In Belgian folklore, Kludde, or Kleure, is a malicious spirit which roams the Flemish countryside.
Description
Kludde usually appears in the shape of a monstrous Black Dog that walks on its hind legs. It can also assume the shape of a huge, hairy, black cat, a horse, or a horrible black bird.
Behavior
Kludde is said to hide in the twilight of dawn and sunset and attacks innocent travelers. Travelers would listen for the only sound which betrays that Kludde is in the vicinity: the rattling of the chains with which the spirit is covered. The faster one walks, the faster this monster follows, even able to outpace a victim who ran in a zigzag. It could also be identified by blue flames that floated in front of it.
As a horse, Kludde would sometimes offer travelers a ride and, once they were mounted, would go at a breakneck pace, leading the victim on a terrifying ride. In this form it was little more than a prankster, since it would release its victims by throwing them into a pool of water and laugh at their misfortune, leaving them humiliated and angry but otherwise unharmed.
Quote
Kludde or Kleure is the name of an evil spirit which plays its pranks in a great part of Brabant and Flanders. With respect to its form it is a perfect Proteus; for which reason the peasants are so fearful of him, that they will not for any consideration venture into a forest, a field, or a road, which, according to common report, is haunted by Kludde.
This spirit often transforms himself into a tree, which at first appears quite small and delicate, but soon raises itself to an immeasurable height, and is lost in the clouds, while everything around it on earth is thrown into confusion. Another time he will clothe himself with the skin of a great black dog, and so run on his hind legs, at the same time rattling a chain that is round his neck, and will spring suddenly on the neck of the first person he meets; and when he has thrown him on the ground, entirely vanish. But Kludde oftenest appears as an old, half-starved horse, and as such is a bugbear to all grooms and horse-boys, who relate that when they leave their horses in the field at night, it frequently happens that, instead of their well-known horse or mare, they set themselves on Kludde, who instantly runs off with them at full speed, until he comes to some water, into which he pitches his terrified rider. While the poor fellow is struggling to save himself, Kludde lays himself with his belly flat on the ground and sets up a fiendish laugh, until his victim, sullen and angry, shall have worked himself out of his bath.
Occasionally Kludde assumes the form of a cat, a frog, a bat, or any other animal. His approach may be known by two little blue flames, which fluttering and dancing go before him. These flames are, as far as can be ascertained, the eyes of the spectre. It is difficult to escape from Kludde, even by running from him at the utmost speed in a zigzag; for, like a snake, he will wind in all directions with equal rapidity.
When this spectre takes his flight, he cries : " Kludde, Kludde!" whence comes his name.
- E. Lumley, 1852