devil lay chained with heavy chains at the bottom. As soon as he sees a ship sailing above him, he begins to rage, trying to destroy it. He causes waves, sends winds. This is who we need to beg for mercy.

Van Straaten didn't want to listen to anyone. He said that he would definitely go around Cape Horn and return to Holland safe and sound. He recruited a new crew, re-equipped the ship, set new sails, loaded corned beef and wine and set sail. But this time he was unlucky. With great difficulty he reached Cape Horn.

Storms and rains took a toll on his ship, food supplies ran out, the crew demanded to moor to the shore, but he stubbornly continued on his way, trying to go around Cape Horn. But nothing worked for him. As soon as his ship began to round the cape, a terrible wind began to blow, giant waves rose in the sea, they broke the masts and tore off the sails. Van Straaten sailed back, looked for a calm bay, where he repaired the ship.
Finally he got tired of this game of cat and mouse with the elements. Once again he swam to Cape Horn and shouted:

Hey sea devil, calm down. Let me pass by the cape, I will serve you faithfully.
Suddenly the wind died down, the waves calmed, and Van Straaten's battered ship rounded Cape Horn. The captain hoped to deceive the sea devil, but he failed...

One of the sailors who fled from his ship said that Van Straaten now serves the sea devil, who granted the captain eternal life. Since then, Van Straaten's ship has been floating on the waves near modern Cape Town. His ship has become a ghost, it scares the sailors, knocks them off course. This task was given to him by the sea devil, to whom the captain sold his soul.

Origin

In art

The image of the “Flying Dutchman” was very popular in the art of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Opera “The Flying Dutchman”, lyrics. Fitzball, music by Rodwell () (1826, Adelphi Theatre).
"The Flying Dutchman" is one of Richard Wagner's first operas, published in Dresden in 1843. The music for the opera was written very quickly, after Wagner and his wife Minna traveled by ship to England, during which they were caught in a storm, which gave food to the composer’s imagination.
"Ghost Ship" ( English) (1839) - a novel by the English writer Frederick Marryat, telling about the wanderings of Philip Van der Decken, the son of the captain of the cursed ship.
Popular British ballad "The Carpenter" The House Carpenter ) tells the story of a young woman who is seduced by a young man (the devil in the form of a young man) with rich promises, persuading her to leave with him. The girl decides to leave her carpenter husband and children and boards his ship, but after a few weeks of sailing it goes to the bottom. In some versions of the ballad, the devil himself sinks his ship, and in others, it crashes during a storm. This belief is due to the fact that ships carrying unfaithful spouses are destined for a tragic fate, and the devil captain is identified with the captain of the Flying Dutchman.
Poem by N. Gumilyov “” from the cycle “Captains”, IV.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (2007) are the second and third parts of the Walt Disney Pictures series of action-packed films about pirates. The captain is Davy Jones, a character from another sea legend - about Davy Jones' chest
Appears in the animated series "SpongeBob SquarePants".
The composition “Seemann” by the German rock band “Rammstein” tells a story based on the legend of the “Flying Dutchman”.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a Moscow rock band from 1992-1997.
In Leonid Platov’s novel “The Secret Fairway,” the “Flying Dutchman” is a secret submarine that carries out missions of particular importance for the needs of the Third Reich. The novel also contains one of the literary versions of the legend. In particular, at the end of the legend it is said that there is a certain word that if you say it when meeting the “Flying Dutchman”, the curse will be broken forever.
“The Flying Dutchman” is a song with lyrics by Boris Barkas, performed in the 70s in the rock underground, in particular by the Russian rock group “Time Machine” from the album “Unreleased I”, released in 1996.
“The Flying Dutchman”, feature film, Fora-film - Yalta-film, 1990
“The Flying Dutchman” (1993) - a musical piece for guitar by composer V. Kozlov.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a song by the Russian power metal band NeverLie.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a film by Dutch director Jos Stelling, released in 1995.
The Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship in the manga and anime One Piece. The captain is a representative of the fish-men race Van Der Decken IX, a descendant of the first captain of the legendary ship.
“The Legend of the Flying Dutchman” book by S. Sakharnov 1995
The Flying Dutchman (The Dutch Wife, 2002) is a book by Canadian writer Eric McCormack.
Mentioned as a terrible sea legend in the story “Captain Duke” by Alexander Greene.
The book "Two from the Flying Dutchman" by writer Brian Jakes presents one of the variations of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. The narrative develops around her.
Anatoly Kudryavitsky’s novel “The Flying Dutchman” (2012) gives a new version of the legend, where the captain loses a bet between Death and Death During Life, and gets the latter, on which the subsequent narrative about Russian life in the 70s of the 20th century is based.

The Legend of Philip Van Der Decken

The main version of the legend about the Flying Dutchman originates in the 16th century, at the peak of the period of “Great Geographical Discoveries”. The legend itself does not contain the name of the commander of the ghost ship, but at least two captains are eyeing this candidacy. The first of them is Philip Van Der Decken, and the second is Van Straaten. It is no longer possible to say exactly who the captain of that ship was, but Decken already has a personal legend. According to this legend, Philip was a wonderful and educated young man from Constantinople, but after the brutal murder of his family, everything changed. He left Constantinople and moved to Holland, where he realized that his future path led to piracy. In legends, he is characterized as a fearless, stern, soulless man with a whip and a red beard, which burns with a red flame during a thunderstorm.

The legend of how the Flying Dutchman becomes a ghost ship with a crew of damned souls begins when a couple of lovers asked to board the captain. A rich young man approached Decken with a request to transport him and his bride to the island where the bride's father lived. The young man wanted to ask the father for his daughter’s hand in marriage and Philip did not refuse him. During their crossing, the captain learned from the groom's servant that he was carrying untold riches with him and killed all his servants. Decken threw the groom himself into the sea, and he offered his bride two options for the development of events. Either she becomes his maid or goes down with her fiancé. The girl cursed the ship and the captain to never return to land and jumped into the abyss. Since then, the ship and its crew have been sailing in the waters of the world's oceans, and are a symbol of “doom” for those who saw it.

Other versions of the legend

There are many versions of this legend with different plots, but the ending of these legends is always the same - the ship and its crew remain cursed to sail across the seas and oceans until the end of time. Let's look at the most popular ones:

There is a version that the captain of the ship wanted to go around the Cape of Good Hope and at that time a severe storm began. The navigator asked the captain to wait out the storm, but he shot him in front of the whole crew and swore that no one would leave the ship until they rounded the cape, even if it took forever and a voice from the sky said: “So be it! "

The next version is similar to the previous one, only the captain sold his soul to the devil in order to go around the cape, but he deceived him and doomed him to eternal wanderings.

Another version is that the crew of the ship fell ill with a terrible disease and not a single port accepted them because they were afraid of the spread of the epidemic. As a result, the captain made a deal with the devil in order to stay alive and continue to destroy ships.

Historical background of the legend

The historical background of the legend of the Flying Dutchman is that in those days the so-called “yellow fever” was rampant. Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease, the outbreak of which occurred in South Africa and South America. The disease is transmitted by mosquito bites that breed in containers containing food water. This disease was quite capable of destroying the entire crew of the ship. An encounter with a pirate ship in itself does not bode well, but what if there is also yellow fever on board? Imagine bloody people with blisters all over their bodies storming the ship! This is how the legend of the Flying Dutchman could have arisen.

Meetings with the Flying Dutchman do not bode well. It is believed that everyone who saw this ghost ship died painful deaths. In the 18th - 20th centuries there were many references to encounters with a ghost ship around the world. There were a very large number of references in the literature of that time. Entries are found in the notes of such people as John Leyden, Thomas Moore, George Barrington and many others. The most famous meeting with the Dutchman took place on July 11, 1881. This meeting took place with Princes George and his brother Albert Victor of Wales off the coast of Australia in Bass Strait. This meeting became known from the personal notes of Prince George. It is also known that within an hour after meeting the ghost, one of the 13 people who saw the ship died a strange death.

For many centuries, sailors passed on from mouth to mouth the story of a huge black ship that moved with supernatural speed, despite the torn sails. Many claimed that they saw the legendary “Flying Dutchman” with their own eyes, after which tragic misfortunes and blows of fate awaited them. And for some, the meeting with this mysterious ship turned out to be fatal. Some modern researchers seriously believe that they have really solved the mystery of the Flying Dutchman.

Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Manuscript Found in a Bottle" (1833) tells the story of a man who is shipwrecked on a mysterious ship. His first encounter with the formidable ship is described in a tragic scene typical of Poe:

“Raising my gaze upward, I saw a sight that froze the blood in my veins. At a great height, right above us, on the very edge of a steep water cliff, a gigantic ship with a displacement of at least four thousand tons reared up. Although she hung on the crest of a wave a hundred times her own height, her true dimensions still exceeded those of any existing ship of the line or East India Company vessel. Its colossal, dull black hull was not enlivened by the usual carvings found on all ships. [...] But what instilled in us special horror and amazement was that, despite the sea raging with indomitable fury, this ship rushed with full sails towards a completely supernatural hurricane wind.”

Most likely, the American writer was inspired by stories about the Flying Dutchman. According to legend, this is a huge ship that was cursed and doomed to float at sea for all eternity. Among the sailors they said that the captain of the ship, returning from the East Indies, killed a couple in love. While passing the Cape of Good Hope, the ship encountered a storm. The blasphemous captain swore that none of his crew would set foot on the ground, which brought disaster. And now a gloomy ship with an immortal crew plows the ocean. Only once every ten years can the captain go ashore to find a wife and thus break the spell.

Usually the “Flying Dutchman” was seen from afar, when it swiftly sailed under full sail towards the wind, which could not help but frighten experienced sailors. Only sometimes a strange ship approached, and its sailors asked to convey letters to their relatives. In any case, meeting with a “cursed” ship was considered a bad omen by superstitious sailors.

There are many maritime legends and fables about the ship, but there is no real evidence to support the story of the “Flying Dutchman.” There is only one theory that explains the appearance of a ghostly ship that can glide along the waves against the wind and even fly in the air. It's all about optical illusion.

Optical illusion or fata morgana (named after the fairy Morgana, a witch from the tales of King Arthur) occurs due to the formation of several layers of air with different temperatures. They become a kind of “mirrors”, with the help of which the “picture” is transmitted very far. In this case, the image of the ship is reflected several times. Thus, you can see ships or islands far beyond the horizon. They will seem to be “floating” right through the air.