The Flying Dutchman

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

The Flying Dutchman by Albert Pinkham Ryder

According to folklore, the Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that can never go home, but must sail "the seven seas" forever. The Flying Dutchman is usually spotted from afar, sometimes glowing with ghostly light. If she is hailed by another ship, her crew will often try to send messages to land, to people long since dead.

1 Origins
2 Details changed
3 Cultural allusions
4 See also
5 External links

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Origins

Versions of the story are numerous. According to some, the story is originally Dutch, while others claim it is based on the English play The Flying Dutchman (1826) by Edward Fitzball and the novel The Phantom Ship (1837) by Frederick Marryat, later adapted into the Dutch story Het Vliegend Schip (The Flying Ship) by the Dutch clergyman A.H.C. Römer. Other versions include the opera by Richard Wagner (1841) and The Flying Dutchman on Tappan Sea by Washington Irving (1855).

According to some sources, the 17th century Dutch captain Bernard Fokke is the model for the captain of the ghost ship. Fokke was renowned for the uncanny speed of his trips from Holland to Java and was suspected of being in league with the devil to achieve this speed. According to some sources, the captain is called Falkenburg in the Dutch versions of the story. He is called Van der Decken (meaning of the decks) in Marryat's version and Ramhout van Dam in Irving's version. Sources disagree on whether "Flying Dutchman" was the name of the ship, or a nickname for her captain.

According to most versions, the captain swore that he would not retreat in the face of a storm, but would continue his attempt to round the Cape of Good Hope even if it took until Judgment Day. According to other versions, some horrible crime took place on board, or the crew was infected with the plague and not allowed to sail into any port for this reason. Since then, the ship and its crew were doomed to sail forever, never putting in to shore. According to some versions, this happened in 1641, others give the date 1680 or 1729.

Many have noted the resemblance of the Flying Dutchman legend to the Christian folk tale of the Wandering Jew.

Terneuzen in the Netherlands is called the home of the legendary Flying Dutchman, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the Frederick Marryat novel The Phantom Ship and the Richard Wagner opera.

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Details changed

In Fitzball's play, the captain is allowed to go to shore once every hundred years, in order to seek a woman to share his fate. In Wagner's opera, it is once every seven years.

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Cultural allusions

The Flying Dutchman is referenced in scores of books, including novels by Brian Jacques, Carl Barks, Diana Wynne Jones, Tom Holt, Glyn Maxwell, Larry Niven, Richard Matheson, Jeffrey A. Carver, and many others.
It is also the mascot of several schools, including Hope College, Lebanon Valley College, and formerly Hofstra University.
The Flying Dutchman (sometimes Frying) has been used as a name for many restaurants, most notably in the television show The Simpsons.
The Flying Dutchman is also referenced in music, by Jethro Tull, The Band, Von Thronstahl, Tori Amos, Jimmy Buffett, God Dethroned, and Six Magics.
"The Flying Dutchman" (or variations) is the nickname of several athletes and celebrities, including Dennis Bergkamp, Honus Wagner, Remy Bonjasky, Anthony Fokker, Mark van Cuylenburg, and Arie Luyendyk.
The Flying Dutchman has been referenced in movies and plays, like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, De Vliegende Hollander, Dutchman, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, and Spider-Man.
The Flying Dutchman has also been referenced in TV shows, like Saga of Pliocene Exile, SpongeBob SquarePants, Captain Pugwash, and Supernatural.
There are also many allusions to The Flying Dutchman in games, like Alone in the Dark 2, The Curse of Monkey Island, Age of Empires, Pirates of the Spanish Main, Billy Bones Dead Man's Tale, and Pirate's Cove.
The Flying Dutchman is an amusement ride at the Worlds of Fun theme park in Kansas City, Missouri, as well as a now-defunct ride once featured at Six Flags Over Georgia and a water coaster ride at Efteling.
The Flying Dutchman is a painting by Albert Ryder in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a slogan written on planes of KLM.
The Flying Dutchman plays a major part in the French comic named De cape et de crocs.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a polka dance often performed at weddings.
"The Flying Dutchman" is the name of a no-bread burger (i.e., just meat and cheese) on the secret menu at In-N-Out Burger
A "Flying dutchman" is a type of flying roller coaster produced by Vekoma.