View source for Spriggan

{{short description|Legendary creature in Cornish faery lore}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name  = Spriggan
|image     = Spriggan sculpture by Marilyn Collins, Parkland Walk, Haringey.jpg
|caption  = Sculpture by [[Marilyn Collins]]
|Grouping       = [[Mythological creature]] <br /> [[Fairy]] <br /> [[Sprite (creature)|Sprite]]
|Country        = [[England]]
|Region         = [[Cornwall]]
}}

A '''spriggan''' {{IPAc-en|s|p|r|ɪ|dʒ|ə|n}} is a [[legendary creature]] from [[Cornish mythology|Cornish folklore]]. Spriggans are particularly associated with [[West Penwith]] in [[Cornwall]].<ref>Various folklore collections e.g. [[Craig Weatherhill]] and Paul Devereux, ''Myths and Legends of Cornwall'', 1994, p. 23, Sigma Leisure, {{ISBN|978-1850583172}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
''Spriggan'' is a dialect word, pronounced with the grapheme <gg> as /d͡ʒ/, sprid-jan, and not sprigg-an, borrowed from the [[Cornish language|Cornish]] [[plural]] ''[[:wikt:spyrysyon|spyrysyon]]'' 'spirits'.<ref>Dr Ken George, ''An Gerlyver Meur'', p. 600, Cornish Language Board, {{ISBN|978-1902917849}}</ref>

==In folklore==
Spriggans have often been depicted as grotesquely ugly, wizened old men with large childlike heads. They were said to be found at old ruins, [[cairn]]s, and [[Tumulus|barrow]]s guarding buried treasure.<ref name="PSK">{{cite book|title=Piskies, Spriggans, Knockers, and the Small People – Traditional Tales from Cornwall|date=c. 1979|publisher=Tor Mark Press|isbn=978-0850250435|location=Truro|page=2}}</ref> 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.<ref>Robert Hunt, ''Popular Romances of the West of England'', 3rd edition, 1916, p. 81, {{ISBN|978-1605064604}}</ref> Hunt associated these spirits with the hillfort known as [[Trencrom 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 ugly [[changeling]]s in their place.<ref name="PSK" /> They were blamed if a house was robbed or a building collapsed, or if cattle were stolen.<ref name="EDD">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/englishdialectdi05wrig#page/690/mode/1up|title=The English Dialect Dictionary|publisher=Henry Frowde|year=1905|editor=Wright, Joseph|volume=V|page=690}}</ref> 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.<ref>Robert Hunt, ''Popular Romances of the West of England'', 3rd edition, 1916, The Old Woman Who Turned Her Shift, page 113-114</ref>

On Christmas Eve, spriggans met for a midnight Mass at the bottom of deep mines, and passersby could hear them singing.<ref>Robert Hunt, ''Popular Romances of the West of England'', 3rd edition 1916, page 349</ref> However, it was not spriggans but the buccas or knockers who were associated with [[tin mining]], and who played a protective role towards the miners.<ref>Robert Hunt, ''Popular Romances of the West of England'', 3rd edition, 1916, page 82</ref>

Based on the collections of Robert Hunt and William Bottrell, Katharine Briggs characterized the spriggans as [[fairy]] bodyguards.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Briggs|first=Katharine|title=A Dictionary of Fairies|publisher=Penguin|year=1976|isbn=978-0140176582|pages=300, 380–381}}</ref> ''[[The English Dialect Dictionary]]'' (1905) compared them to the [[troll]]s of Scandinavia.<ref name="EDD" />

==Sculpture==
A sculpture of a spriggan by [[Marilyn Collins]] can be seen in [[Crouch End]], [[London]], in some arches lining a section of the [[Parkland Walk]] (a disused railway line). The sculpture was installed in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Collins|first=Marilyn|title=Marilyn Collins|url=http://marilyncollins.moonfruit.com/see-my-work/4591770577|access-date=10 Aug 2020}}</ref> If walking along the Parkland Walk from [[Finsbury Park]] to [[Highgate tube station|Highgate station]], the ''Spriggan'' is to the right just before the disused railway platforms of the former [[Crouch End railway station|Crouch End station]]. To the left, on the southside of the Parkland Walk is [[Crouch Hill Park]] where [[Ashmount School]] has been located since January 2013. The sculpture is sometimes mistaken for the [[Green Man]] or [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]].{{cn|date=December 2023}}

==In popular culture==
Spriggans have been featured as fey creatures in the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' roleplaying game since the 1980s.

Additionally, in the roleplaying game [[Changeling: The Dreaming]] by [[White 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 the [[Piskies]]. 

Spriggans{{snd}}in the style of the Parkland Walk sculpture{{snd}}can be found in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series of video games, where they are portrayed as exclusively female.

In the video game ''[[World 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 game ''[[Trails 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.

== See also ==
* {{Portal inline|Cornwall}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== General sources==
* [[Katharine Mary Briggs|Briggs, Katharine]]. ''A Dictionary of Fairies''. Penguin, 1976, {{ISBN|978-0140176582}}
* [http://www.underground-history.co.uk/northernh3.php Underground History: "The Northern Heights"], Hywel Williams. Accessed 8 July 2007.

{{Culture of Cornwall}}
{{Fairies}}

[[Category:Spriggan| ]]
[[Category:Culture of Cornwall]]
[[Category:Cornish legendary creatures]]