Redcap
A Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie or dunter, is a type of malevolent murderous dwarf, goblin, elf or fairy found in Border Folklore. They are said to inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland. Redcaps are said to murder travellers who stray into their homes and dye their hats with their victims' blood (from which they get their name).[1] Redcaps must kill regularly, for if the blood staining their hats dries out, they die. Redcaps are very fast in spite of the heavy iron pikes they wield and the iron-shod boots they wear. Outrunning a redcap is supposedly impossible.
They are depicted as sturdy old men with red eyes, taloned hands and large teeth, wearing a red cap and bearing a pikestaff in the left hand.[2]
The tale of one in Perthshire has him as more benign; living in a room in Grantully Castle, he bestows good fortune on those who see or hear him.[2]
The Kabouter, or redcaps of Dutch folklore, are very different, and more akin to brownies.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Robin Redcap and William de Soulis
As the familiar of Lord William de Soulis, a certain Robin Redcap wrought much harm and ruin in the lands of his master's dwelling, Hermitage Castle. Ultimately, he was taken to the Nine Stane Rigg, a circle of stones hard by the castle, wrapped in lead, and boiled to death.[3] In reality William De Soulis was imprisoned in Dumbarton castle and died there, following his confessed complicity in the conspiracy against Robert the Bruce in 1320.
[edit] In popular culture
Redcaps are mentioned in the Harry Potter series by British author J. K. Rowling.
Redcaps (properly called Powries) are one of the nine types of Shadow Fey or Arak in Ravenloft.
Redcaps are enemies which match their original description of goblins in the MMORPG City of Heroes.
Redcaps are one of the basic Kiths of Kithain in Changeling: The Dreaming, the RPG by White Wolf. They are strong supporters of the Unseelie court, often to the point of torturing their Seelie members. The redcaps' incredible appetite also figures strongly in the game.
Red caps (aka powries) are also some of the monsters in R.A. Salvatore's DemonWars Saga.
The Final Fantasy series, most notably in Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Redcaps appear and they are considered members of the goblin family, often being the weakest members of this family.
In the first Mage graphic novel: The Hero Discovered by Matt Wagner, redcaps serve as all-purpose henchmen to the Umbra Sprite, a powerful spirit of darkness.
Redcaps also appear in the game Dark Chronicle. Here the creatures are dwarfed no higher than the main character's knee and wear a red cap which falls over the top of their eyes.
Redcaps also appear in the Merry Gentry series by Laurel K. Hamilton as a powerful force in goblin society.
The popular trading card game Magic: the Gathering features a card by the name of Murderous Redcap, in which a goblin like creature is depicted complete with a blood-covered dagger and blood-soaked hat.
Redcaps have appeared on a number of occasions in author Mark Chadbourn's fantasy trilogies The Dark Age and Kingdom of the Serpent.
Redcaps also appear in a 1999 PC game published by Bethseda Softworks, Magic & Mayhem. They are one of several summonable creatures that fight alongside the main character.
Redcaps make several appearances in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series.
Sawney Beane, the main villain in Rob Thurman's novel Madhouse, is identified as a redcap, although the traditional accounts of Sawney Beane describe him as human.
Two Redcaps recently featured in the manga Arago by Arai Takahiro; their image is faithful to the original description, as is their behaviour of killing travellers.
You can summon a Red Cap in the DS game Scribblenauts.
A Red Cap fairy, though unnamed, appeared in Clap Your Hands if You Believe, episode 9 of Season 6 of Supernatural.
[edit] See also
- Bluecap (Northumbrian English)
- Brownie (English and Lowland Scottish)
- Cofgod (Archaic English)
- Far darrig (Irish)
- Kabouter (Dutch)
- Kobold (German)
- Leprechaun (Irish)
- Nain Rouge (French)
- Tomte (Scandinavian)
[edit] References
- ^ K. M. Briggs, The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature, p 57 University of Chicago Press, London, 1967
- ^ a b c Briggs, Katherine M. (1976). A Dictionary of Fairies. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin. pp. 339. ISBN 0-14-00-4753-0.
- ^ Mack, James Logan (1926). The Border Line Oliver & Boyd. Edinburgh.P. 146.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
