Jump to content

Leprechaun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 68.223.107.7 (talk) at 03:27, 8 January 2009. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the creature in Irish mythology. For other uses, see Leprechaun (disambiguation).
Leprechaun
GroupingMythological creature
Fairy
CountryIreland

In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male faerie said to inhabit the island of Ireland. They are a class of "faerie folk" associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical peoples said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts.

Leprechauns and other creatures of Irish mythology are often associated with "faerie forts" or "faerie rings" — often the sites of ancient (Celtic or pre-Celtic) earthworks or drumlins.

They usually take the form of old men who enjoy partaking in mischief. Their trade is that of a cobbler or shoemaker. They are said to be very rich, having many treasure crocks buried during war-time.[1] According to legend, if anyone keeps an eye fixed upon one, he cannot escape, but the moment the gaze is withdrawn, he vanishes.


Etymology

A leprechaun counts his gold, in this engraving circa 1900.

There are a number of possible etymologies of the name "leprechaun". One of the most widely accepted theories is that the name comes from the Irish word [leipreachán] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), defined by Dinneen as "a pigmy, a sprite, a leprechaun; for [luchorpán] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)"; the latter word Dinneen defines as "a pigmy, a leprechaun; 'a kind of aqueous sprite'";[2] this word has also been identified as meaning "half-bodied", or "small-bodied". This is the etymology given in the Collins English Dictionary.[3]

The word which is widely believed to be the root and one of the ones quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary is [luchorpán] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). An alternative derivation for the name and another one quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary, is [leath bhrógan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), meaning shoe-maker — the leprechaun is known as the fairy shoemaker of Ireland and is often portrayed working on a single shoe.[4] Another derivation has the word "leprechaun" deriving from [luch-chromain] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), meaning "little stooping Lugh", Lugh being the name of a leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann.[5]

The word leprechaun was first recorded used in the English language in around 1605 in Dekker's The Honest Whore, Part 2 as lubrican. The original meaning was of some kind of spirit and not specifically associated with the Irish mythological character:[6]

"As for your Irish Lubrican, that spirit
Whom by preposterous charms thy lust has raised." [7]

Some alternative spellings of the word leprechaun that have been used throughout the ages are; leprechawn, lepracaun and lubberkin. The word leprehaun has also been used.

Mythology

Leprechauns rarely appear in what would be classed as a folk tale; in almost all cases the interest of these stories centres around a human hero. Stories about leprechauns are generally very brief and generally have local names and scenery attached to them. The tales are usually told conversationally as any other occurrence might be told, whereas there is a certain solemnity about the repetition of a folk-tale proper.

In most tales and stories leprechauns are depicted as generally harmless creatures who enjoy solitude and live in remote locations, while in others they are depicted as ill-natured and mischievous, with a mind for cunning. Opinion is divided as to if they ever enjoy the company of other spirits. Although rarely seen in social situations, leprechauns are supposedly very well spoken and, if ever spoken to, could make good conversation. Some modern stories have associated leprechauns with quantum gravity.

A leprechaun is shown crafting shoes in this Engraving made in 1858. In previous years leprechauns had a less homogenised appearance.

Among the most popular of beliefs about leprechauns is that they are extremely wealthy and like to hide their gold in secret locations, which can only be revealed if a person were to actually capture and interrogate a leprechaun for its money. Another popular belief is that you may find a leprechaun and his pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Many tales present the leprechaun as outwitting a human, as in the following examples.

Appearance

The leprechaun originally had a different appearance depending on where in Ireland he was found.[8] Prior to the 20th century, it was generally agreed that the leprechaun wore red and not green. Samuel Lover, writing in the 1831 describes the leprechaun as,

... quite a beau in his dress, notwithstanding, for he wears a red square-cut coat, richly laced with gold, and inexpressible of the same, cocked hat, shoes and buckles.[9]

Yeats, in his 1888 book entitled Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry describes the leprechaun as follows:

He is something of a dandy, and dresses in a red coat with seven rows of buttons, seven buttons on each row, and wears a cocked-hat, upon whose pointed end he is wont in the north-eastern counties, according to McAnally, to spin like a top when the fit seizes him.[10]

In a poem entitled The Lepracaun; or, Fairy Shoemaker, the 18th century Irish poet William Allingham describes the appearance of the leprechaun as:

A cluricaun with a jug of wine. The cluricaun is often confused with the leprechaun.
...A wrinkled, wizen'd, and bearded Elf,
Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,
Silver buckles to his hose,
Leather apron - shoe in his lap... [11]

Some commentators accuse Allingham of leaving the legacy of the modern image of the leprechaun described below. [12]

The modern image of the leprechaun is almost invariant: he is depicted as having red hair (often with a beard), wearing an emerald green frock coat, and bestowed with the knowledge of the location of buried treasure, often in a crock of gold.

The leprechaun is related to the clurichaun and the far darrig in that he is a solitary creature. Some writers even go as far as to substitute these second two less well-known spirits for the leprechaun in stories or tales to reach a wider audience. The clurichaun is considered by some to be merely a leprechaun on a drinking spree.[13]

In politics

In the politics of the Republic of Ireland, leprechauns have been used to refer to the twee aspects of the tourist industry in Ireland[14][15]. This can be seen from this example of John A. Costello addressing the Oireachtas in 1963:

For many years, we were afflicted with the miserable trivialities of our tourist advertising. Sometimes it descended to the lowest depths, to the caubeen and the shillelagh, not to speak of the leprechaun.[16]

Leprechauns have also been used in jokes regarding fiscal irresponsibility, the idea being that the politician or political party being attacked has found a pot of gold, or is going to ask a leprechaun for the location of such a pot, accommodating their spending.

The term leprechaun language, has been used by some Unionists in Northern Ireland, and is a pejorative for the Irish language.[17][18]

Films, television cartoons and advertising have popularised a specific dim-witted image of leprechauns which bears scant resemblance to anything found in the cycles of Irish mythology. Irish people can find the popularised image of a leprechaun to be little more than a series of offensive Irish stereotypes.[19]

The stereotypical image of a leprechaun bedecked in green is particularly strong in the United States, where it is widely used for a variety of purposes, both commercial and non-commercial. In the novel Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Leprechaun (Re-spelled LEPrecon) is a fairy police force.

The leprechaun legend has spawned the successful Leprechaun horror film series, which began in 1993 with the Jennifer Aniston-starring Leprechaun. Five sequels have been released, all of them featuring Warwick Davis as the titular character.

Dylan Postl plays the Leprechaun character Hornswoggle the kayfabe son of Northern Irish wrestler Finlay for WWE's ECW brand

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leprechaun.
Look up leprechaun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Notes

  1. ^ From Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.
  2. ^ Dinneen, Patrick, Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1927
  3. ^ Hanks, Patrick, ed. Collins Dictionary of the English Language, London: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd, 1979
  4. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (full ed.) (1989).
  5. ^ Ireland Now - The Leprechauns.
  6. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (full ed.) (1989).
  7. ^ The Fairy Mythology by Thomas Keightley - Ireland
  8. ^ The Field of Boliauns - A typical tale involving a leprechaun printed in the 1800s.
  9. ^ Clever Tom and the Leprechaun
  10. ^ The Leprechaun in the Garden
  11. ^ Little Guy Style
  12. ^ From Legends and Stories of Ireland
  13. ^ From Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.
  14. ^ William Allingham - The Leprechaun
  15. ^ Criticism of William Allingham's The Fairies
  16. ^ From Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.
  17. ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 495 - 20 October, 1998 - Tourist Traffic Bill, 1998: Second Stage.
  18. ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 206 - 11 December, 1963 Committee on Finance. - Vote 13—An Chomhairle Ealaoín.
  19. ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 206 - 11 December, 1963 Committee on Finance. - Vote 13—An Chomhairle Ealaoín.
  20. ^ Republican Sinn Féin - AN GHAEILGE Why it is so important
  21. ^ Celtic League - Press Release - PSNI Not 'On Message' over Language Rights
  22. ^ Negra, D. (ed.) (2006) The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity and Popular Culture. (Durham : Duke University Press)

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leprechaun&oldid=262677796"