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Kobolds
A kobold (occasionally cobold) is a mythical sprite. Having spread into Europe with various spellings including "goblin" and "hobgoblin", and later taking root and stemming from Germanic mythology, the concept survived into modern times in German folklore. Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialize in the form of a non-human animal, a fire, a human, and a candle. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size of small children. Kobolds who live in human homes wear the clothing of peasants; those who live in mines are hunched and ugly and some can materialise into a brick; kobolds who live on ships smoke pipes and wear sailor clothing. Legends tell of three major types of kobolds. Most commonly, the creatures are household spirits of ambivalent nature; while they sometimes perform domestic chores, they play malicious tricks if insulted or neglected. Famous kobolds of this type include King Goldemar, Heinzelmann, and Hödekin. In some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klabautermann
A Klabautermann is a water kobold that assists sailors and fishermen on the Baltic and North Sea in their duties. It is a merry and diligent creature, with an expert understanding of most watercraft, and an irrepressible musical talent. It is believed to rescue sailors washed overboard. The name comes from the Low German verb ''klabastern'' meaning "rumble" or "make a noise". An etymology deriving the name from the verb ''kalfatern'' ("to caulk") has also been suggested.Leander Petzoldt, ''Kleines Lexikon der Dämonen und Elementargeister'', Becksche Reihe, 1990, p. 109. His image is of a small sailor in yellow with a tobacco pipe and woolen sailor's cap, often carrying a caulking hammer. This likeness is carved and attached to the mast as a symbol of good luck. Despite the positive attributes, there is one omen associated with his presence: no member of a ship blessed by his presence shall ever set eyes on him. He only ever becomes visible to the crew of a doomed ship. More ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinzelmännchen
The Heinzelmännchen () are a mythical race of creatures, appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany akin to gnomes, or elves. The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves. This legend was first written down by the Cologne teacher Ernst Weyden (1805–1869) in 1826. It was translated into English by Thomas Keightley and published 1828 in his book ''The Fairy Mythology''. In 1836 the painter and poet August Kopisch published a famous poem beginning with the words: The words were set to music by the German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hödekin
Hödekin (also spelled Hödeken, Hüdekin, and Hütchen) is a kobold ( house spirit) of German folklore. According to the legend recorded by folklorist Thomas Keightley in 1850, Hödekin always wore a felt hat down over his face; his name means "Little Hat". Hödekin lived with the Bishop of Hildesheim and was a helpful sprite. He kept the watch awake at night, and he warned the bishop and others about problems in the future. One inhabitant of Hildesheim asked Hödekin to guard his wife while he was away. "My good fellow, just keep an eye on my wife while I am away, and see that all goes on right." When the wife was visited by several paramours Hödekin leapt between them and assumed terrible shapes, or threw them to the floor to scare them away before the wife could be unfaithful. When the husband returned, Hödekin complained, Your return is most grateful to me, that I may escape the trouble and disquiet that you had imposed upon me. . . . To gratify you I have guarded our ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinzelmann
Hinzelmann or Heinzelmann (sometimes called Luring) was a kobold in the mythology of northern Germany. He was described as a household spirit of ambivalent nature, similar to Puck (Robin Goodfellow). Like Puck, he would provide good luck and perform household tasks, but would become malicious if not appeased. Descriptions in mythology Heinzelmann's myth says that he started haunting the castle Hudemühlen in 1584 after being cast from the forest of Bohemia. At first he was shy, later he was conversing and jesting openly with all inhabitants of the house, including the master. He sang verses, the most repeated one said that evil luck would take his place if he was ever chased out. Heinzelmann usually took the form of a congenial child in red velvet. In one tale he showed his true form to a maid, who fainted; it was that of a small child, around four years of age, stabbed and slashed with two swords. Some local lore dating back generations puts the Heinzelman in the role of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Goldemar
King Goldemar (also spelled Goldmar, Vollmar, and Volmar) is a dwarf or kobold from Germanic mythology and folklore. By the Middle Ages, Goldemar had become the king of the dwarfs in German belief.Wägner and MacDowall 40. In the fairy tale "The Friendship of the Dwarfs", the author Villamaria depicts Goldemar as a "mighty dwarf king" with a queen and a court of dwarf nobles at his service. He has long, silver hair and beard and wears a crown and a purple mantle. In one tale, he runs away with the daughter of a human king. Fragments of an epic poem by Albrecht von Kemenaten called ''Goldemar'' survive. The poem tells of Dietrich's encounter with the dwarf king. The king also features in "''Der junge König und die Schäferin''" ("The Prince and the Shepherdess") by German poet Ludwig Uhland. Goldemar's brothers, Alberich or Elberich and Elbegast, feature in other poems. According to a legend recorded by Thomas Keightley in 1850, King Goldemar was a kobold A kobold (occasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares were believed to observe, protect, and influence all that happened within the boundaries of their location or function. The statues of domestic Lares were placed at the table during family meals; their presence, cult, and blessing seem to have been required at all important family events. Roman writers sometimes identify or conflate them with ancestor-deities, domestic Penates, and the hearth. Because of these associations, Lares are sometimes categorised as household gods, but some had much broader domains. Roadways, seaways, agriculture, livestock, towns, cities, the state, and its military were all under the protection of their particular Lar or Lares. Those who protected local neighbourhoods ('' vici'') were housed in the crossroad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "light elves" and "dark elves". The dark elves create new blond hair for Thor's wife Sif after Loki had shorn off Sif's long hair. In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves generally seem to have been thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. However, the details of these beliefs have varied considerably over time and space and have flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures. Sometimes elves are, like dwarfs, associated with craftmanship. Wayland the Smith embodies this feature. He is known under many names, depending on the language in which the stories were distributed. The names include ''Völund'' in Old Norse, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kobalos
The ''kobalos'' (pl. ''kobaloi'') (Ancient Greek: Κόβαλος, plural: Κόβαλοι) was a sprite from Greek mythology, a mischievous creature fond of tricking and frightening mortals. The kobaloi were companions of Dionysus and could shapeshift as Dionysus in the guise of Choroimanes-Aiolomorphos. According to one myth, they robbed Herakles while he slept. He captured them in revenge but took pity on them when he found them amusing. In one version of the myth, Herakles gave them to the Lydian queen Omphale as a gift. The ''kobaloi'' were thought to live in Euboea or near Thermopylae. Parents used tales of the ''kobaloi'' to frighten children into behaving. Definition Greek myths depict the ''kobaloi'' as "impudent, thieving, droll, idle, mischievous, gnome- dwarfs",Brown 230. and as "funny, little tricksy elves" of a phallic nature.Brown 230–231. The term also means "impudent knave, arrant rogue" in ancient Greek, and such individuals were thought to invoke ''kobaloi'' s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penates
In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates () or Penates ( ) were among the ''dii familiares'', or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates. They were thus associated with Vesta, the Lares, and the Genius of the ''pater familias'' in the "little universe" of the '' domus''. Like other domestic deities, the Penates had a public counterpart. Function An etymological interpretation of the Penates would make them in origin tutelary deities of the storeroom, Latin ''penus'', the innermost part of the house, where they guarded the household's food, wine, oil, and other supplies. As they were originally associated with the source of food, they eventually became a symbol of the continuing life of the family. Cicero explained that they "dwell inside, from which they are also called ''penetrales'' by the poets". The 2nd-century AD grammarian Festus defined ''penus'', however, as "t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through Amphitryon, Heracles receives the epithet Alcides, as "of the line of Alcaeus", father of Amphitryon. Amphitryon's own, mortal son was Iphicles. He was a great-grandson and half-brother (as they are both sired by the god Zeus) of Perseus, and similarly a half-brother of Dionysus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (), and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabouter
Kabouter is the Dutch word for gnome or leprechaun. In folklore, the Dutch Kabouters are akin to the Irish Leprechaun, Scandinavian Tomte or Nisse, the English Hob, the Scottish Brownie and the German Klabauter or kobold. In the folklore of the Low Countries, kabouters are tiny people who live underground, in a hill for instance. (In modern children's stories they live in mushrooms.) They are also spirits who help in the home. The males have long, full beards and wear tall, pointed red hats. They are generally shy of humans and in stories often punish people for spying on them. Throughout Flanders and the Netherlands they exist under a number of different local names like alvermannekes or auwelkes. In the ''Legend of the Wooden Shoes,'' an old Dutch folktale, a kabouter teaches a Dutch man how to make piles and how to make wooden shoes. The Dutch illustrator Rien Poortvliet played an important part in modern Kabouter lore with his publication of ''Leven en werken van de Kab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnome
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characteristics have been reinterpreted to suit the needs of various story tellers, but it is typically said to be a small humanoid that lives underground. Diminutive statues of gnomes introduced as lawn ornaments during the 19th century grew in popularity during the 20th century and came to be known as garden gnomes. History Origins The word comes from Renaissance Latin ''gnomus'', which first appears in ''A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits'' by Paracelsus, published posthumously in Nysa in 1566 (and again in the Johannes Huser edition of 1589–1591 from an autograph by Paracelsus). The term may be an original invention of Paracelsus, possibly deriving the term from Latin ''gēnomos'' (itself repre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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