Little people (mythology)
Little people have been part of the folklore of many cultures in human history, including Ireland, Greece, the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, Flores Island, Indonesia, and Native Americans.
Native American folklore
[edit]The Native peoples of North America told legends of a race of "little people" who lived in the woods near sandy hills and sometimes near rocks located along large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes. Often described as "hairy-faced dwarfs" in stories, petroglyph illustrations show them with horns on their head and traveling in a group of 5 to 7 per canoe.[1] The Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming are said to house "fairy rings"[2]
Other legends say the little people, if seen by an adult human, would beg them not to say anything of their existence and would reward those who kept their word by helping them and their family out in times of need. From tribe to tribe there are variations of what the little people's mannerisms were like, and whether they were good or evil, may be different. One common belief is that the little people create distractions to cause mischief.
Lewis and Clark reported in their journals that Native Americans in the vicinity of Spirit Mound, South Dakota held a belief in little people who inhabited the mound.[3] Clark wrote that the local Native Americans could not be persuaded to approach the mound, as they feared these tiny "Deavals" and considered them to be dangerous.[4] Although members of Lewis and Clark's party visited the mound, they did not encounter any unusual beings.
Native American Wee Folk
[edit]- Alux - Maya
- Canotila - Lakota[5]
- Chaneque - Aztec
- Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg - Maliseet[6]
- Jogah - Iroquois[7]
- Mannegishi - Cree
- Memegwesi/Memegawensi/Memengweshii/Pa'iins - Anishinaabe[8]
- Nimerigar - legendary race of little people found in the folklore of the Shoshone
- Nirumbee[9] or Awwakkulé[10] - Crow
- Iyaaknasha' or Hattak Sawa' - Chickasaw
- Bohpuli or Kowi Anukʋsha - Choctaw[11]
- Pukwudgie - Wampanoag
- Yehasuri - Catawba
- Yunwi Tsunsdi - Cherokee
Memegwaans
[edit]Ojibwe myths also bring up a creature known as the Memegwaans, or Memegwaanswag (Plural), which seems to be different from the more common Little People variation of Memegwesi. According to Basil H. Johnston, a Memegwaans is a little person without definitive form which is terrified of adult humans. However, it seems to have a soft spot for children and will often approach in the guise of a child to any young person who seems upset, injured, scared or lonely and either protect them or keep them company until help arrives. If an adult sees one, they will often cower on the ground, screaming and crying hysterically before vanishing in the blink of an eye. They were also known as protectors of copper mines and were prayed to almost as patron saints of lost children. This is more specific and different from the Memegwesi, which is often simply described as a short, hairy man.[12]
African folklore
[edit]Small magical beings found in various folklores across the continent of Africa.
- Abatwa - tiny people who live among ants and grass; seen only by children, pregnant women, or the very lucky. Can be proud and touchy. Zulu folklore.
- Aziza (African mythology) - Dahomey little people who live in anthills and silk-cotton trees[13]
- Egbere - Yoruba nocturnal weeping gnome
- Eloko - hairy dwarf-like forest beings
- Madebele - Senufo mythology
- Mmoetia - creatures of Ghanaian myth with analogues to fairy lore
- Tikoloshe - Malevolent goblins invoked via magic. Zulu folklore.
- Yumboes - African wee folk attested to in Thomas Keightley's The Fairy Mythology
- Zankallala - rodent riding trickster of the Hausa people
Celtic folklore
[edit]Below is a listing of wee folk from Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Manx, and Breton traditions.
- Aos Sí - Irish folk of the fairy mounds
- Bluecap
- Brownie - Scottish domestic fairy
- Changeling
- Clurichaun - Irish solitary fairy similar to a Leprechaun,[14] albeit more inebriated[15]
- Coblyn - Welsh and Welsh-American knocker similar to bluecap
- Dobhar-chú
- Far Darrig - Irish fairy with porcine features[16]
- Grogoch - hairy, half-human creature from Ulster and Scottish Isles
- Leprechaun - little bodied Celtic solitary fairy[17][18]
- Mooinjer veggey - Manx Gaelic little people
- Púca - a shapeshifting trickster from Irish folklore who enjoys giving piggyback rides
- Redcap - Scottish evil goblin, also known as Powrie
- Sluagh - Celtic Unseelie trooping bogey
- Spriggans - Unseelie members of the fairy realm in Cornish folklore
- Tylwyth Teg - Welsh fair folk[19]
Philippine folklore
[edit]- Nuno sa Punso - dwarf-like spirits from Philippine mythology who live in anthills
- Tiyanak - a vampiric changeling in Philippine mythology
- Duwende - Filipino duende living in burrows[20]
Other types of little people in mythology
[edit]Though not universal, wee folk tend to have two physical features in common: diminutive stature and pointed ears. They may or may not have beards or wings, though rarely both simultaneously.
- Di sma undar jordi - Swedish for "the small ones underground"
- Dokkaebi - also known as "Korean goblins"[21][22]
- Domovoy - Slavic house elf
- Duende
- Dwarves - broad class of short and stout supernatural being in Germanic folklore
- Elves - broad class of pointed ear supernatural being in Germanic folklore
- Fions - militaristic trooping lutins associated with Brittany[23]
- Gnome - mountain manikins introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century
- Goblin - broad class of kobold, known for having evil temperament
- Gremlin - a fictional creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century, known for tampering with aircraft
- Grindylow - English folklore of pond dwelling Unseelie with names like Peg Powler, Nelly Longarms, and Jenny Greenteeth
- Guhyaka - hidden one of Hindu myth
- Gütel - bearded Saxon mining sprites
- Heimchen - cricket sized dwarves, companions of Perchta
- Heinzelmännchen - helpful household spirits associated with Christmas
- Hob
- Hobgoblin
- Imp
- Iratxo
- Jenglot
- Jetins
- Kabouter - Dutch gnomes known for wearing Phrygian caps
- Kaichigo
- Kallikantzaros - Southeast European
- Kijimuna - small wood spirits according to Okinawan mythology
- Kobold - German unseelie gnome
- Korpokkur - folklore of the Ainu people
- Krasnoludek - Polish type of gnome or dwarf
- Lutin - broad class of French goblin
- Menehune - legendary wee folk from Hawaiian mythology
- Muki - broad class of subterranean knocker goblin within the Central Andes
- Niß Puk - a "tautological juxtaposition" of Nisse and Puck, these legendary helpers are present in Danish, Frisian and German mythology
- Patupaiarehe - New Zealand Maori mythology
- Pixies - diminutive pointed ear humanoid of British folklore
- Polevik - grassy Slavic spirit known to lead wandering people astray
- Pombero - Guarani mythology bogeyman
- Sprite (folklore) - European ethereal fairy-like spirit associated with air
- Sylph - air spirits introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century[24]
- Ta'ai, or 小黑人 - in the mythology of, or remembered by, the Saisiyat people of Taiwan
- Tomte / Tonttu / Nisse - Scandinavian Folklore
- Trauco - humanoid creature of small stature in Chilote mythology
- Trows - Orkney and Shetland folklore of size changing trolls
- Zlydzens - small, hunchbacked creatures in Belarusian mythology
Little people in constructed literary mythologies
[edit]- Christmas Elves - first introduced in literature by Louisa May Alcott in 1856
- Halflings - fictional little people created due to the litigiousness of Tolkein's estate[25]
- Hobbits
- Kenders - fictional fantasy race developed for the Dragonlance campaign setting
- Lilliputians and Blefuscudians
- Little green men
- Oompa-Loompas
- Smurfs
Other little people in literature
[edit]- Iubdan
- Rumpelstiltskin
- The Borrowers by Mary Norton
- The Littles by John Peterson
- The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
- The Nome Trilogy by Terry Pratchett
- The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
- 1q84 by Haruki Murakami
- Taltos by Anne Rice
References
[edit]- ^ Furtman, Michael. 2000. Magic on the Rocks. Birch Portage Press.
- ^ Cheung, Theresa. 2006. The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Harper Element.
- ^ Lewis, Meriwether and Clark, William. The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Vol. 3: August 25, 1804 – April 6, 1805. Gary E. Moulton, ed. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1987, p. 505.
- ^ Lewis, Meriwether and Clark, William. Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition August 24, 1804.
- ^ Walker, James R. "Lakota Myth". 1896
- ^ Paul, Pat (1996). "Little People Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- ^ Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children
- ^ Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
- ^ Daniels and Stevens, Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, 1903, p. 1421.
- ^ Frey, The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges, 1993, p. 68.
- ^ -
- ^ Johnson, Basil "The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibway". 1996
- ^ Fon and Ewe Religion Summary.
- ^ Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, 321.
- ^ O'Kearney, Nicholas, ed. (1855). Transactions of the Ossianic Society, for the year 1854. Vol. II. Feis Tithe Chonain. Dublin: The Ossianic Society. p. 19.
- ^ "IRISH FAR DARRIG". Archived from the original on 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
- ^ Yeats, William Butler (1888). Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. W. Scott.
- ^ "Echtra Fergusa maic Léti". Vicipéid (in Irish). 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
- ^ Sikes, Wirt (1880). British Goblins: Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington.
- ^ Tagalog-English Dictionary by Leo James English, Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Manila, distributed by National Book Store, 1583 pages, ISBN 971-91055-0-X
- ^ Lee, Jonathan H. X. (2011). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO. p. 664. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ Klepeis, Alicia Z. (2015). Goblins. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-5026-0935-9. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ Morvan, Françoise (1999). La saga de Fion. Paris: Terre de Brume. p. 147.
- ^ "sylph - definition of sylph". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- ^ Langford, David (2005). The Sex Column and Other Misprints. Wildside Press. p. 188. ISBN 1930997787.
Bibliography
[edit]- Daniels, Cora Linn and Stevens, C.M. Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World. Milwaukee, Wisc.: J. H. Tewdai & Sons, 1903.
- Frey, Rodney. The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
