 Sculpture byMarilyn Collins | |
| Grouping | Mythological creature Fairy Sprite |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Region | Cornwall |
Aspriggan/sprɪdʒən/ is alegendary creature fromCornish folklore. Spriggans are particularly associated withWest Penwith inCornwall.[1]
Spriggan is a dialect word, pronounced with the grapheme <gg> as /d͡ʒ/, sprid-jan, and not sprigg-an, borrowed from theCornishpluralspyrysyon 'spirits'.[2]
Spriggans have often been depicted as grotesquely ugly, wizened old men with large childlike heads. They were said to be found at old ruins,cairns, andbarrows guarding buried treasure.[3] Although small in stature, they have often been considered to be the ghosts of giants and retained gigantic strength, and in one story collected by Robert Hunt, they showed the ability to swell to enormous size.[4] Hunt associated these spirits with the hillfort known asTrencrom Hill in Cornwall.
Spriggans were notorious for their unpleasant dispositions, and delighted in working mischief against those who offended them. They raised sudden whirlwinds to terrify travellers, sent storms to blight crops, and sometimes stole away mortal children, leaving their uglychangelings in their place.[3] They were blamed if a house was robbed or a building collapsed, or if cattle were stolen.[5] In one story, an old woman got the better of a band of spriggans by turning her clothing inside-out (turning clothing supposedly being as effective as holy water or iron in repelling fairies) to gain their loot.[6]
On Christmas Eve, spriggans met for a midnight Mass at the bottom of deep mines, and passersby could hear them singing.[7] However, it was not spriggans but the buccas or knockers who were associated withtin mining, and who played a protective role towards the miners.[8]
Based on the collections of Robert Hunt and William Bottrell, Katharine Briggs characterized the spriggans asfairy bodyguards.[9]The English Dialect Dictionary (1905) compared them to thetrolls of Scandinavia.[5]
A sculpture of a spriggan byMarilyn Collins can be seen inCrouch End,London, in some arches lining a section of theParkland Walk (a disused railway line). The sculpture was installed in 1993.[10] If walking along the Parkland Walk fromFinsbury Park toHighgate station, theSpriggan is to the right just before the disused railway platforms of the formerCrouch End station. To the left, on the southside of the Parkland Walk isCrouch Hill Park whereAshmount School has been located since January 2013. The sculpture is sometimes mistaken for theGreen Man orPan.[citation needed]
Spriggans have been featured as fey creatures in theDungeons & Dragons roleplaying game since the 1980s.
Additionally, in the roleplaying gameChangeling: The Dreaming byWhite Wolf Publishing, Spriggans are a type of dark fae called Thallain. Here they are characterized as lazy, crude and cruel thieves who enjoy guarding treasures. They have an inherit weakness that causes them to kidnap young children as they enjoy both the parent’s and child’s misery, although they never directly harm the child. They are a dark counterpart to thePiskies.
Spriggans – in the style of the Parkland Walk sculpture – can be found inThe Elder Scrolls series of video games, where they are portrayed as exclusively female.
In the video gameWorld of Warcraft, the Spriggan are a race of fae loyal to the Drust, a dark and twisted version of the fae.
In the Japanese roleplaying video gameTrails Through Daybreak, Spriggan is a title taken on by the game’s main protagonist, Van Arkride. The title represents a person who solves morally gray problems— an underground fixer.
Cornish:Gonisogeth Kernow | |||||
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