https://www.monstropedia.org/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Snowstreak&feedformat=atomMonstropedia - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T01:00:14ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.37.2https://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Naga&diff=13482Naga2009-06-29T00:54:02Z<p>Snowstreak: /* Nāgas in popular culture */</p>
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<div>[[Image:Naga.jpg|thumb|Sculpture India]]<br />
The '''nagas''' are an ancient race of semi divine serpent creatures beings first depicted in ancient Vedic Hindu mythology and oral folklore from at least 5000 B.C. <br />
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Stories involving the Nagas are omnipresent in Hindu and Buddhist mythology and still very much a part of contemporary cultural traditions in predominantly Hindu (India, Nepal, and the island of Bali) and Buddhist (Sri-Lanka and South-East Asia) regions of Asia. Both regions have birthed numerous legends about the fabled race of Nagas and their sometimes benevolent, sometimes wrathful, interactions with the creatures of both heaven and earth.<br />
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=Nature=<br />
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==Etymology==<br />
The word Naga comes from the Sanskrit (नाग) , and nag is still the word for snake, especially the cobra, in most of the languages of India. Female Nagas are called Nagis or Naginis. In the East Indian pantheon it is connected with the Serpent Spirit and the Dragon Spirit. <br />
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When we come upon the word in Buddhist writings, it is not always clear whether the term refers to a cobra, an elephant (perhaps this usage relates to its snake-like trunk, or the pachyderm's association with forest-dwelling peoples of north-eastern India called Nagas,) or even a mysterious person of nobility. It is a term used for unseen beings associated with water and fluid energy, and also with persons having powerful animal-like qualities or conversely, an impressive animal with human qualities.<br />
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==Description/Morphology==<br />
Nagas are said to take various forms. Often described as giant serpents with multiple heads or creatures with the upper bodies of humans and lower bodies of vast snakes, they were extremely gifted shape-shifters, able to assume any appearance that suited their needs. (Burmese Nagas were even said to resemble crocodiles.)<br />
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==Family==<br />
According to legend, Nagas are children of Kadru, the granddaughter of the god Brahma, and her husband, Rishi or sage, Kasyapa, the son of Marichi. Kashyapa is said to have had by his twelve wives, other diverse progeny including reptiles, birds, and all sorts of living beings. They are denizens of the netherworld city called Bhogavati. It is believed that ant-hills mark its entrance.<br />
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Ancient Hindu myths hold that four distinct kinds of nagas exist: namely The Heavenly, the Divine, the Earthly and the Hidden. The first vigilantly ward the palaces of heaven, the second bring fertility to the world by by summoning the life giving rains, and the third take it upon themselves to preserve the mineral riches found deep in the earth's bowels from the grasping hands of greedy pillagers. <br />
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==Element==<br />
Water<br />
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==Powers/Weaknesses==<br />
Like humans, Nagas show wisdom and concern for others but also cowardice and injustice. Nagas are immortal and potentially dangerous when they have been mistreated. They are susceptible to mankind's disrespectful actions in relation to the environment. The expression of the Nagas' discontent and agitation can be felt as skin diseases, various calamities and so forth.<br />
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The nāgas also carry the elixir of life and immortality. One story mentions that when the gods were rationing out the elixir of immortality, the nāgas grabbed a cup. The gods were able to retrieve the cup, but in doing so, spilled a few drops on the ground. The nāgas quickly licked up the drops, but in doing so, cut their tongues on the grass, and since then their tongues have been forked.<br />
It was also believed by the Burmese that the precious gem-stones embedded in the throats or fore-heads of the Nagas, that contained their amazing powers, would be given freely to any human that the Naga had developed a great fondness for. <br />
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Additionally, Nagas can bestow various types of wealth, assure fertility of crops and the environment as well as decline these blessings. Nagas also serve as protectors and guardians of treasure—both material riches and spiritual wealth.<br />
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==Behavior==<br />
Though the Nagas were often dangerous to men if attacked or insulted when their waters were polluted and in some less common cases, when forced to see their friends subject to great humiliation , they were peaceable enough, using their deadly venom to only slay those found guilty of grave sins as well as others pre-destined to die an untimely death, in keeping with the dictate imposed on them by Brahma. True danger lay in incurring their wrath by refusing to offer them the proper obeisances owed to these granters of the vital rain. A king that once declared an end to Naga worship in his kingdom, was quickly forced to rescind his decree when a great drought befell his land, an obvious sign of the wrath of the Nagas. <br />
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More often than not, the Nagas were not portrayed as malevolent monsters. On the contrary, they were renown for their wisdom, with some of them imparting great wisdom to mankind. They were also devoted friends to men of exemplary virtue. When the Buddha entered a trance for several days, a great prince among the Nagas sheltered him from the ravages of the elements by raising his vast hood to raise a protective halo over the Boddhisvatta. Other great teachers that followed in the Buddha's footsteps, were given a similar honor. <br />
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==Friends/Predator/Preys==<br />
In Buddhism, the nāgas are the enemies of the [[Garuḍa]]s, minor deities resembling gigantic eagles, who eat them. They learned how to keep from being devoured by the Garuḍas by eating large stones, which made them too heavy to be carried off by the Garuḍas.<br />
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The Nagas were also known to develop feelings of great intensity for certain humans that inspired tender feelings. The beautiful females of their race, the '''Naginis''', are known to seduce men into accompanying them to the watery depths of Patalas. Such liasons were not uncommon with the most famous example, being the seduction of the great Vedic hero Arjuna by the beguiling Nagini princess Uulopi. The ancient Cambodians for their part, claim a king among the Nagas as their primeavel patriach, for it was he who wedded the mother of their people. <br />
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==Places==<br />
Dwelling in the watery nether-region of Patalas, they resided there in great splendor and opulence, ruling from massive gem encrusted palaces and mansions. Relegated to that particular region by the creator god Brahma who had grown displeased with their alarming fecundity, they nevertheless led a comfortable existence in that submerged place, free from misery or poverty of any kind. <br />
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Unfortunately, their good fortune often attracted great envy, especially from some of the other divine beings that craved to possess the ponderous riches of the Nagas. In one of their most bitter rivalries and feuds, the Nagas were temporarily driven from their city by an order of celestial immortals known as the Ghandavaras. <br />
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Defeated and humbled , their chieftains were forced to flee to Vishnu who restored their seized riches back to them by routing the conquering Ghandavara host with his awesome might. Perhaps this explains why the Naga king, Adi Sesha, is content to rest on the surface of the endless cosmic ocean, his coils serving as a bed for the sleeping Vishu as the god dreams our very existence into creation. <br />
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=History/Beliefs=<br />
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==Culture==<br />
To this day, the Naga cult remains powerful in Southern India and enclaves of S.E Asia, with numerous festivals and rituals conducted in their honor. As powerful symbols of fertility, they still retain a powerful hold on the minds of believers. <br />
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=== Nāgas in Hinduism===<br />
Stories are given - e.g., in the Bhūridatta Jātaka - of Nāgas, both male and female, mating with humans; but the offspring of such unions are watery and delicate (J.vi.160). The Nāgas are easily angered and passionate, their breath is poisonous, and their glance can be deadly (J.vi.160, 164). They are carnivorous (J.iii.361), their diet consisting chiefly of frogs (J.vi.169), and they sleep, when in the world of men, on ant hills (ibid., 170). The enmity between the Nāgas and the Garudas is proverbial (D.ii.258). At first the Garudas did not know how to seize the Nāgas, because the latter swallowed large stones so as to be of great weight, but they learnt how in the Pandara Jātaka. The Nāgas dance when music is played, but it is said (J.vi.191) that they never dance if any Garuda is near (through fear) or in the presence of human dancers (through shame).<br />
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The Nagas were the brood of the primordial sage Kaspya. Husband to two sisters, he promised both of them, prior to his departure to retire into seclusion as a true hermit should, that he would grant them anything that they desired. The first Kadru, appealed to him to grant her a progeny of a thousand and one that would make her proud of them. In this, he did not disappoint for it was Kadru's honour to become the mother of the Naga race. Her co-wife and rival Vinata, emboldened to outdo Kadru, only asked for two children that would be superior to their cousins in every way. The younger of Vinata's two offpsrings, would prove to be the formidable and terrifying eagle-god Garuda, hated foe of the Nagas. F<br />
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or it was fated that his mother through a cruel turn of fortunes, would end up as the slave of the Naga matriach, earning the undying enmity of this ferocious being. Driven to steal the nectar of immortality from the the strong-hold of Indran ,king of the semi-gods himself, Garuda managed to buy the freedom of Vinata in exchange for giving the Nagas the opportunity to imbibe of eternal life. But it was not to be. Determined to reclaim that which was rightfuly his, Indran soon stole it back almost as quickly as it had been plundered from him, prompting a rush among the Nagas for the few drops of nectar that the god spilled during his flight from their lair. <br />
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During this fracas, their skins developed the properties of regeneration as the spilled nectar soaked their scales, explaining why snakes shed their skins to this day. But their efforts to lap up and consume this priceless elixir proved to be less successful, with the Nagas splitting their tongues on the sharp-bladed grass, giving them a distinctive forked shape. But even this spectacular misfortune did not sate Garuda's thirst for vengeance, with his vendetta becoming a great bane and terror to their race. <br />
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===Nāgas in Buddhism===<br />
Traditions about nāgas are also very common in all the Buddhist countries of Asia. In many countries, the nāga concept has been merged with local traditions of large and intelligent serpents or dragons. In Tibet, the nāga was equated with the [[klu]] (pronounced lu), spirits that dwell in lakes or underground streams and guard treasure. In China, the nāga was equated with the [[lóng]] or Chinese dragon.<br />
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The Buddhist nāga generally has the form of a large cobra-like snake, usually with a single head but sometimes with many. At least some of the nāgas are capable of using magic powers to transform themselves into a human semblance. In Buddhist painting, the nāga is sometimes portrayed as a human being with a snake or dragon extending over his head.<br />
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Nāgas both live on Mount Sumeru, among the other minor deities, and in various parts of the human-inhabited earth. Some of them are water-dwellers, living in rivers or the ocean; others are earth-dwellers, living in underground caverns. Some of them sleep on top of anthills. Their food includes frogs.<br />
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The nāgas are the servants of Virūpākṣa (Pāli: Virūpakkha), one of the Four Heavenly Kings who guards the western direction. They act as a guard upon Mount Sumeru, protecting the devas of Trāyastriṃśa from attack by the Asuras.<br />
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===Nāgas in Cambodia===<br />
In a Cambodian legend, the nāga were a reptilian race of beings who possessed a large empire or kingdom in the Pacific Ocean region. The Nāga King's daughter married the king of Ancient Cambodia, and thus gave rise to the Cambodian people. This is why, still, today, Cambodians say that they are "Born from the Nāga". <br />
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The Seven-Headed Nāga serpents depicted as statues on Cambodian temples, such as Angkor Wat, apparently represent the seven races within Nāga society, which has a mythological, or symbolic, association with "the seven colors of the rainbow". Furthermore, Cambodian Nāga possess numerological symbolism in the number of their heads. <br />
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Odd-headed Nāga symbolize the Male Energy, Infinity, Timelessness, and Immortality. This is because, numerologically speaking, all odd numbers come from One (1). Even-headed Nāga are said to be "Female, representing Physicality, Mortality, Temporariness, and the Earth."<br />
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===Nāgas in the Mekong===<br />
The legend of the Nāga is a strong and sacred belief held by Lao and Thai people living along the Mekong River. Many pay their respects to the river because they believe the Nāga still rule in it, and locals hold an annual sacrifice for the Nāga. <br />
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Each ceremony depends on how an individual village earns its living from the Mekong River - for instance, through fishing or transport. Local residents believe that the Nāga can protect them from danger, so they are likely to make a sacrifice to Nāga before taking a boat trip along the Mekong River.<br />
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In some areas, two dead bodies are found in rivers or lakes ever year. The deaths are thought to be caused by Nāgas.<br />
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Also, every year on the night of 15th day of 11th month in the Lao lunar calendar at the end of Buddhist Lent (in 2003 it fell on Oct. 10), an extraordinary phenomenon occurs in the area of the Mekong River stretching over 20 kilometres between Pak-Ngeum district, about 80 kilometres south of the Lao capital Vientiane, and Phonephisai district in Nong Khai province, Thailand. Fireballs spew up from the river. <br />
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Everyone had doubts about this extraordinary occurrence, but later accepted what they knew as facts about the fireball: that it was not staged by humans, but happened naturally. So from then on, villagers on both sides of the river called this phenomenon the '''Nāga's Fireball'''. They believe that Nāga under Mekong River shoot the fireball into the air to celebrate the end of Buddhist Lent, because Nāga also meditate during this time.<br />
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===Prehistoric Nāgas===<br />
Legends similar to the Cambodian legend exist amongst the tribal Hindus of Southern India (Adivasis) and the aboriginals of Australia. In this version of the legend, the Nāgas inhabited a massive continent that existed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean region. The continent sank and the remnants formed the Indonesian archipelago and Australia. These Nāgas are said to have developed a subterranean or underwater civilization technologically more advanced than ours and they are thought to possess superhuman powers.<br />
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===Nagas in Nagaland===<br />
The Naga people of Nagaland are said to have believed themselves to be descendants of the mythological "Nāgas", but to have lost this belief due to Christian missionary activity.<br />
For Malay sailors, nāgas are a type of dragon with many heads; in Thailand and Java, the nāga is a wealthy underworld deity. In Laos they are beaked water serpents.<br />
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==Famous Nagas==<br />
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*Mucalinda, protector of the Buddha<br />
*Sesha - ("Eternal") the world serpent with a hundred heads<br />
*Balarama - a nāga incarnation of Vishnu<br />
*Karkotaka - controls weather<br />
*Padmavati - the Nāgi queen & companion of Dharanendra<br />
*Paravataksha - his sword cause earthquakes & his roar caused thunder<br />
*Takshaka & Vasuki - the kings of the Nāgas<br />
*Ulupi - the companion of Arjuna<br />
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=Theories and analysis=<br />
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==Theories about origin and existence==<br />
A sacred animal to the pre-Vedic aboriginal cultures that inhabited India prior to the Aryan arrival, the Naga myth was inspired by the cobra that evoked great awe with its lethal venom. To this day, the deadly snakes are known as as nags, an extremely old Sanscript term for them. This myth would have also been reinforced by raiding pirates from the outside world that would strike the coasts, only to mysteriously vanish and hide in the ocean, lending credence to the old legends. <br />
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=Art/Fiction=<br />
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==Nāgas in popular culture==<br />
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*In Harry Potter Voldemort's snake is named Nagini<br />
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*In the 50's, Bollywood cashed in on the mystique and power of the ''Nāgin'' myth to enthrall Indian audiences with the movie by the same name. However, it didn't succeed as well in capturing the popular imagination as the more well-known 70's flick, again called ''Nagin'' which had the erstwhile star, Jeetendra, (playing the Nāg that gets killed by a group of men). The film shot into stardom Reena Roy, the actress who, as the Nāgin, avenges the death of the Nāg by successively wooing and killing the murderers of her lover.<br />
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*''Nagin'', despite its success doesn't quite compare to the 1986 cult classic, ''Nagina'', that went on to be a blockbuster hit and imprinted the the myth of the woman-snake with Sridevi's trademark "snake dance".<br />
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* The naga have been used a serpent-like humanoid race in several fantasy settings, such as the Warcraft universe, in which the naga is a race of evil serpent-like humanoids in the computer games series developed by Blizzard Entertainment.<br />
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* Marvel comics features a super villain known as Naga. This Naga is a sorcerer, a king and a snake man (with green scales covering his skin) who lived and died many centuries ago.<br />
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==References==<br />
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==External links==<br />
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*[http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/n/nagaa.htm Nagas in the Pali Canon]<br />
*[http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_naga.htm Nagas]<br />
*[http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.brouwer/be2.jpg Image of a Seven-Headed Naga]<br />
*[http://www.jh-author.com/nagas.htm Naga Shapeshifters]<br />
*[http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/166_naga.shtml In the Coils of the Naga] Fortean Times investigate the mythology<br />
*[http://www.reptilianagenda.com/research/r073101a.shtml Nagas and Serpents]<br />
* [http://kzm7608.tripod.com/naga.html Real photos of naga?]<br />
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[[Category:Snake people]]<br />
[[Category:Fabulous beasts]]<br />
[[Category:Hybrids]]<br />
[[Category:Asian mythology]]</div>Snowstreakhttps://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Changeling&diff=13481Changeling2009-06-29T00:38:16Z<p>Snowstreak: /* Description */</p>
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<div>[[Image:changeling.jpg|thumb|Henri Fuseli 'The Changeling' 1780]]<br />
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In European folklore and, a '''changeling''' is the offspring of a fairy, [[troll]], [[elf]] or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in exchange for a human child. The motivation for this conduct stems from the desire to have a human servant (domestic), the love of a human child, or from malice. Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptized children. <br />
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'''Aka''' : Callicanzaris, Kontsodaimonas, Hosentefel, Gremlins, Leurre.<br />
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===Lore===<br />
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Greece, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, France.<br />
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===Description===<br />
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An imbecilic or deformed offspring of dwarves, elves, or faeries. It is often hollow and covered with leathery skin.<br />
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According to some legends, it is possible to detect changelings, as they are much wiser than human children and grow at a faster rate. When changelings are detected in time, their parents have to take them back. <br />
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The return of the original child "may be effected by making the changeling laugh or by torturing it; this latter belief was responsible for numerous cases of actual child abuse".<br />
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The changeling was also converted into the stock of a tree by saying a powerful rhyme over him, or by sticking him with a knife. He could be driven away by running at him with a red-hot ploughshare; by getting between him and the bed and threatening him with a drawn sword; by leaving him out on the hillside, and paying no attention to his shrieking and screaming; by putting him sitting on a gridiron, or in a creel, with a fire below; by sprinkling him well out of the maistir tub; or by dropping him into the river.<br />
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===Theories about origin and existence===<br />
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The reality behind many changeling legends was often the birth of deformed or retarded children. Most often, it was thought, that it was the faeries who exchanged the children, and simple charms, such as an inversed coat, were thought to ward off these beings.<br />
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It has been hypothesized that the changeling legend may have developed, or at least been used to, explain the peculiarities of children who did not develop normally, probably including all sorts of developmental delays and abnormalities. In particular, it has been suggested that children with autism would be likely to be labeled as changelings or elf-children due to their strange, sometimes inexplicable behavior. <br />
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Some high-functioning autistic adults have come to identify with changelings (or other replacements, such as aliens) for this reason and their own feeling of being in a world where they don’t belong and of practically not being the same species as the "normal" people around them.<br />
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Infants diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive" that have no history of neglect also fit the description of changelings. This can be a devastating diagnosis, and it is easy to see how people would have taken comfort in placing the cause outside their influence. The stories of kindness and care being rewarded with the return of the child also fit the nursing needed to restore an infant's health. <br />
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==Local beliefs==<br />
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===Scandinavia===<br />
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Since most beings from [[:Category:Scandinavian mythology|Scandinavian mythology]] are said to be afraid of steel, Scandinavian parents often placed a steel item such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of an unbaptized infant's cradle. It was believed that, if a human child was taken in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven.<br />
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In one Swedish changeling tale (Bortbytingen), the troll child grows up at a farm while the human child grows up among the trolls. Everyone advises the human mother to brutalize the changeling so that the trolls would change children once more. However, the woman refuses to treat the innocent but maladapted troll child cruelly and persists in treating it as if it was her own. In the end, her husband tries to burn the young troll, but the woman rescues it, so the man takes him on a walk to kill it in the forest. Somehow, he regrets his decision and saves the life of the troll. Suddenly, his own son returns and tells his father that his kindness broke the spell and liberated him. Every time someone tried to be cruel to the troll, his troll mother was about to treat the human child in the same manner.<br />
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In another Swedish fairy tale (Bortbytingarna) (which is depicted by the image), a princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. The changelings grow up with their new parents and both become beautiful young females, but they find it hard to adapt. The human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. By coincidence, they both go astray in the forest, upset with the conditions of their lives, and happen to pass each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day.<br />
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===Wales===<br />
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In Wales the changeling child (''plentyn newid'') also known as [[crimbil]] initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning.<br />
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The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove.<br />
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(Wirt Sikes. ''British Goblins: The Realm of Faerie''. Felinfach: Llanerch, 1991.)<br />
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===Germany===<br />
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In one tale of the [[Brothers Grimm]], there's an account of how a woman, who suspected that her child had been exchanged, started to brew beer in the hull of an acorn. The changeling uttered: ''"now I am as old as an oak in the woods but I have never seen beer being brewed in an acorn"'', then disappeared.<br />
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===Ireland===<br />
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In parts of Ireland, left handed people are sometimes thought to be changeling.<br />
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==Art / Fiction==<br />
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Replacement people, also known as substituted people, and/or changelings, appear in a number of modern works of fiction - books, films, television, games, and elsewhere.<br />
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===Literature===<br />
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*Changelings are mentioned in the book 'TITHE' by Holly Black. Kaye is a changeling. She finds herself in a muddle. It explaines how changelins suffer, but get through in the end.<br />
*Refer to [[Brothers Grimm]] numerous fairy tales.<br />
*[[Uther Pendragon]] took on the appearance of [[Gorlois]], Duke of Cornwall in the King Arthur stories.<br />
*In "Pickman's Model" by [[H.P. Lovecraft]], it is implied that [[Ghouls]] sometimes exchange their young with human children in a similar manner, and that Pickman himself may be one of these Changelings.<br />
*"The Corpse" from Mike Mignola's ''[[Hellboy]]'' begins with Hellboy investigating what turns out to be a Changeling.<br />
*Keith Donohue's novel, "The Stolen Child," (Nan Talese/2006) (see http://www.keithdonohue.com) deals with the boy Henry Day and the faery changeling who replaces him.<br />
*In [[Stephen King]]'s book Christine, Roland LeBay's brother says his mother used to say that "Rollie was a changeling" and that Puck took her good baby.<br />
*Many references to the legends and folklore of faerie changelings are made throughout Raymond E. Feist's popular 1988 fantasy novel, ''Faerie Tale''.<br />
*Antonio in Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's "The Changeling" (1622), is listed in the dramatis personae as '''The Changeling'''<br />
*Jane, the heroine of Michael Swanwick's ''The Iron Dragon's Daughter'', is a changeling who was stolen by the fairies to work in a factory.<br />
*''The Body Snatchers'', novel which was the basis for several adaptations (see "movies and television").<br />
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===Movies and television===<br />
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*Roger Zelazny, ''Changeling'' (1980). Movie depicting the adventures of both changelings, maladapted in their respective new worlds.<br />
*''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956 film) - directed by Don Siegel, <br />
*''Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''(1978 film) - directed by Philip Kaufman<br />
*''Body Snatchers''(1993 film) - directed by Abel Ferrara).<br />
*The [[Slitheen]] in the 2005 series of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.<br />
*''Labyrinth'', a 1986 movie.<br />
*"The Changeling (Star Trek)" was a ''[[Star Trek]]'' episode, a title referring to this legend. At the end of the episode Captain Kirk refers to the legend to compare what occurred to Nomad.<br />
*In the spin-off series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the character of Odo is referred to as being of a race of shapeshifting.<br />
*In ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'', Zam Wesell is a Changeling who works for Jango Fett by trying to assassinate Padmé Amidala.<br />
*In one episode of the Disney Channel show "So Weird", Annie, the girl who replaced Fi, is babysitting when the child is replaced by a changeling. She notices the change almost immediately, and has to make the changeling child laugh, by cooking stew in an eggshell, which forces its parents to return the child, and take back the changeling.<br />
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===Games===<br />
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*''Changeling: The Dreaming''. A game in White Wolf Game Studio's "World of Darkness" role playing game line that focuses on a struggle between glamor and banality. Based on traditional tales from various world cultures. The players take the role of different Changelings, fairies and other fantastic creatures who were forced to incarnate themselves into human bodies in order to survive in a modern and dreamless world. Character types include, but are not limited to; Sidhe, Redcaps, Pooka, Trolls, Nockers, Boggans, Eshu, Selkies, Piskies, and Chulrchaun. Antoganists represent or are pawns of banality, such as Autum People, Duantain, Nightmares, Nurvosa, other Fae, mortals, Mages, Vampires, and Werewolves. <br />
*In the ''Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game'', changelings are a separate race, who are capable of assuming a variety of forms, even duplicating and replacing other people.<br />
* In the world of [[ Dungeons and Dragons]], the Changeling is offered as a possible choice as a race. Though not in a traditional sense, the race shares the name with the figure of folklore.<br />
<br />
<br />
===Music===<br />
<br />
*[[The Doors]]' album ''L.A.Woman'' opens with a track called [[The Changeling]], which includes the lyrics "I'm a Changeling. See me change".<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
*Klintberg, Bengt af; ''Svenska Folksägner'' (1939) ISBN 9172975814<br />
*The tale is notably retold by Selma Lagerlöf as ''[http://runeberg.org/troll1/bortbyt.html Bortbytingen]'' in her 1915 book ''[http://runeberg.org/troll1/ Troll och människor]''.<br />
*The tale is notably retold by Helena Nyblom as ''[http://hem.passagen.se/kurtglim/del1i/ Bortbytingarna]'' in the 1913 book ''[http://www.johnbauersmuseum.nu/visa_saga.php?saga=5 Bland tomtar och troll]''.<br />
<br />
<br />
===See also===<br />
<br />
*[[Korrigan]]<br />
<br />
<br />
=== External link ===<br />
* [http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/changeling.html D. L. Ashliman's Changelings page at University of Pittsburgh]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Scandinavian mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Celtic mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Shapeshifters]]<br />
[[Category:Fairy creatures]]</div>Snowstreakhttps://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Changeling&diff=13480Changeling2009-06-29T00:37:16Z<p>Snowstreak: /* Powers/Weaknesses */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:changeling.jpg|thumb|Henri Fuseli 'The Changeling' 1780]]<br />
<br />
In European folklore and, a '''changeling''' is the offspring of a fairy, [[troll]], [[elf]] or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in exchange for a human child. The motivation for this conduct stems from the desire to have a human servant (domestic), the love of a human child, or from malice. Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptized children. <br />
<br />
'''Aka''' : Callicanzaris, Kontsodaimonas, Hosentefel, Gremlins, Leurre.<br />
<br />
<br />
===Lore===<br />
<br />
Greece, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, France.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
===Description===<br />
<br />
An imbecilic or deformed offspring of dwarves, elves, or faeries.<br />
<br />
<br />
===Powers/Weaknesses===<br />
<br />
According to some legends, it is possible to detect changelings, as they are much wiser than human children and grow at a faster rate. When changelings are detected in time, their parents have to take them back. <br />
<br />
The return of the original child "may be effected by making the changeling laugh or by torturing it; this latter belief was responsible for numerous cases of actual child abuse".<br />
<br />
The changeling was also converted into the stock of a tree by saying a powerful rhyme over him, or by sticking him with a knife. He could be driven away by running at him with a red-hot ploughshare; by getting between him and the bed and threatening him with a drawn sword; by leaving him out on the hillside, and paying no attention to his shrieking and screaming; by putting him sitting on a gridiron, or in a creel, with a fire below; by sprinkling him well out of the maistir tub; or by dropping him into the river.<br />
<br />
===Theories about origin and existence===<br />
<br />
The reality behind many changeling legends was often the birth of deformed or retarded children. Most often, it was thought, that it was the faeries who exchanged the children, and simple charms, such as an inversed coat, were thought to ward off these beings.<br />
<br />
It has been hypothesized that the changeling legend may have developed, or at least been used to, explain the peculiarities of children who did not develop normally, probably including all sorts of developmental delays and abnormalities. In particular, it has been suggested that children with autism would be likely to be labeled as changelings or elf-children due to their strange, sometimes inexplicable behavior. <br />
<br />
Some high-functioning autistic adults have come to identify with changelings (or other replacements, such as aliens) for this reason and their own feeling of being in a world where they don’t belong and of practically not being the same species as the "normal" people around them.<br />
<br />
Infants diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive" that have no history of neglect also fit the description of changelings. This can be a devastating diagnosis, and it is easy to see how people would have taken comfort in placing the cause outside their influence. The stories of kindness and care being rewarded with the return of the child also fit the nursing needed to restore an infant's health. <br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Local beliefs==<br />
<br />
===Scandinavia===<br />
<br />
Since most beings from [[:Category:Scandinavian mythology|Scandinavian mythology]] are said to be afraid of steel, Scandinavian parents often placed a steel item such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of an unbaptized infant's cradle. It was believed that, if a human child was taken in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven.<br />
<br />
In one Swedish changeling tale (Bortbytingen), the troll child grows up at a farm while the human child grows up among the trolls. Everyone advises the human mother to brutalize the changeling so that the trolls would change children once more. However, the woman refuses to treat the innocent but maladapted troll child cruelly and persists in treating it as if it was her own. In the end, her husband tries to burn the young troll, but the woman rescues it, so the man takes him on a walk to kill it in the forest. Somehow, he regrets his decision and saves the life of the troll. Suddenly, his own son returns and tells his father that his kindness broke the spell and liberated him. Every time someone tried to be cruel to the troll, his troll mother was about to treat the human child in the same manner.<br />
<br />
In another Swedish fairy tale (Bortbytingarna) (which is depicted by the image), a princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. The changelings grow up with their new parents and both become beautiful young females, but they find it hard to adapt. The human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. By coincidence, they both go astray in the forest, upset with the conditions of their lives, and happen to pass each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day.<br />
<br />
===Wales===<br />
<br />
In Wales the changeling child (''plentyn newid'') also known as [[crimbil]] initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning.<br />
<br />
The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove.<br />
<br />
(Wirt Sikes. ''British Goblins: The Realm of Faerie''. Felinfach: Llanerch, 1991.)<br />
<br />
===Germany===<br />
<br />
In one tale of the [[Brothers Grimm]], there's an account of how a woman, who suspected that her child had been exchanged, started to brew beer in the hull of an acorn. The changeling uttered: ''"now I am as old as an oak in the woods but I have never seen beer being brewed in an acorn"'', then disappeared.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
===Ireland===<br />
<br />
In parts of Ireland, left handed people are sometimes thought to be changeling.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Art / Fiction==<br />
<br />
Replacement people, also known as substituted people, and/or changelings, appear in a number of modern works of fiction - books, films, television, games, and elsewhere.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
===Literature===<br />
<br />
*Changelings are mentioned in the book 'TITHE' by Holly Black. Kaye is a changeling. She finds herself in a muddle. It explaines how changelins suffer, but get through in the end.<br />
*Refer to [[Brothers Grimm]] numerous fairy tales.<br />
*[[Uther Pendragon]] took on the appearance of [[Gorlois]], Duke of Cornwall in the King Arthur stories.<br />
*In "Pickman's Model" by [[H.P. Lovecraft]], it is implied that [[Ghouls]] sometimes exchange their young with human children in a similar manner, and that Pickman himself may be one of these Changelings.<br />
*"The Corpse" from Mike Mignola's ''[[Hellboy]]'' begins with Hellboy investigating what turns out to be a Changeling.<br />
*Keith Donohue's novel, "The Stolen Child," (Nan Talese/2006) (see http://www.keithdonohue.com) deals with the boy Henry Day and the faery changeling who replaces him.<br />
*In [[Stephen King]]'s book Christine, Roland LeBay's brother says his mother used to say that "Rollie was a changeling" and that Puck took her good baby.<br />
*Many references to the legends and folklore of faerie changelings are made throughout Raymond E. Feist's popular 1988 fantasy novel, ''Faerie Tale''.<br />
*Antonio in Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's "The Changeling" (1622), is listed in the dramatis personae as '''The Changeling'''<br />
*Jane, the heroine of Michael Swanwick's ''The Iron Dragon's Daughter'', is a changeling who was stolen by the fairies to work in a factory.<br />
*''The Body Snatchers'', novel which was the basis for several adaptations (see "movies and television").<br />
<br />
<br />
===Movies and television===<br />
<br />
*Roger Zelazny, ''Changeling'' (1980). Movie depicting the adventures of both changelings, maladapted in their respective new worlds.<br />
*''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956 film) - directed by Don Siegel, <br />
*''Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''(1978 film) - directed by Philip Kaufman<br />
*''Body Snatchers''(1993 film) - directed by Abel Ferrara).<br />
*The [[Slitheen]] in the 2005 series of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.<br />
*''Labyrinth'', a 1986 movie.<br />
*"The Changeling (Star Trek)" was a ''[[Star Trek]]'' episode, a title referring to this legend. At the end of the episode Captain Kirk refers to the legend to compare what occurred to Nomad.<br />
*In the spin-off series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the character of Odo is referred to as being of a race of shapeshifting.<br />
*In ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'', Zam Wesell is a Changeling who works for Jango Fett by trying to assassinate Padmé Amidala.<br />
*In one episode of the Disney Channel show "So Weird", Annie, the girl who replaced Fi, is babysitting when the child is replaced by a changeling. She notices the change almost immediately, and has to make the changeling child laugh, by cooking stew in an eggshell, which forces its parents to return the child, and take back the changeling.<br />
<br />
<br />
===Games===<br />
<br />
*''Changeling: The Dreaming''. A game in White Wolf Game Studio's "World of Darkness" role playing game line that focuses on a struggle between glamor and banality. Based on traditional tales from various world cultures. The players take the role of different Changelings, fairies and other fantastic creatures who were forced to incarnate themselves into human bodies in order to survive in a modern and dreamless world. Character types include, but are not limited to; Sidhe, Redcaps, Pooka, Trolls, Nockers, Boggans, Eshu, Selkies, Piskies, and Chulrchaun. Antoganists represent or are pawns of banality, such as Autum People, Duantain, Nightmares, Nurvosa, other Fae, mortals, Mages, Vampires, and Werewolves. <br />
*In the ''Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game'', changelings are a separate race, who are capable of assuming a variety of forms, even duplicating and replacing other people.<br />
* In the world of [[ Dungeons and Dragons]], the Changeling is offered as a possible choice as a race. Though not in a traditional sense, the race shares the name with the figure of folklore.<br />
<br />
<br />
===Music===<br />
<br />
*[[The Doors]]' album ''L.A.Woman'' opens with a track called [[The Changeling]], which includes the lyrics "I'm a Changeling. See me change".<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
*Klintberg, Bengt af; ''Svenska Folksägner'' (1939) ISBN 9172975814<br />
*The tale is notably retold by Selma Lagerlöf as ''[http://runeberg.org/troll1/bortbyt.html Bortbytingen]'' in her 1915 book ''[http://runeberg.org/troll1/ Troll och människor]''.<br />
*The tale is notably retold by Helena Nyblom as ''[http://hem.passagen.se/kurtglim/del1i/ Bortbytingarna]'' in the 1913 book ''[http://www.johnbauersmuseum.nu/visa_saga.php?saga=5 Bland tomtar och troll]''.<br />
<br />
<br />
===See also===<br />
<br />
*[[Korrigan]]<br />
<br />
<br />
=== External link ===<br />
* [http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/changeling.html D. L. Ashliman's Changelings page at University of Pittsburgh]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Scandinavian mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Celtic mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Shapeshifters]]<br />
[[Category:Fairy creatures]]</div>Snowstreakhttps://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Redcap&diff=13479Redcap2009-06-29T00:24:47Z<p>Snowstreak: /* Popular culture */</p>
<hr />
<div>A '''Red Cap''' or '''Redcap,''' also known as a ''powrie'', is a type of malevolent murderous [[goblin]] found in Irish and Scottish folklore. <br />
<br />
Aka : Fir Larrig, Dunters<br />
<br />
[[Image:Redcap.jpg|thumb]]<br />
<br />
=Nature=<br />
<br />
==Description/Morphology==<br />
An emaciated man with a leathery body and little or no hair, a Redcap carries a sharp wooden scythe or an iron pike to strike down all who invade the area he has decided to guard for the time being. The Red Cap he wears, and for which he was named, is said to be made of dried human skin, died in blood. He is very fast in spite of the heavy iron pike he wields and the iron-shod boots he wears.<br />
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==Family==<br />
<br />
They are border goblins and live solitary<br />
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==Element==<br />
<br />
Fire<br />
<br />
<br />
==Behavior==<br />
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Redcaps are said to murder travelers who stray into their homes, sometimes by pushing boulders off cliffs and on to them, staining their hats with their victims' blood (from which they get their name).<br />
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==Powers/Weaknesses==<br />
<br />
Redcaps must kill regularly, for if the blood staining their hats dries out, they die. Outrunning the buck-toothed little daemons is quite impossible; the only way to escape one is to quote a passage from the Bible. They lose a tooth on hearing it, which they leave behind.<br />
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<br />
==Places==<br />
<br />
The Red Cap moves from place to place on a whim throughout the extreme lowlands of Scotland along the English border. He haunts the ruins of old castles and cairns which he guards with his life.<br />
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=History/Beliefs=<br />
<br />
<br />
==Famous==<br />
<br />
The most infamous redcap of all was Robin Redcap. As the familiar of Lord William de Soulis, Robin wreaked much harm and ruin in the lands of his master's dwelling, Hermitage Castle. Men were murdered, women cruelly abused, and dark arts were practiced. So much infamy and blasphemy was said to have been committed at Hermitage Castle that the great stone keep was thought to be sinking under a great weight of sin, as though the very ground wanted to hide it from the sight of God.<br />
<br />
Yet Soulis, for all the evil he wrought, met a very horrible end: he was taken to the Nine Stane Rigg, a circle of stones hard by the castle, and there he was wrapped in lead and boiled to death in a great cauldron.<br />
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<br />
=Art / Fiction=<br />
<br />
<br />
==Popular culture==<br />
<br />
*Red Caps are featured in the game Lost Magic as a common enemy along with Purple Caps.<br />
<br />
*Red Cap is Monster in My Pocket #25. They appear in the video game, sliding down diagonal girders in the stage 4.<br />
<br />
*Mike Mignola, the author of the Hellboy comic book series, includes a short story entitled "Iron Shoes" which depicts Hellboy investigating an old abandoned castle in Scotland inhabited by a canabilistic goblin who wears iron shoes and hurls iron spears at Hellboy. This story can be found in Mignola's third hellboy trade paperback volume "The Chained Coffin and Other Tales" following the story "The Corpse".<br />
<br />
*Redcaps are mentioned in the Harry Potter series by British author Joanne Rowling.<br />
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*Redcaps (properly called Powries) are one of the nine types of Shadow Fey or Arak in Ravenloft. They are always of Chaotic Evil alignment.<br />
<br />
*Redcaps are enemies which match their original description of goblins in the MMORPG City of Heroes.<br />
<br />
*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.<br />
<br />
*Red caps (aka powries) are also some of the monsters in R.A. Salvatore's DemonWars series.<br />
<br />
*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.<br />
<br />
*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 darkeness. Though not armed with pikes, they use Elf-Bolts fired from a sling and wear iron shod boots.<br />
<br />
*Redcaps also appear in the game Dark Cloud 2 or Dark Chronical as it is known in Britain. 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. Although far cuter than the original folklore, the redcaps are still as vicious, maintaining an annoyance unparalleled by other enemies. Some have names and as you continue through the Forest Dungeon a change occurs and some can have different colours of caps.<br />
<br />
*A Card named Murderous Redcap appears in the collectable card game, Magic the Gathering. It is classified as a Goblin Assassin type creature. It is aligned with the colors Black and Red.<br />
<br />
=References—related sources and media=<br />
<br />
==External link==<br />
*[http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Redcap.htm Redcap Picture]<br />
<br />
<br />
==Source==<br />
{{Wikipedia}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Irish mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish mythology]]<br />
[[Category:Fairy creatures]]<br />
[[Category:Goblins]]<br />
[[Category:Vampires]]</div>Snowstreak