Púca
Púca , also Puka, Phooka, Phuka, Pooka , Cymrian Pwca or Bwca , Cornish Bucca , in Manx Glashtyn , is a creature from Celtic mythology . He is a malicious and magical, but relatively harmless ghost or goblin who lives underground with gnomes and dwarfs . In Ireland it is close to the fairies and leprechauns from the Síde , in Scotland to the brownies . He can be associated with the Gallic god Bugius and the German Puk . Púcas in Ireland are said to appear to the people especially at Samhain . The Welsh / Cornish Knockers are very similar to Púcas.
Púcas are shape changers, every now and then they appear to people in the form of different animal shapes, e.g. B. as a dog, goat or horse, but always with black fur. The preferred appearance is that of a black pony. Púca likes to invite careless travelers to ride on his back, which for the unsuspecting traveler quickly turns out to be a horror trip over hill and dale and sometimes through thorn bushes. Most of the time Púca throws his "guest" somewhere in the moor and disappears amid roaring laughter.
Since Púcas can speak the language of the people, they can sometimes warn of disaster. When the harvest is brought in, everything that remains on the fields after Samhain on grain ears is the property of the Púcas. After Ó Súilleabháin, Halloween is also called “Púca night” .
See also
- List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
- banshee
- Black Annis
- Cailleach
- Cluricaun
- Gwrach
- Korrigan
- Tylwyth Teg
literature
- John T. Koch: Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, volumes 1-5. ABC-Clio, 2006, ISBN 9781851094400 , p. 729.
- Katharine Mary Briggs: An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. Pwca, ISBN 0-394-73467-X , p. 337.
- Seán Ó Súilleabháin: A handbook of Irish folklore. Folklore Associates, 1963.
- William Butler Yeats : Fairy and folk tales of Ireland. Smythe, 1988, ISBN 9780861402991 .