Talk:The Flying Dutchman

The name "Vanderdecken" or "von der Decken" actually means from the dyke in German, which would fit to the Netherlands, which are said to be the flying dutchman's origin. However, does someone have a source about the origin of his name?

von de decken is not a german name en surtanly does NOT mean from the dyke! Vanderdecken is officially spelled van der Decken and is most likely spelled van der Decke, wich translate from old Dutch to on Deck! the legend The most famous legend of the sea is that of the Flying Dutchman. Superstition has it that whoever meets this ship is doomed to perish with all hands on deck.. As protection against such a fate, sailors would nail horse shoes to the mast. Some think that this 17th century legend was made up by the English to put their Dutch rival in a bad light.

Willem van der Decken, captain of the “Dutchman”, who was employed by the Dutch East India Co [ VOC] did not manage to round the Cape of Good Hope fast enough.

This is the tip of Africa where two oceans meet. Countering currents and high winds make it very difficult for sailing ships to round the Cape. Van der Decken then made a pact with the Devil that he would make it around the Cape, even if he had to sail upwind. God, so the story goes, punished the captain and sentenced him to roam the world’s seas as ghost skipper in perpetuity. Months turned into years, storms keep raging and his ghost ship is being pushed from sea to sea to this day. No waves can destroy it while other ships have perished nearby. Such are the tales some of the survivors told about the ghost ship the “Flying Dutchman”.

shame that noboldy mentions the Wagner Opera ! Is this the cultural page??
 * well, now it does. :)

Wait...in the version I heard, the Flying Dutchman is an omen of death, and those who see it will die swiftly and terribly.

Why is it called "flying"?!?
 * Flying=fast moving.170.215.105.84 01:12, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
 * When my father said to my mother that the ship was alleged to be unsinkable, her reply to that was: "Well that is flying in the face of God." Titanic survivor. "Flying in the face of" is what the Dutch captain is said to have done to the powers that be. --Chr.K. 15:08, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

To illustrate this topic, a good picture might help......--Prudentia 04:26, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

They SpongeBob Squarepants's Dutchman!

An anon user added this recently: "it is also at in and out burger: 2 meats, 2 cheeses, and no bun or anything." Does this have any credibility or should it be deleted forever? -Perimosocordiae 01:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * It is total nonsensical garbage put in to cause trouble for others, is what it is. --Chr.K. 15:08, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

"Frying" Dutchman
Not once has the Flying Dutchman been called the Frying Dutchman in Spongebob. His name has always been the traditional one. I've watched that show enough times to know. Please be aware of this! ViceroyInterus 14:44, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Pirates of the Caribbean: dead man's chest: I believe in this movie, the captain can go on land once every 13 years. Its true that the captian says that he's not due for the next landing for another 10 years, but prior to that, I believe it was explained in the movie that it was once every 13 years, and so presumably 3 years had passed for the captain since the last time he had been on shore. Can someone who has seen the movie recently verify this? If its 13 years, then the text for this wikipedia entry needs to be edited, since right now it says that in the movie its 10 years. I think its 13.

-jack is the one who had 13 years with the black pearl. they never said how long davy jones had to wait inbetween each port. just that there was nearly ten years until the next one

What's with the "DOUCHEBAG" references in the current page?
 * Was vandalism. Was reverted.--Chaser T 09:42, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

I believe it does say that the captain of the Dutchman can only go on land one day every 10 years, so I’d assume that includes Davy Jones as well. TheRealSpagheti (talk) 22:12, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Name of the ship, or captain?
I seem to recall, that bringing a woman aboard a ship is terrible luck for the crew and the voyage. So, the only woman was the ship itself. Sailors always refer to their ships as "her", or "she". So then why would the ship be called the "Flying Dutchman" if the ship's gender should be female? Maybe it just sounds better than "Flying Dutchwoman".

It's not uncommon for ships to have obviously masculine names--witness the lamented Edmund Fitzgerald. Nightsky 19:19, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Its true that jack had 13 years on the black pearl and the captain of the flying dutchman has a centuary (100) form port to port

Cultural Allusions
Does anyone else think this section has gotten out of hand? I don't think we need to be listing everything related to TFD. How about we prune the list down to just the notable instances of cultural allusion? --Perimosocordiae 22:53, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Oh, man, you ain't whistling Dixie. I agree that it's gotten totally out of hand, and should either be deleted outright or moved to a subpage.  I think *I* started the section (for whatever that's worth), and I never intended for it to become a listing of every last ski lift, etc., named after TFD.Nightsky 19:17, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. We could probably partially sort this out by compressing like for like. E.g. instead of three separate entries on songs one could say 'Songs by Tori Amos, Jethro Tull on the Stormwatch album and The Band on Rocking Chair', and so on, so forth. I'd like to change the fast-food entry to 'in several towns' as opposed to Castletownbere, as there's one near me, and I can't imagine them being that uncommon. I also wonder about the Monkey Island entry. The character in question is actually 'lost' not 'flying', and since he can only come to port when you light the lighthouse, I wonder if this isn't actually another legend altogether. Empty Book 10:40, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Better? Worse? At least it doesn't make my head hurt to look at it anymore. --Perimosocordiae 17:35, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Much better. :) I think this may be the best we can do without seriously evaluating 'worth'. 'The Flying Dutchman is a very popular tale, so many things will reference it. Empty Book 17:02, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Sorry to be nitpicky, but shouldn't we get references for these items in the "Cultural Allusions" section? In addition to making the whole section a little more legitimate, it could also help weed out bad additions. Or is it even worth the trouble? --Perimosocordiae 16:52, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

An Earlier Reference
The first paragraph in the Origin section of the article says that some say the "story is originally Dutch." It then alternatively suggests a number of possible literary sources with various nineteenth century dates, the earliest of which is 1826. The list includes an 1855 Washington Irving work.

However, Washington Irving's tongue-in-cheek, "A History of New York," published in 1809 contains a reference to the Flying Dutchman. It occurs in Part II Chapter I, titled Master Hendrick Hudson, and is dropped in at the end of a paragraph referencing various nautical legends as if Irving expected his readers to already be familiar with the story. The only thing he says about it is, "... that portentious phantom of the seas, that terror to all experienced mariners, that shadowy spectrum of the night—the flying Dutchman!"

Sighting during voyage of the future King George V

At 4 a.m. the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows. A strange red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the masts, spars, and sails of a brig 200 yards distant stood out in strong relief as she came up on the port bow, where also the officer of the watch from the bridge clearly saw her, as did the quarterdeck midshipman, who was sent forward at once to the forecastle; but on arriving there was no vestige nor any sign whatever of any material ship was to be seen either near or right away to the horizon, the night being clear and the sea calm. Thirteen persons altogether saw her...At 10.45 a.m. the ordinary seaman who had this morning reported the Flying Dutchman fell from the foretopmast crosstrees on to the topgallant forecastle and was smashed to atoms. - (from King George V, a biography by Kenneth Rose, 1988).

Here, Isn't something contradictory? The time stated is 4 a.m, but later he says the night being clear and the sea calm !!

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Two talk pages
Why are there two talk pages? One here, Talk:The Flying Dutchman (whereas The Flying Dutchman is a REDIRECT to Flying Dutchman), and one at Talk:Flying Dutchman? -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 13:12, 1 September 2012 (UTC)