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Difference between revisions of "Redcap"

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A '''Red Cap''' or '''Redcap,''' also known as a ''powrie'', is a type of malevolent murderous [[goblin]] found in Irish and Scottish folklore.


Aka : Fir Larrig, Dunters
=Nature=
==Description/Morphology==
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.
==Family==
They are border goblins and live solitary
==Element==
Fire
==Behavior==
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).
==Powers/Weaknesses==
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.
==Places==
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.
=History/Beliefs=
==Famous==
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.
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.
=Art / Fiction=
==Popular culture==
*Red Cap is [[Monster in My Pocket]] #25.  They appear in the [[video game]], sliding down diagonal girders in the stage 4 [[construction site]].
* 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".
* Redcaps are mentioned in the [[Harry Potter]] series by British author [[Joanne Rowling]].
=References—related sources and media=
==External link==
*[http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Redcap.htm Redcap Picture]
[[Category:Irish mythology]]
[[Category:Scottish mythology]]
[[Category:Fairy creatures]]
[[Category:Goblins]]
[[Category:Vampires]]

Revision as of 18:44, 18 April 2007

A Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie, is a type of malevolent murderous goblin found in Irish and Scottish folklore.

Aka : Fir Larrig, Dunters


Nature

Description/Morphology

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.

Family

They are border goblins and live solitary


Element

Fire


Behavior

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).


Powers/Weaknesses

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.


Places

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.


History/Beliefs

Famous

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.

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.


Art / Fiction

Popular culture

  • 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".

References—related sources and media

External link