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{{Short description|Sea spirit in British Isles folklore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
A '''tangie''' (or ''tongie''{{r|"DOSL"}}) is a shape-shifting sea spirit in the [[folklore]] of the [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland Islands]] in Scotland.{{sfnp|Briggs|2002|p=280|ps=none}} A sea horse or [[merman]], it takes on the appearance of either a <!--rough-haired pony-->horse or an aged man.{{r|"DOSL"}}{{r|"Edmonston"}} Usually described as being covered with seaweed<!--or shells in its mane-->, its name derives from "tang"{{efn|Cognate with Old Norse and Faroese ''þang'' and Danish ''tang''.}} or seaweed of the genus ''[[Fucus]]''.{{r|"DOSL"}}{{r|"Edmonston"}}

It is known for terrorizing lonely travellers, especially young women on roads at night near the [[lochs]], whom it will abduct and devour under the water.

Similar yet distinctive from the smaller, less harmful [[Nuggle]],{{clarify |date=October 2019 |reason=What is a nogel?}} a tangie is able to cause derangement in humans and animals.{{sfnp|Teit|1918|p=187|ps=none}}

The tangie plays a major role in the Shetland legend of Black Eric, a sheep [[Rustling|rustler]]. The tangie he rode gave him supernatural assistance when he raided and harassed surrounding [[Croft (land)|croft]]s. In his final battle with crofter Sandy Breamer, Black Eric fell to his death in the sea. The tangie then continued to terrorize the area, particularly the young women he was hoping to abduct.{{sfnp|Lamont-Brown|1996|p=84|ps=none}}

== See also ==

* [[Kelpie]]
* [[Nuckelavee]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist|notes=}}

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="DOSL">
{{citation |title=tang |work=Dictionary of the Scots Language |year=2004 |publisher=Scottish Language Dictionaries |access-date=28 June 2014 |url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tang_n1}}
</ref>

<ref name=Edmonston>
{{citation |last=Edmondston |first=Thomas |title=An Etymological Glossary of the Shetland & Orkney Dialect |publisher=Adam and Charles Black |year=1866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0Q5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA125 |pages=125, 126}}
</ref>
}}

;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |last=Briggs |first=Katharine Mary |author-link=Katharine Mary Briggs |title=Fairies in Tradition and Literature |year=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-28601-5}}
*{{citation |last=Lamont-Brown |first=Raymond |author-link=Raymond Lamont-Brown |title=Scottish Folklore |year=1996 |publisher=Birlinn |isbn=978-1-874744-58-0}}
*{{citation |last=Teit |first=J. A. |author-link=James Teit |title=Water-Beings in Shetlandic Folk-Lore |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=31 |issue=120 |year=1918 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cxNAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA180 |pages=180–201 |doi=10.2307/534874 |jstor=534874|url-access=subscription }}
{{refend}}　
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==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Black Eric; or, The man with the Iron Staff |work=Shetland Fireside Tales |url=https://archive.org/stream/shetlandfireside00stewrich#page/n127/mode/2up |first=George |last=Stewart |year=1892 |publisher=Manson |pages=117–140|mode=cs2}}-->

{{Scottish mythology|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Scottish folklore]]
[[Category:Water spirits]]
[[Category:Legendary horses]]
[[Category:Scottish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Culture of Shetland]]
[[Category:Mermen]]
[[Category:Shapeshifters]]


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