Beheading the goose

September 30, 2011

Sursee Gansabhauet swissworld.org

*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.*

Where do I start with this one?

How about with the rules:

Hang a dead goose by the neck in the town square
Put a big sun mask on a guy with no eye slits so he is blinded
Hand him a dull sword
Back away quickly

Each competitor gets one blind swipe at the goose with the dull blade. Kind of like a macabre “pin the tail on the donkey”. Whoever successfully decapitates the goose is declared the winner and gets to take the mangled goose home.

Here’s a quote from swissworld.org just so you don’t think I’m making this stuff up!

Gansabhauet, or Beheading the Goose, takes place on St Martin’s Day (November 11th). Alongside the main event are various events for children, including climbing a pole to knock down one of the presents attached to a tree at the top. The Gansabhauet itself involves blindfolded competitors using a blunt sword to attempt to decapitate a dead goose, strung up by the neck over a stage in the town square.

© swissworld.org