When the Gate of Hell opened at the Golden Necklace

When you enter the province of Friesland from the west by car via the Afsluitdijk ('closure dam') and continues on the A7 Hwy, you will pass a viaduct carrying the name Okkehel. If your destination is the port of Harlingen, also in the area, you might spot in its harbour bright green sloops of the sloop-rowing club Okke Hel. In this blog post, we will explore the legend of the skipper named Ocke, later written as Okke, who lived about a thousand years ago in this watery corner of the world. Moreover, let us pray that it is just a legend! Otherwise hiking the nearby 15-kilometer-long circular dyke path Pingjumer Gulden Halsband ('Pingjum golden necklace') could turn out to be a very risky and dangerous undertaking.

A thousand years ago, there lived a skipper named Ocke. He was born in the village of Pingjum. Ocke was a good and brave skipper. His posture and strength were no less than that of the famous Grutte Pier 'Great Pier' centuries later. Ocke was also a rough personality. Someone who liked his mug of beer. More worrisome, though, was that he was a heathen. Despite most Frisians already having embraced Christianity as their new religion, Ocke’s heart was still with Woden.

One day, Ocke sailed from the town of Bolswerd on the shores of the (former) Middelzee ('middle sea') via Pingjum to the sea channel Vlie. A sea inlet used to connect Pingjum with the Zuiderzee ('southern sea') and the sea channel Vlie. His ship was loaded with grain. When Ocke's ship was near the village of Witmarsum, the wind turned to the grim north and became a severe storm. His crew was terrified, and they experienced many hazardous moments. Luckily, the storm calmed down after a while. This made Ocke’s men cheerfully say: "Nou sil it mei Gods help wol gean" ('from now on, with God's help, it should be fine'). When Ocke, the pagan he was, heard this, he got furious. From behind the helm he yelled at his men:

“God is dea en kâld! Wat soe hy? ‘t Sil sûnder Him!”

‘God is dead and cold. What would he? It must be without him’

His words were a blasphemy of the first degree and could not go unpunished. Even in the nineteenth century, when philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, perhaps inspired by skipper Ocke, wrote "Gott ist tot" ('God is dead'), or when TIME magazine printed in the year 1966 on its cover the question "Is God dead?", the allegedly modern world was already outraged and in shock. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that as soon as Ocke had spoken these terrible words first a thousand years earlier, an enormous wave rolled towards the ship. It threw Ocke overboard. Immediately, a bolt of lightning struck Ocke and opened the abyss. The jaws of the wolf opened, and Ocke, his ship and crew were swallowed by the salty scum and taken to its dark depths. For all eternity.

Centuries later, many inlet seas in the province of Friesland silted up and were turned into arable land. Where once the wild sea reigned, grasslands and buttercups had taken over. For long, until around the year 1825, a wooden pole protruded above the lush grass (Van der Molen 1940). It was the tip of the mast of Ocke's ship, and the fields were called Ocke Hel or Okkehel. It is low-lying land. Submerged during winter, and filled with reeds and singing birds during summer. Unfortunately, the exact spot of the ship is no longer known. Cows used the tip of the mast to rub their body and skin against. Until it broke off. No farmer ever bothered to mark the spot.

To find the fields where the spectacular ordeal took place, leave the village of Witmarsum in a south-western direction via Koudehuisterdijk Rd. Actually, this backroad is an old dyke and part of the circular dyke-system Pingjumer Gulden Halsband (see further below). Follow the road until you reach the hamlet of Koudehuizum, which is not much more than a farmstead. South, towards the hamlet of Harkezijl and the terp village of Schraard, the landscape is a maze of medieval plots of land with remnants of medieval dykes like Marnedijk, Kattendijk, and Schraarderhemdijk. The latter is locally also known as Grienedyk 'green/young dyke' (Kartskarel 2006). When looking in the south-western direction, you can see at a distance of about 1.5 kilometers the viaduct named Okkehel too, as we mentioned at the beginning of this blog post. This wider area is where once the abyss opened during a foul storm with thunder and lightning.

What the hel?

The whole story explains why the fields near Koudehuizum carry the name Ocke or Okke, but it does not explain why it is called hel too. What is meant by the word hel anyway?

The word hel, helle, hol or hool can (also) be found in many toponyms in the province of Friesland. Think of De Hel (near polder it Heidenskip; no, we did not make this combination up), Lytse Hel, Hoalle Poarte, Hollepoartepoel, De Reade Hel, Reahel, Rohel, Helsdoar, Heldoar, Helbird, Skraeder Hol (near Okkehel), Hollegreft, etc. But also Hellum in the province of Groningen and Hellevoetsluis in the province of Zuid-Holland. Many of the toponyms, sometimes names of old farmsteads, are related to wet areas, ponds, (little) lakes, and former kolks (Winkler 1894). At the Hallumer Mieden, a waterlogged lowlands near the village of Hallum in the province of Friesland, you can find the old Eendenkooi bij de hel 'duck decoy near the hel' (Betten 2018).

The narrow sea strait between the island of Texel and the mainland, giving access to the Wadden Sea from the North Sea, today called Marsdiep, used to be called Helle Dore or Helsdeur ('hell's door'). A pumping station in Den Helder, the marine town at Marsdiep, carries the name De Helsdeur as a reminder. It has been in service since 1973. The etymology of the town of Den Helder itself, however, is uncertain (Van Berkel & Samplonius 2018), but we think it might be related to a hel as well. Maybe simply 'The Hel Door'.

The origin of the word 'hel' is probably Celtic and thus very old, dating back to at least the Late Iron Age. It means something like 'low lands', 'hollow', or 'swamps' (Van Berkel & Samplonius 2018, Clerinx 2023). Other toponyms in the Netherlands, which are just a selection, related to low-lying lands or swamps are: Helbergen, Helbroek, Hellebroek, Hell, Helle, Hellegat, Hellendoorn, Helleneind, Hellouw, and Helmond. A different explanation is that the word 'hel' is related to the (Welsh) Celtic word halein meaning 'salt' and hali meaning 'sea' (Kerkhof 2016).

In the old Germanic tradition, Hell is the underworld. The word might stem from the Proto-Germanic word haljō, the Gothic word halja and the Old Frisian word helle meaning something like ‘concealed place’. Think also of Old English helan meaning ‘to cover/hide’. Indeed, the almost identical verb helen in the Dutch language still means 'to heal'. And who has not heard the fairy tale Frau Holle or Mother Holle? A figure representing the pre-Germanic goddess associated with life and death. A creature connected with the underworld.

Taking these Celtic and Germanic similar explanations into consideration, a hel or hell is a place where evil spirits and souls stayed. A dark, cold and wet world. Like vortexes, kolks, sea straits, and deep ponds and pits. Places that were dangerous when the wetter was bad, misty and when it stormed. Wet places that gave access to the other world, to the underworld (Winkler 1894). In the world of medieval men and women, too, a water source could be inhabited by dragons, demons and other evil (Arnold 2024). Indeed, places where the gates or doors of Hell could open. A wormhole connecting spaces and dimensions.

Interestingly, this description is comparable with the medieval and early-modern concept of so-called grenslanden or border lands. Places of twilight where werewolves, warcs, Grendel-like monsters and outlaws (i.e. those who had received the so-called 'punishment of the wolf') lived. See for more about border lands our blog post Who’s afraid of Veracious Woolf? – the Dread Beast is Back.

The area of Okkehel is considered a former kolk or sea inlet. Hence a place connected to the underworld, and thus where the Gate of Hell was (and, who knows, is) located?

Pingjumer Gulden Halsband

The dyke-system Pingjumer Gulden Halsband 'Pingjum golden necklace' is a so-called binnenringdijk, meaning a dyke-system in the shape of a ring or collar, located more inland. It has a total length of circa 13.5 kilometers. Pingjum is the main terp village that is surrounded by the Gulden Halsband. Other (former) terp settlements within the Gulden Halsband are: Pingjumerrijge, Lutke Pingjum, Westingastate, Wattingastate, Meinsma and a former terp settlement of which the name has not been preserved (Van Rooij 2015).

The dyke-system developed between the tenth and twelfth centuries. Indeed, roughly the time of the legend of Ocke Hel. Primarily, dykes were built for protecting against flooding of the (former) sea inlet Marne. Sea inlet Marne was connected with sea channel Vlie which later became the Zuiderzee ('southern sea'), and today is Lake IJsselmeer.

The Pingjumer Gulden Halsband is one of the oldest circular dyke-systems in the Netherlands, and hence of the world. The oldest attestation of the name Gulden Halsband (‘golden necklace’) is from 1682. Amazingly, it kept its protective function well into the nineteenth century. During the catastrophic February Flood of 1825, much of the province of Friesland was submerged, too. But not the village of Pingjum and its surroundings. The Gulden Halsband withstood the wild sea after almost a millennium and kept the enclosed land within dry! It kept the Gate of Hell shut, so to speak. It hold the doors; Hodor. Only in 1892, it was decided that the Pingjumer Gulden Halsband no longer was part of the country’s sea defence. Big dykes immediately adjacent the sea had taken over its heavy responsibility for good – finally the Gulden Halsband could retire.

From around 2006, the villagers of Arum, Kimswerd, Pingjum, Witmarsum and Zurich started initiatives to preserve the Gulden Halsband. Some farmers already had levelled parts of the dyke-system to create more agricultural land. The villagers did so with great success. In 2019, the Gulden Halsband was listed as regional monument by the municipality Súdwest Fryslân. So, no more levelling by farmers. Through the years, biodiversity is increasing, too.

Part of creating more public and administrative awareness of the unique cultural relevance of the Gulden Halsband was to establish a hiking path along the dyke system. It is a beautiful circular walk and is part of the long-distance trail Nederlands Kustpad part 3. Sleep in the pension annex tavern De Gouden Leeuw ('the golden lion'), a former tram station, in the village of Arum, and start walking from there in the morning. Also, take with you that the soil you will be walking on is considered almost holy ground for the Mennonites – a worldwide Anabaptist church community whose founding father, Menno Simons (1496-1561), came from the village of Witmarsum (Hielkema 1995).

Why the dyke system got the name Gulden Halsband we do not know. Who knows, it has to do with those ancient times when Frisians lived under the yoke of the Vikings. As a symbol of their subordination, Frisians were obliged to wear a noose around their necks. After they had been liberated from Viking rule at the end of the ninth century, Frisians started wearing golden collars, as the old sagas recount. Read our blog posts With a noose through the Norsemen’s Door and Barbarians riding to the capital to claim rights on farmland about why golden collars, necklaces, and 'free necks' were so important.

animation of the Pingjumer Gulden Halsband

As an anecdote, an uncle of one of the Frisian bastards was born and raised in the village of Pingjum (Fam. Bruinsma). He remembered that when ploughing the fields outside the dyke system, i.e., the former sea inlet Marne, the clay was so thick and heavy it almost flipped the tractor backwards. Whilst ploughing inside the Gulden Halsband dyke system, this was not the case. When young, this uncle said they also claimed they could even taste the difference between potatoes from the village of Pingjum, grown on knipklei or heavy clay, and potatoes from the village of Witmarsum, grown on more sandy clay. Guess which ones this uncle preferred.

Conclusion

When hiking the circular path Pingjumer Gulden Halsband, and you are at the hamlet of Koudehuizum, do not forget to take a quick look in the direction of the hamlet of Harkezijl and the terp village of Schraard, where about the ship of Ocke Hel must have been. An area where, along the Schaarderhemdijk (also Grienedyk), it is haunted at night during autumn and winter. More importantly, refrain from taking the name of God in vain like Ocke did a thousand years ago, because just as well the Gate of Hell may open again. When the wind turns to the grim north, you better run!

A final remark. The ungodliness of the place is underlined by the recent find of a pommel cap that belonged to a sword of Viking making, the so-called Mammen style. Among other things, it depicts wild boars, which symbolized strength and courage. The cap was found by detectorist Sander Visser near the village of Witmarsum in May 2024 and will be displayed in the Fries Museum. Because Witmarsum is its provenance, we, therefore, like to think of it as Ocke's Sword – the heathen sea dog.

Note 1 – Featured image is the sculpture La Porte de l 'Enfer 'the gate of hell' created by Auguste Rodin. A sculpture inspired by Dante's fourteenth-century poem Inferno where, when entering Hell, above the doors the phrase is written 'Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate' ('abandon all hope, ye who enter here'). You can admire the Gate of Hell at the Musée Rodin in Paris. A warning: Now you know the legend of Ocke Hel, do not peak behind the gate to see what is there!

Note 2 – Harlingen-Terschelling Rowing Race (the HT).

Each year, rowing teams race with sloops from the port of Harlingen to the island of Terschelling; the so-called HT. It is a yearly race of circa 35 kilometers that started in 1975 and takes place in the spring. Depending on the weather, reckon three hours of rowing. One of the club teams participating is called Okke Hel with its green sloops. Sloops with the names Danser 'dancer' and Snurk 'snore'.

On the internet a variant can be found of the legend of Ocke Hel, alas without sources, that can be associated with the HT. According to this legend, Okke came from the port of Harlingen instead of the village of Pingjum; an Ouwe Seun ('old son') therefore. One day, when having a drink in one of the taverns of Harlingen, Okke makes a bet with a stranger. The bet is that they will row from Harlingen to the island of Terschelling. When leaving the tavern, Okke notices that the man has the legs of a goat. Okke realizes it is the Devil. Because the Devil is bragging continuously that it is the strongest rower ever, Okke asks if it is okay that he gets a 30-minute head start. The vain and arrogant Devil agrees. The next day they race. Okke starts and rows in a straight line to the island of Terschelling. What the Devil did not know, was that it would be outgoing tide. Not long after the Devil also started rowing, it hit a sandbank. Okko won the race. This is how Okkehel got his name.

An effective way to prevent the Devil to enter bawdy bars, graveyards or whatever places to collect souls, is to lay cattle grid on the ground or floor. With its goat legs it cannot cross the grid and enter the premisses. See also our blog post How to bury your mother-in-law with, besides cattle grid, more valuable tricks to ward off the Devil.

Note 3 – Okkehel was also the name of a Frisian punk band with new wave influences between 1979 and 1984, with Piter Wilkens as lead singer and main song writer. Okkehel is, in fact, one of the first music bands singing in Frisian language. Later, the band also incorporated influences of funk, reggae and jazz. Today, Piter Wilkens is a well-known troubadour and folk singer.

Note 4 – While Ocke Hel thought God was dead, respected American philosophers of Frisian descent, professors William Harry Jellema (1893-1982) and Alvin Plantinga (1908-1994), argued God is not dead (De Haan & Huisman 2009). The answer, of course, is 42 (Adam 1979).

Suggested music

Okkehel, No Hast (Alle Tiid) (1982)

Black Sabbath, God is Dead? (2013)

Legend of Ocke Hel by S. Koopmans (1890)

Van der Molen (1940) also documented this saga and gives Salverda, J.C.P., Hiljuwns-uwren (1834) as source.

Tûzen jier great lyn, do libbe Ocke, it iennichst bern fen Louw, in krêftige Fries, in echte séman, dy ‘t neat lieaver die as mei syn skip op it sâlte skom om to swabjen. In fûleinige skipper wier it, dij nin gefaer koe en for nin divel ef minske bang wier. Mocht er it Kristendom yn namme ek al oannomd ha, yn syn herte hie de âlde lear fen Wodan yet it greatste plak. Mei Wodan hied er lokkich en fortúnlik west: sûnder Wodan woe dat net mear flotsje. lendris wier er wer mei in forheftige stoárm op’e Middelsé en sette, by Boalsert lâns, de koers op Pingjum oan, hwent dat wier syn berte-plak. Der siet mem yn hjar wente al dagen lang mei eangstme nei him út to sjen. Ho trille it àld minske oer al hjar lea, as hja mei eltse ûre de wyn slimmer oanboasjen fielde. “Ocke, myn lieave Ocke, forgiet op it salte skom!” Sa kierme hja. Mar ek Ocke syn skipsmaeten wieren hjar rie to’n ein. Neat oars tochten hja, as it skip scoe forgean. Mar einling liket de stoárm hwat bidarje to scillen, en wylst it skipsfolk yn’e mest opsjucht, sizze hja tsjin elkoar: “Nou scil it mei Gods holp wol gean.” To nauwer need hat Ocke dy wirden fen syn kameraeten heard, ef de Satan springt yn him los, en hij snauwt syn folk ta: “Dy (God) is dead en kald!” To, “poat oan mar! Hwat scoe hy? ‘t Scil sûnder Him!”

O, grouwelike godslastering! Ocke, Ocke, hwat lean scilst derfoár krije! Bitink, as de wrake fen Him, dij’t de hiele wrald rejeart, dij treft, hwat skrik’lik lot dij den oer de holle hingje scil! Mar der tinkt Ocke net om, en — hy hat der ek gjin tiid mear foar. Hwent, nin tel is der forroun, neidat syn mûle dy freeslike wirden útbrocht hat, ef ….. in oeribel greate weage komt op it skip oansetten. Hja skoert him mei en Ocke ploft fen it roer wei oer board. In felle bliksemstriel fliocht troch syn lichem, spjalt de ougroun op en ….. for iwich fordwynt Ocke yn de djipte!

As jimme, friunlike lêzers, nou ier ef let, ris to Wytmaersum komme, den ha jimme mar in healûrke mear to rinnen om by it plak to stean, hwer’t dizze drowige historie fen foár tûsen jier bard is. Draei efkes oan’e westside de Kaldehúster dyk mar op; panderje sa twiske de bouIânnen troch en oer in stik fen de Pingjommer Halsbân bij ’t Spyk, in greate, trijekantige tichtgroeide poel, dêr’t winterdei in plasse wetter yn stiet, mar hweryn simmers de reidpopels en it toerebout tige yn’e hichte sjitte en hin en wer widsje. Den sjongt dêr yn de ieremoarn it lieaflik reidmoskje en tsjattert it út fen wille, wylst it him sêft op en del dounsje lit fen it bûgsomme reid. Op dat plak, nou iensom en forlitten, wier alear drokte en biweging bij de rûs. Do wier ’t de foárhaven fen Penninghom, fen Pingjum, wer’t de skippen delfoelen en ankeren, as de stoármen to folle op it Flie bûwkken, ef as hja hjar frachten to Pingjum losse woeden. Dat alles is nou, al ieuen lyn, forflein, lyk as alles op dizze ierde forgiet. En Pingjum-sels is in stil, gewoan bouboers doárp wirden, hwer’t nimmen me ar wennet, dij’t ús sizze kin, ho it Gea- of doárp-segel er earen útseach, der’t de oarkonde mei bisegele waerd, dij’t de willekarren bifette, hwernei de Tollegrietman to Pingjum mei syn Tollen (rjuchters) riuchtsje moást, op de 31ste Maert 1504 troch de ‘ghemene meente’, de yngesetenen, opmakke en fêststeld.

En as wij fen dat forlittene en binei alheel tichtgroeide havensté ús oukeare en skeanoer op’e Koaipleats oangeane, den fine wy dêr, efkes súdliker, de breede ryd of slinke, hwerfen de lânnen yet in ein djipper lizze as dij’t er neist oan ta komme, en dij slinke is it lêste oerbliuswsel fen de stream, hwerop Ocke en folle oare skippers foár ieuen hinne en wer sylden. Knyp de eagen efkes ta, en yn jimme forbylding sjogge jimme de seilen yet fen de Scraerderkant oukommen. En rin in pear gewinten lân fjirder, den stean jimme fuotten op in stik lân, dat eltse arbeider, boere-feint ef jonge jimme oanwize scil mei de namme, “Ocke Hel”.

To midden yn dat stik lân stoe, nou 60, 70 jier lyn, yet in peal, en dy peal wier de top fen de mêst fen Ocke syn skip, dat op dit plak, ieuen lyn, yn’e djipte forsonken is. Nou is, spitich genoch, dy peal dêr net mear. De kij hawwe der krekt sa lang tsjin oanrost, dat er oubritsen is, en nimmen it plak mear fine ken, hwêr’t er iens stien hat. Mar dat er der earen stoe, wit dy ald man jimme yet to forheljen, dij’t der in stik lân fierder mei syn brike skonk hinne strampelt to mollefangen. Hij hat him yn syn jonge jierren klear dêr kinnen.

En wolle jimme mear wíte fen in plak, hwer ik jimme ta bislút yet hinne liede wol, efkes fen siden de Kievytsherne yn’e hoeke fen de Grienedijk, de wei nei Scraerd op, — it scil jimme it folgjende forhelje. — Sount Ocke op dat plak, hwat nou yette Ocke Hel hiet, op sa’n grousomme wíze oan syn ein komd is, hat it yn’e harne fen’e Grienedyk, yn tsjustere hjearst- en winterjounen, jimmer spûke. Den wier Hantsje-om dêr oan it bouen. In filde foâle mei in gleaune kêrs op’e stirt, holp him ta dit wirk. Mar al ho lang as Hantsje dêr nou al beusig west hat, nea komt er fjirder. Nachts eint it ridlik wol, mar moáms as de dage wer oanbrekt, fordwynt syn wirk allíke ûnforklearbar yn’e skimering, as ‘t de jouns to foaren bigoun is. Sa giet dit jier út, jier yn, jimmer troch. En nea doch wirdt koárthakke wirch fen syn fruchtleas bodsjen.

Frisia Coast Trail.com

The 1,000 mile coastal hike for people with fear of heights
and interest in 2,500 years of living on the sharp edge of land and sea

When the Gate of Hell opened at the Golden Necklace

What the hel?

Pingjumer Gulden Halsband

Conclusion

Suggested music

Further reading

Legend of Ocke Hel by S. Koopmans (1890)

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