The Flying Dutchman

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.

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(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.

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.

Cultural allusions

Two books by Brian Jacques: Castaways of the Flying Dutchman and its sequel The Angel's Command. In this adaptation, the captain blames the Lord God for the Dutchman's failures, and an angel descends to pass judgment upon them.

The Flying Dutchman is featured in the 2006 movie, Dead Man's Chest, captained by Dead Man's Chest) (Bill Nighy), and its inability to port is referenced by Jones himself, mockingly telling Will Turner that he is free to go ashore the next time they port, to which the entire crew laughs. The ship has the ability to travel underwater, and carries a large hammer which is used to summon the Kraken. It also has another unusual feature, a pair of triple cannons as bow chasers. When uncovered, one cannon will fire, then rotate to bring another one into firing position.
A film (1995) by Jos Stelling (De Vliegende Hollander).
A song by Jethro Tull on the Stormwatch album.
A song by The Band (Rockin' Chair).
A painting by Albert Ryder in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
A song by German group Von Thronstahl.
A graphic novel by Carl Barks.
A coffee shop in Amsterdam's red light district.
The Homeward Bounders, a book by Diana Wynne Jones.
Flying Dutch, a parody novel based on the Wagner opera by Tom Holt.
A play called Dutchman by Amiri Baraka.
A song by Tori Amos.
Referenced in the Jimmy Buffett song "Remittance Man".
A now-defunct ride once featured at Six Flags Over Georgia.
Dutch footballer Dennis Bergkamp suffers from severe aviophobia, and is endearingly named "The Non-Flying Dutchman".
Hall-of-Fame shortstop Honus Wagner was known in the press as "The Flying Dutchman."
Dutch K-1 Kickboxing champion Remy Bonjasky is known as The Flying Dutchmen for his vicious high flying knee strikes.
In the video game Alone in the Dark 2, the Flying Dutchman is the ship of One Eye Jack and his fellow ghost pirates.
The legend is portrayed in the movie Pandora and the Flying Dutchman featuring Ava Gardner and James Mason.
Richard Voorhees, a character in Julian May's sci-fi series Saga of Pliocene Exile, chooses the Flying Dutchman as his persona in exile, and ends by living out the part.
Time's Fool, a novel in verse by Glyn Maxwell, which recasts the legend on a twentieth-century night train.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a slogan written on planes of KLM.
"The Flying Dutchman" is the name of the ghost pirate appearing in many episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants, in which he is somewhat of a grim reaper, taking the characters away to Davy Jones' Locker.
The Flying Dutchman is the mascot of Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
The Flying Dutchman is the mascot of Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania.
The Flying Dutchman was the mascot of Hofstra University until it was changed to the "Pride".
The British children's book and film series Captain Pugwash features a ship named the "Flying Dustman".
A blue-level ski run on the front peak of Keystone Resort is named Flying Dutchman.
The Flying Dutchman plays a major part in the French comic named De cape et de crocs.
Larry Niven's novel Protector features a spacecraft named the Flying Dutchman, owned by an individual who used the alias Vandervecken.
"The Frying Dutchman" is a fast-food shop in Castletownbere/Ireland
In the acclaimed TV series The Simpsons, the name of Captain McAllister's Restaurant is The Frying Dutchman.
The Flying Dutchman is the name of a seafood restaurant in Morro Bay, a small town on the Central Coast of California.
In The Curse of Monkey Island, Guybrush Threepwood is forced to enlist the ferrying services of a cursed soul known as The Flying Welshman and his equally cursed dinghy.
Is a song from the Dutch Black/Death metal band God Dethroned called "Soul Capture 1562".
In the game Age of Empires, the Flying Dutchman is a ship unit able to move on land.
In Spider-Man the movie, the Flying Dutchman is the wrestler who faces Bone Saw before Peter Parker.
"Caleuche (The Flying Dutchman)", a song by Chilean power metal group Six Magics.
A water coaster ride at Efteling, the most important theme park in the Netherlands (Dutch name: De Vliegende Hollander).
The short story "Death Ship" by Richard Matheson in the collection Duel.
The Flying Dutchman appears in the constructible strategy game Pirates of the Spanish Main.
The name of the ship in the Billy Bones Dead Man's Tale game is Flying Dutchman.
The Flying Dutchman is an amusement ride at the Worlds of Fun theme park in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Flying Dutchman was the nickname of Dutch aviation engineer Anthony Fokker, who invented the interruptor gear for WW1-era airplanes.
"The Flying Dutchman" is a polka dance often performed at weddings.
The Flying Dutchman is the name of a Legendary Pirate in the board game Pirate's Cove, by Days of Wonder.
Flying Dutch was a 1991 fantasy comedy by Tom Holt loosely based on the legend and opera.
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
The Flying Dutchman Award for Outstanding Pirratitude is given to people displaying outstanding pirattitude. Sponsored by Both Talk Like A Pirate and Bilgemunky.com this prestigious award comes with a ton of plunder. Former winners include the American Pirate Association and The Pirate Captain of NC State University.

External links

Phantom vehicles | Nautical lore | Fictional ships | fictional immortals

Gourt Home::Gourt :: The Flying Dutchman

Origins

Details changed

Cultural allusions

See also

External links