He turns the tables on his captors, overpowering them, and they agree to grant him three wishes in return for their release: one is to gain the ability to breathe underwater, to prevent such a problem ever arising again. In the story, the King of Ulster falls asleep on the beach, only to awake shortly after to three leprechauns dragging him into the ocean in an attempt to drown him. The earliest known reference to a leprechaun comes from the medieval tale called Adventure of Fergus, Son of Léti, and it’s a far cry from the benign representations we see in cartoons today. THE LEPRECHAUN IN FOLKLOREĪ leprechaun counting his coins, from an engraving, c. Such fairies were a mercurial people, vengeful, proud, and not to be crossed without ample forethought.įor his own part, the leprechaun takes his name from the old Irish word leipreachán, defined by lexicographer and historian Patrick Dineen as “a pygmy or sprite.” An alternative spelling, leithbrágan, comes from the words “half” and “brogue” or shoe, due to the frequently-depicted image of a leprechaun hard at work cobbling a single shoe. They have been called the ancestors of humanity, the spirits of nature, and the alternate forms of powerful gods and goddesses. Such creatures were said to live underground in fairy hills ( aos sí means “people of the mounds”), far across the western sea, or, in some cases, in an unknowable supernatural realm that existed parallel to the human world. In traditional folklore, the leprechaun was most often depicted as a cobbler, as in this illustration by Wayne Anderson for The Leprechaun Companion (1999) by Niall Macnamara.Īs he was originally referred to, the leprechaun was a member of the aos sí fairy family. His journey, which begins with respect and acknowledgement as a fairy trickster in rural Irish communities and today hovers, uncertain, between beloved kitsch and national embarrassment abroad, is one worthy of contemplation. “Sometimes,” he said, “it descended to the lowest depths, to the caubeen to the shillelagh-not to speak of the leprechaun.” The country, he claimed, had been pigeonholed as a tourist destination only for those who came for the “twee Ireland” stereotype. " The Emerald Isle 500": In this race, the grand prize is a leprechaun.In 1963, Irish Fine Gael politician John Costello addressed the legislature of Ireland on the “miserable trivialities of tourist advertising” to which it was limited for many years."Shamrock Smurfs": When the time crystals bring the Smurfs to Ireland, Greedy Smurf turns into a leprechaun after eating shamrock stew.Michael the leprechaun was a recurring character."Dublin or Nothing": While vacationing in Ireland, Popeye and Olive Oyl are sent on a search for the Silver Shillelagh, which was stolen by a band of leprechauns.Blue Falcon and Grape Ape agree to work together to capture the leprechaun. One of the events in Ireland is a leprechaun chase." The Wee Greenie Goofie": Kitty Jo's Uncle Timothy is menaced by a leprechaun."The Magic Shillelagh": Huckleberry Finn, Becky Thatcher, and Tom Sawyer meet leprechauns in Ireland, who own a magic shillelagh."Leaping Leprechaun": Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy meet a leprechaun who has fled from a circus."Irish Stew": Sinbad and Salty meet a leprechaun who tells them about a gold-seeking ogre, who turns out to be Blubbo."Huck of the Irish": As a magazine photographer, Huckleberry Hound is sent to Ireland to photograph an elusive leprechaun."The Goon of Glocca Morra" story arc had Ruff and Reddy journeying to Ireland to help out a leprechaun.5 The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
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