For this installment of fairy facts lets look at a particularly complicated topic - the Leprechaun. this one is particularly tricky (pun intended) because it exist in two distinctly different forms between mythology and folklore. But that's also a great reason to include it here, so let's dive in.
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| Leprechaun, 1900, public domain |
Name: Leprechaun, modern Irish Leipreachán or Lucharachán, alternately older Irish Lupracán, Luchorpán, Lupracanánach, Luchropánach
The meaning is uncertain with suggestions including 'little bodied one' [luch corp án] or connecting it to Latin influence from Lupercalia. Folk etymologies often claim it means 'little Lugh'
Description: standing about a half meter or 18 inches tall, older versions look exactly like humans and can be any age or gender, more recent folklore depicts them us typically male and elderly in appearance. Oldest versions are described as wearing the same things the local humans wore, but over time they came to be associated with the colour red then more recently with green.
Found: In Irish myth and folklore Leprechauns may be encountered anywhere but are most strongly associated with bodies of water in mythology and with open fields in folklore.
In Myth: The oldest appearance of Leprechauns is in two stories found in 8th through 11th century manuscripts the Echtra Fergusa meic Leidi and the Aided Fergusa meic Leidi. In these tales the Leprechauns live in a society that mirrors the contemporary human one, with a king and queen, royal poet, and commonfolk. They are inherently magical beings who exist separate from the wider world of the Aos Sidhe within their own kingdom. The are depicted as potentially dangerous but also very knowledgeable, and both cause harm and help humans within the stories. Despite the size difference the eponymous human hero takes the queen of the Leprechauns as his lover.
Folklore: the more modern folkloric Leprechaun appears by the mid-19th century, initially in writing in a piece by an Irish-American author. This being is described as an older looking man, about 18 inches/half a meter tall, who is the shoemaker for the fairies. Folklore now describes Leprechauns as exclusively male and usually older, focused on their work, and dressed in green. Stories say that if one can capture a Leprechaun one will either be granted a wish or the Leprechaun will be forced to reveal the location of his gold; the Leprechaun always finds a way to trick the human however and retains his treasure.
One widespread story features a man who captures a Leprechaun and forces him to reveal that his gold is buried under a nearby bush in a field. The man ties his handkerchief on the bush and goes to retrieve a shovel to dig up the treasure only to return and find ever single bush in the area has an identical handkerchief hanging from its branches. Unable to find the treasure he eventually gives up looking.
Where It Gets Muddy: The lines between the folkloric Leprechaun and the older manuscript version can be confusing and its very unclear how one developed into the other across time. Once the more modern shoemaking Leprechaun was written about in a book that version took off and gained immense popularity, overshadowing the older version and largely replacing it in common understandings. Attempts to portray Leprechauns in modern media, from movies to tv shows, have added to the confusion with new layers of popculture based beliefs, such as the association with rainbows or leaning hard into anti-Irish stereotypes.
What They Aren't: Pretty much everything shown in the Lucky Charms commercials.
Despite the current trend for Leprechaun traps around saint Patrick's day they were never thought to be caught via any kind of trap but could be grabbed and held; in some folklore to capture a Leprechaun you must keep your eyes on him without looking away. They aren't sweet or kind little fairies but were understood as potentially dangerous or at best extremely tricky to deal with, but modern perceptions increasingly show them as gentle older fairies with a jovial demeanor.
Despite the current trend for Leprechaun traps around saint Patrick's day they were never thought to be caught via any kind of trap but could be grabbed and held; in some folklore to capture a Leprechaun you must keep your eyes on him without looking away. They aren't sweet or kind little fairies but were understood as potentially dangerous or at best extremely tricky to deal with, but modern perceptions increasingly show them as gentle older fairies with a jovial demeanor.
