''Yan-gant-y-tan'' is the name of a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

.Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah
Occultism: Its Theory and Practice
p. 160 (1994)(4 July 1857)
Superstitions and Traditions
''

Household Words ''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in Shakespeare's ''Henry V'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words." History During the planning stages, titles origi ...

Etymology

Collin de Plancy Jacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy (28 January 1793 in Plancy-l'Abbaye – 1881 in Paris) was a French occultist, demonologist and writer. He published several works on occultism and demonology. Biography He was born Jacques Albin Simon Colli ...

, in the ''

Dictionnaire Infernal The ''Dictionnaire infernal'' ( en, "Infernal Dictionary") is a book on demonology, describing demons organised in hierarchies. It was written by Jacques Collin de Plancy and first published in 1818. There were several editions of the book; per ...

'', gives the meaning of his name as 'Wanderer in the Night', but the translation of his name from

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

seems to be cognate to 'John with the Fire' (compare

Will o' the Wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...

). Meeting him is said to be an evil omen.Miltoun, Francis
Dictionnaire infernal
p. 537 (1853 ed.)Rambles in Brittany
p 63-64 (1905)

Legend and depictions

''Yan-gant-y-tan'' wanders the nights in

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

. He holds five candles on the five fingers of his right hand (compare Hand of Glory) and spins them about like a flaming wheel, as a result of which he is unable to turn quickly for fear of extinguishing their light. A sure way to ward off the bad omen of ''Yan-gant-y-tan'' is to leave a small bag of gold or of gold chain around a travelers post which ''Yan-gant-y-tan'' will steal and leave the house for another day. He is often depicted as a wiry old

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

or hairy wildman, but the only way to distinguish him from other such creatures is the 5 candles upon his hand. In contrast to his nature as a bad omen it is said that he may appear and give five candles to a person who has none, thus lighting the way for a traveller the rest of the night.

References

{{reflist

Etymology

Legend and depictions

References

See also