The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship, the protagonist of a widespread legend around the world. According to tradition, it is a ship that could not return to port, condemned to roam the world's oceans forever. The sailboat is always seen in the distance, sometimes glowing with a ghostly light. If another ship greets him, her crew will try to get their messages ashore, to people who have died centuries ago.
Overview[]
Origin of The Legend[]
The versions of the legend are innumerable, but the original began with the captain of a Dutch ship, a bourgeois captain from Holland named Van der Decken, who made a pact with The Devil to always be able to sail the seas regardless of the natural challenges that might arise. God put on his journey. But God, omniscient, finds out about this and in punishment condemns him to sail forever without a course and without touching land, for which he receives the name "Flying Dutchman".
According to certain sources, the Dutch captain Bernard Fokke (from the 17th century) served as the model for the commander of the ghost ship. Fokke was famous for the strange cruising speed that he reached on the voyages between Holland and Java, for which it was suspected that he had signed a deal with the devil. In some Dutch versions of the myth, the captain is called Falkenburg. He is given the name van der Decken (meaning "on deck") by Marryat in his version, and Ramhout van Dam in Washington Irving's version. Some and others do not agree when it comes to calling the ship or the captain "Flying Dutchman". It is also said that he swore, in the face of a storm, that he would not turn back until he rounded the Cape of Good Hope, even if it took him until Judgment Day to do so. There has also been talk of a horrible crime committed on board the ship and even of a terrible epidemic that infected the crew, who for that reason were not allowed to disembark in any port, being condemned since then —ship and sailors— to sail eternally, without the possibility of stepping on land. As for the dates on which it would occur, there has been talk of 1641 and 1680.
Gallery[]
Images[]
