Trolls

The Troll can be found at the coast of the island of Hamarøy (opposite to the Lofoten) at position 68° 7′ N 15° 24′ E. Access to this area requires some climbing along the coastline rocks. The Troll can not always be seen. Sometimes the waterfall increases so much, that his face is completely covered.

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James Matthew Barrie (Peter, in Peter Pan, act 1)--"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl."

A brownie, brounie/Urisk (Lowland Scots) or ùruisg/brùnaidh/gruagach (Scottish Gaelic) is a legendary kind of elf popular in folklore around Scotland and England (especially the north). He is the Scottish counterpart of the Scandinavian tomte, the Russian domovoi or the German Heinzelmännchen. Customarily they are said to inhabit houses and aid in tasks around the house. However, brownies do not like to be seen and will only work at night, perhaps in exchange for small gifts or food. They usually abandon the house if their gifts are called payments, or if they are offered gifts of clothes (no matter how shabby their own clothes are). In some stories, brownies have no noses.

The ùruisg had the qualities of man and spirit curiously commingled. He had a peculiar fondness for solitude at certain seasons of the year. About the end of Harvest he became more sociable, and hovered about farmyards, stables and cattle-houses. He had a particular fondness for the products of the dairy, and was a fearful intruder on milkmaids, who made regular libations of milk or cream to charm him off, or to procure his favour. He could be seen supposedly only by those who had the second sight, though instances where he made himself visible to people not so gifted have been rumoured. He is said to have been a jolly personable being with a broad blue bonnet, flowing yellow hair, and a long walking staff.

Every manor house had its ùruisg, and in the kitchen, close by the fire was a seat, which was left unoccupied for him. The house of a proprietor on the banks of the River Tay was even at the beginning of the twentieth century believed to have been haunted by this sprite, and a particular apartment therein has been for centuries called "Seòmar Bhrùnaidh" (Brownie’s room). When irritated through neglect or disrespectful treatment he would not hesitate to become wantonly mischievous. He was notwithstanding, rather gainly and good-natured rather that formidable. Though, on the whole, a lazy, lounging hobgoblin, he would often bestir himself on behalf of those who understood his humours, and suited themselves thereto. When in this mood, he was known to perform many arduous exploits in kitchen, barn and stable, with marvellous precision and rapidity. These kind turns were done without bribe, fee or reward, for the offer of any one of these would banish him forever. Kind treatment was all he ever wished for, and it never failed to procure his favour.

The brownies seldom discoursed with man, but they held frequent and affectionate converse with one another. They had their general assemblies too, and on those occasions they commonly selected for their rendezvous the rocky recesses of some remote torrent, whence their loud voices, mingling with the water’s roar, carried to the ears of some wondering superstition detached parts of their unearthly colloquies. In a certain district of the Scottish Highlands, "Peallaidh an Spùit" (Peallaidh of the Spout), "Stochdail a’ Chùirt", and "Brùnaidh an Easain" (Brownie of the little waterfall) were names of note at those congresses, and they still live in legends which continue to amuse old age and infancy. Every stream in Breadalbane had an ùruisg once according to Watson the Scottish place name expert, and their king was Peallaidh. (Peallaidh's name is preserved in "Obair Pheallaidh", known in English as "Aberfeldy".) It may be the case, that ùruisg was conflated with some water sprite, or that ùruisg were originally water sprites conflated with brownies.

This article incorporates text from “Dwelly’s [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary” (1911) (Ùruisg) with corrections and additions

The Earth element is the most dense. It is represented by Winter and the night. It is inhabited by Ladies, goblins, gnomes, and trolls. They are mostly green, and have a receptive energy. Fairies or ladies are characterized by their kindness and for being the oldest inhabitants of the plant. They may either be imposing or tiny; their powers, however, are incredible and dominate in nature.

An elf is a mythical creature of Germanic mythology/paganism which still survives in northern European folklore. In Norse mythology they were originally a race of minor gods of nature and fertility. Elves are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and other natural places, underground, or in wells and springs. They have been portrayed to be long-lived or immortal and they have magical powers attributed to them. Following the success of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic work The Lord of the Rings—wherein a wise, angelic people named Elves play a significant role—they have become staple characters of modern fantasy.

These are some little devil looking- goblins, not linked to a house, but to a person to whom they assist and make him their owner. They are linked to witchcraft.

The word "Gargoyle" shares a common root with the word "Gargle"; which comes from "gargouille", an French word for "Throat". A true gargoyle is a waterspout. The word “gargoyle” is also a derivative from the Latin word, “gurgulio”, which had a double meaning, “throat”, and the “gurgling” sound water makes as it passes through a gargoyle. A carved creature that does not serve the purpose of a drain pipe is frequently referred to as a "Grotesque". legend has it, that a fierce dragon named La Gargouille described as having a long, reptilian neck, a slender snout and membranous wings lived in a cave near the river Seine. The dragon caused much fear and destruction with its fiery breath, spouting water and the devouring of ships and men. Each year, the residents of Rouen would placate Gargouille with an offering of a victim, usually a criminal, though it was said the dragon preferred maidens. Around 600, the village was saved by St. Romanis, who promised to deal with the dragon if the townspeople agreed to be baptized and to build a church. Romanus subdued the dragon by making the sign of the cross and then led the now docile beast back to town on a leash made from his priest's robe. La Gargouille was then burned at the stake, it is said that his head and neck were so well tempered by the heat of his fiery breath, that they would not burn. These remnants were then mounted on the town wall and became the model for gargoyles for centuries to come.

Since these elementary beings are earth spirits, they preferably work the soil and tree roots, to which they grant power. They look like funny little old men, as they belong to a race coming from the beginning of times. It is said that they inhabited the lost Atlantis. These tiny creatures build their homes under aging trees. They only go out at night and their home is lively after sunset. They are friends of animals, they speak their same language and protect them from danger. The best feasts are when the freezing winds blow over the woods dancing and playing, they start to run and some prefer rain for their dances.

They belong to a strange family of aggresive and individualist goblins. They cause nightmares and choose women and children as their victims.

They live inside houses or in the surroundings. For centuries they inhabited wild, woody, and mountainous areas, living inside caves or caverns until one of them approached the places where human beings lived, firstly for the sake of curiosity, then with the single objective of having fun. They appear preferably at night. They are about 50 cm- high and resemble man. They go out at night and love to have fun by dint of those sleeping. Even though most of them like to bother or frighten human beings, some of them, however, love to help men in domestic households. According to some experts, their names come from the Arabig word duar, meaning the one who inhabites or the inhabitant.

A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing or other representation of a face surrounded by (or made from) leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face, and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings (both secular and ecclesiastical). "The Green Man" is also a popular name for British public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

The Green Man motif has many different faces and variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance", representing the cycle of growth being reborn anew each spring. Speculatively, the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

Although the Green Man appears in many forms, the three most common types have been categorised as follows:

Superficially the Green Man would appear to be pagan, perhaps a fertility figure or a nature spirit, similar to the woodwose (the wild man of the woods), and yet he frequently appears, carved in wood or stone, in churches, chapels, abbeys and cathedrals, where examples can be found dating from the 11th century through to the 20th century.

To the modern observer the earlier (Romanesque and medieval) carvings often have an unnervingly eerie or numinous quality. This is sometimes said to indicate the vitality of the Green Man, who was able to survive as a symbol of pre-Christian traditions despite, and at the same time complementary to, the influence of Christianity. (Rather than alienate their new converts, early Christian missionaries would often adopt and adapt local gods, sometimes turning them into obscure saints.)

Whatever his original significance may have been, many modern churchgoers characterise the Green Man as "the archetype of our oneness with the earth". The symbol is also popular with modern Wiccans and other Neopagans because it depicts an earth-centered concept of male divinity.

Many believe the greenman is related to the pre-Christian Celtic deity Cernunnos; others that it is simply an expression of the forces of nature, or even a reminder that we, too, are part of the cycle of life. There is no real evidence linking the images to any particular philosophy, cult, or belief, although the faces are strikingly uniform through time.

The greenman is not a strictly European phenomenon- similar images appear in Asian, Indian, and Arabic architecture and art as well.

Whatever his origin, the Green Man is now an unmistakable mascot of the Neopagan religious movement, where he serves as the embodiment of untamed nature, an emblem of the male principal, and a symbol of fertility and vibrant life energy.

Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to a friendly or amusing goblin. Traditional local fairy tales of Britain say hobgoblins were 1 or 2 feet tall, hairy, and naked or wearing brownish clothing. They lived by the flames of the fire and rarely went outside. They were described as friendly, impish, ugly, mischievous, good-humored, helpful, mean, grotesque, and fond of practical jokes. If annoyed, they would turn nasty.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, a Hobbit is an individual member of one of the races that inhabit the lands of Arda. According to the author, Hobbits are a "variety"^[1] or separate "branch"^[2] of the race of Men, but they consider themselves a separate race. They first appear in the book The Hobbit, and also play a major role in The Lord of the Rings. They are briefly mentioned in The Silmarillion, the work concerning itself more with Elves and Men.