1/ Since @JohannaMakesGames was curious, here is a thread on assorted "Underworlds" from German folklore.

[juergen_hubert@mementomori.social]

@tuban_muzuru

It's a popular theme. I mean, people in earlier centuries didn't have access to either sonar or diving equipment - so any lake where you could not see the bottom was effectively bottomless.

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@tuban_muzuru @juergen_hubert

Another was
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Bechstein
or
https://www.wissens-blog.12hp.de/germanische-mythologie/
or
Nibelungen, König Laurins Rosengarten, etc.

[juergen_hubert@mementomori.social]

@Fred_S_at @tuban_muzuru

Ludwig Bechstein was a really prolific folklorist, and I have translated quite a few of his tales.

https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Bechstein_-_Der_Sagenschatz_des_Frankenlandes
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Bechstein_-_Der_Sagenschatz_und_die_Sagenkreise_des_Th%C3%BCringerlandes_Erster_Theil
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Bechstein_-_Der_Sagenschatz_und_die_Sagenkreise_des_Th%C3%BCringerlandes_Vierter_Theil
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Bechstein_-_Th%C3%BCringer_Sagenbuch_Erster_Band
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Bechstein_-_Th%C3%BCringer_Sagenbuch_Zweiter_Band

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
Old books with fairy tales, legends, old stories
(1)

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
Old books with fairy tales, legends, old stories
(2)

[juergen_hubert@mementomori.social]

@Fred_S_at @tuban_muzuru

I use this links list for my own research:

Sagen – Wikisource

(de.wikisource.org)

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
One must not forget the German Romantic period, Ludwig II Otto Friedrich Wilhelm of Bavaria (Neuschwanstein), and his court composer Richard Wagner (best known work – Ring of the Nibelung)..

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II._(Bavaria).

Richard Wagner – Wikipedia

(de.wikipedia.org)

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
King Laurin's Rose Garden – this legend takes place in what is now South Tyrol.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nig_Laurins_Rosengarten
.
https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN729138968&PHYSID=PHYS_0007&DMDID=

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
An old legend from Vienna
Der Basilisk in der Schönlaterngasse
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/oesterreich/wien/vonaltenhaeusern/basilisk.html
.
https://www.culturalatina.at/de/kultur/mythen-und-sagen/item/1849-der-basilisk-in-der-schoenlaterngasse
.
https://www.ganz-wien.at/lifestyle/mystery/der-raetselhafte-basilisk.html
.
https://austria-forum.org/af/Heimatlexikon/Basilisk
..
Der Basilisk – Tödliches, schlangenhaftes Ungeheuer
https://www.mittelalter-leben.de/mythen-legenden/basilisk/
.

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
Just think of all the legends there are in the Weinviertel region of Lower Austria!
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/oesterreich/niederoesterreich/weinviertel/sagen_noe_weinviertel.htm

[juergen_hubert@mementomori.social]

@Fred_S_at @tuban_muzuru

I haven't read any of the collections about Lower Austria yet, but they are on my list.

[fred_s_at@mstdn.social]

@juergen_hubert @tuban_muzuru
More about legends
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/sagen.htm
.
https://www.sagen.at/doku/Haymon_tb/Schoenste_Sagen.html
.
https://www.sagen.at/doku/Innsbruck_Sagenbuch/Innsbrucker_Sagenbuch.html
.
https://www.sagen.at/doku/gullibuch/Gullibuch.html
.
sagen.at is a very interesting and comprehensive source. It goes beyond the German-speaking world.

[juergen_hubert@mementomori.social]

@Fred_S_at @tuban_muzuru

It is, and I have read it in the past.

However, for copyright reasons I stick to digital scans of public domain works these days. I put my translations under a #CreativeCommons Zero license, but the legality of doing so is tricky if the copyright status of the source material is unclear.