It has been suggested that Puck (Shakespeare) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Puck is a mischievous pre-Christian nature spirit. The pagan trickster was reimagined in Old English puca (Christianized as "devil") as a kind of half-tamed woodland sprite, leading folk astray with echoes and lights in nighttime woodlands (like the Celtic/French "White Ladies", the Dames Blanches), or coming into the farmstead and souring milk in the churn. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeares play A Midsummer Nights Dream. ... Pre-Christian - The time before Christianity. ... Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events. ... The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus (breath). // The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath (compare spiritus asper), but also soul, courage, vigor, ultimately from a PIE root *(s)peis- (to blow). In the Vulgate, the Latin word translates Greek (πνευμα), pneuma (Hebrew (רוח) ruah), as... Heathen redirects here. ... The trickster figure Reynard the Fox as depicted in an 1869 childrens book by Michel Rodange. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... The Devil is a title given to the supernatural entity, who, in Christianity, Islam, and other religions, is a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of preternatural legendary creatures. ... Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. ...

Significantly for such a place-spirit or genius, the Old English word occurs mainly in placenames, which strongly suggests that the Puca was older in the landscape of Britain than the language itself. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the name Puck is "unsettled", and it is not even clear whether its origin is Germanic (cf. Old Norse puki,) or Celtic (Welsh pwca and Irish púca ). In Roman mythology, every man had a genius and every woman a juno (Juno was also the name for the queen of the gods). ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... The Púca (also Pooka, Phouka, Púka, Glashtyn, Gruagach) is a creature of Irish and Welsh myth. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ... The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... The Púca (Old Irish), (also Pooka, Phooka, Phouka, Púka, Pwca in Welsh, pouque in Dgèrnésiais, also Glashtyn, Gruagach) is a creature of Celtic folklore, notably in Ireland and Wales. ...

In Ireland, "puck" is said to be sometimes used for "goat".

Other similar names:

• In Friesland, there is a “Puk”
• In old German, the “putz” or “butz” is a being not unlike the original English Puck.
• The “Pocker” in Swedish is the Devil.
• The “Puk” (aka the Draug) in Norwegian is a water sprite, a supernatural being of evil power.
• In Icelandic a “Púki” is a little devil. “Púkinn” with the definite article suffix "-inn" means the Devil.

Since, if you "speak of the Devil" he will appear, Puck's euphemistic "disguised" name is "Robin Goodfellow" or "Hobgoblin," in which "Hob" may substitute for "Rob" or may simply refer to the "goblin of the hearth" or hob. The name Robin is Middle English in origin, deriving from Old French Robin, the pet form for the name Robert. After Meyerbeer's successful opera Robert le Diable (1831), neo-medievalists and occultists began to apply the name Robin Goodfellow to the Devil, with appropriately extravagant imagery. The earliest reference to "Robin Goodfellow" cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1531. Capital Leeuwarden Queens Commissioner drs. ... The Devil is a title given to the supernatural entity, who, in Christianity, Islam, and other religions, is a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind. ... Lucifer, as depicted in Collin de Plancys Dictionnaire Infernal (1863). ... Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to a friendly or amusing goblin. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300 A.D. It was known at the time as the langue doïl to distinguish it from the langue... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864) was a noted German-born opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ... January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake - thousands die. ...

If you had the knack, Puck might do minor housework for you, quick fine needlework or butter-churning, which could be undone in a moment by his knavish tricks if you fell out of favor with him. "Those that Hob-goblin call you, and sweet Puck, / You do their work, and they shall have good luck" said one of William Shakespeare's fairies. Shakespeare's characterization of "shrewd and knavish" Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream may have revived flagging interest in Puck. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... by Sophie Anderson For other uses, see Fairy (disambiguation). ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

According to the public domain 1898 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - sometimes referred to simply as Brewers - is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions and figures, whether historical or mythical. ...

[Robin Goodfellow was a] "drudging fiend", and merry domestic fairy, famous for mischievous pranks and practical jokes. At night-time he will sometimes do little services for the family over which he presides. The Scotch call this domestic spirit a brownie; the Germans, kobold or Knecht Ruprecht. Scandinavians called it Nissë God-dreng. Puck, the jester of Fairy-court, is the same.

Scotch is an adjective meaning of Scotland now considered pejorative[]. Common contemporary usage is Scottish or Scots in Britain but Scotch is still in contemporary use as a non pejorative term in the majority of the English speaking world[]. Scotch should only pertain to specific products, usually food or drink... A signature Cox Brownie 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). ... Kobolds are spirits of German folklore. ... Krampus (2003 Perchtenlauf in Woelfnitz, Austria) The Companions of Saint Nicholas (or Father Christmas) are a group of closely related figures who accompany St. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe and includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... One of Jenny Nyströms Christmas-themed tomte paintings, a popular image of the modern tomte A tomte or nisse is a mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore, believed to take care of a farmers home and barn and protect it from misfortune, in particular at night, when the... It has been suggested that Joker be merged into this article or section. ...

Puck in Literature

Aside from Shakespeare's famous use of Puck, many other writers have referred to the spirit as well. An early 17th century broadside ballad, "The Mad Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow"—which is so deft and literate it has been taken for the work of Ben Jonson—describes Puck/Robin Goodfellow as the emissary of Oberon, the Faery King, inspiring night-terrors in old women but also carding their wool while they sleep, leading travellers astray, taking the shape of animals, blowing out the candles to kiss the girls in the darkness, twitching off their bedclothes, or making them fall out of bed on the cold floor, tattling secrets, and changing babes in cradles with elflings. All his work is done by moonlight, and his mocking, echoing laugh is "Ho ho ho!" (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Benjamin Jonson (circa June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ... Oberon, also Auberon, King of the Fairies, is most well-known as a character in William Shakespeares play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, written in the mid-1590s. ... Darkness is the absence of light. ...

Robin Goodfellow is the main speaker in Jonson's 1612 masque Love Restored. Events January 20 - Mathias becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... Costume for a Knight, by Inigo Jones: the plumed helmet, the heroic torso in armour and other conventions were still employed for opera seria in the 18th century. ... Love Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson; it was performed on Twelfth Night, Jan. ...

John Milton, in L'Allegro tells "how the drudging Goblin swet / To earn his cream-bowle duly set" by threshing a week's worth of grain in a night, and then, "stretch'd out all the chimney's length, / Basks at the fire his hairy strength." Milton's Puck is not small and sprightly, but nearer to a Green Man or a hairy woodwose. For followers of neo-Pagan imagery, sometimes the influence of Pan imagery has now given Puck the hindquarters and cloven hooves of a goat. He may even have small horns. For other persons named John Milton, see John Milton (disambiguation). ... LAllegro by Thomas Cole LAllegro (1631) is a famous pastoral poem by John Milton. ... A goblin is an evil or merely mischievous creature of folklore, often described as a grotesquely disfigured or elf-like phantom. ... The Green Man is a symbol of uncertain origin and meaning, commonly employed as a decorative architectural device in the British Isles and many parts of continental Europe. ... Woodwoses support coats of arms in the side panels of a portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1499 (Alte Pinakothek, Munich) Grand arms of Prussia, 1873 The Woodwose or hairy wildman of the woods was the Sasquatch figure of pre-Christian Gaul, in Anglo-Saxon a Woodwoses appear in the carved... Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of nature who watches over shepherds and their flocks: paein means to pasture. ... A cloven hoof is a type of hoof split into two toes, each encased by a layer of horn. ...

Goethe also used Puck in the first half of his Faust play, in a scene entitled A Walpurgis Night Dream, where he played off of the spirit Ariel from The Tempest. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... Faust depicted in an etching by Rembrandt van Rijn (circa 1650) Faust or Faustus is the protagonist of a popular German legend in which a mediæval scholar makes a pact with the Devil. ... Walpurgis Night in Sweden Walpurgis Night (or Walpurgisnacht in Germany) is a holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1, in large parts of central and Northern Europe. ... Ariel taking on an illusionary form, at Prosperos command Ariel is a fictional sprite who appears in William Shakespeares play The Tempest. ... Miranda and Ferdinand, Angelica Kauffmann, 1782 For other uses, see The Tempest (disambiguation). ...

Puck's trademark laugh in the early ballads is "Ho ho ho." In modern mythology, the "merry old elf" who works with magical swiftness unseen in the night, who can "descry each thing that's done beneath the moone," whom we propitiate with a glass of milk, lest he put lumps of coal in the stockings we hang by the hob with care, and whose trademark laugh is "Ho ho ho"—is Santa Claus. A trademark or trade mark[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by an individual, business organization or other legal entity to uniquely identify the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. ... A small forest elf (älva) rescuing an egg, from Solägget (1932), by Elsa Beskow An elf is a mythical creature of Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism which still survives in northern European folklore. ... A typical depiction of Santa Claus. ...

In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1906), Puck, the last of the People of the Hills and "the oldest thing in England," charms the children Dan and Una with a collection of tales and visitors out of England's past. This article is about the British author. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ...

Puck is also a main character in Tom Robbins's novel Jitterbug Perfume. Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1936 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina) is an American author. ...

The children's theater play Robin Goodfellow by Aurand Harris is a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream from the point of view of Puck. This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Puck in Modern Media

Puck has also been loosely re-imagined in many modern comics. The house-elf Dobby in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels stays closer to the traditional, house-keeping qualities of Robin Goodfellow, however, the Puck who appears in Neil Gaiman's comic, The Sandman, holds much closer to the idea of Puck as a trickster and maker of mischief. In Orson Scott Card's novel Magic Street, we get to know Puck, Queen Titania and Oberon in a modern, urban setting. A house-elf is a fictional magical creature in the Harry Potter series of books written by J. K. Rowling. ... Dobby is also a trade term used to refer to the strip of closely-woven material often seen on towels (and much less commonly on washcloths). ... Joanne Rowling, OBE (born 31 July 1965[1]) is an English fiction writer who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960, Portchester, Hampshire) is an English author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many graphic novels. ... The Sandman was a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996. ... Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951)[1] is an American author, working in numerous genres. ... Magic Street (ISBN 0345416899) is a novel by Orson Scott Card published in 2005. ... Titania may refer to: Titania (mythology), the queen of the fairies in medieval folklore and a character from William Shakespeares play A Midsummer Nights Dream Titania (moon), the largest moon of Uranus. ... Oberon, also Auberon, King of the Fairies, is most well-known as a character in William Shakespeares play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, written in the mid-1590s. ...

In the Manga Berserk, the main character Guts has an elf sidekick named Puck. Depicted as a small fairy-like creature, Puck provides comic relief and teases various characters that appear as ally or foe in the series. Manga )   (pl. ... Serialized in Young Animal (Hakusensha) Original run 1992 (series), 1990 (volume) – No. ...

In the animated series Gargoyles, Puck is a traditional Trickster and an important supporting character in the series. During the long exile from Avalon, Puck came across Queen Titania in the human guise of Anastasia Renard. He also met an extremely stiff man named Preston Vogel under Anastasia's employment. Puck, amused with the behaviour of the mortal Vogel, decided to try playing the role of the straight man for a while, and crafted himself into a man named Owen Burnett. As Owen, he eventually came to work for David Xanatos. This article is about the animated series. ... In the fictional universe of the animated series Gargoyles, the name Oberons children is given to the so-called Third Race of beings (the other two being humans and gargoyles). ... Avalon (probably from the Celtic word abal: apple; see Etymology below) is a legendary island somewhere in the British Isles, famous for its beautiful apples. ... For other uses, see Titania (disambiguation). ... Laurel and Hardy are one of the worlds most popular double acts A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic device in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin, and profession, but drastically... Owen Burnett is a fictional character from the Disney animated television series Gargoyles. ... David Xanatos David Xanatos is one of the primary antagonists of the animated series Gargoyles. ...

The character Aelita from the series Code Lyoko has a doll named Mister Pück, who is named after this spirit. Aelita in the Desert sector of Lyoko. ... Code Lyoko is a French animated television series featuring both conventional animation and CGI animation. ... Look up doll in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In the video game Final Fantasy IX, Puck is a mischievous Burmecian who shows up numerous times throughout the game to play tricks on the player's party. It is later revealed he is the missing Prince of Burmecia. Final Fantasy IX ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co. ... Also known as The Realm Of Eternal Rain, the Kingdom of Burmecia is one of 3 Great controling nations in the hugely popular video game from Square-enix, Final Fantasy lX. ...

In Rob Thurman's novels, Nightlife and Moonshine, Robin Goodfellow and Hobgoblin are two seperate beings, both remnants of the near-extinct race of pucks. In the novels, they are re-imagined in a modern setting, the former working as a slick car salesman, the latter as the bartender of a club. Nightlife is the collective term for any entertainment that is available and more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. ... Shine Road The name tells the history of this back road in Hemingway, South Carolina Revenue men at the site of moonshine stills, Kentucky, 1911 or before Moonshine (sometimes known as Poitín, mooney, creek water, hooch, Portuguese grape juice, white lightning, and many others) is a common slang term...

See also

• Pooka
• Mr. Tumnus
• Faun
• Satyr
• Pan (mythology)
• Faunus
• Curupira A similar nature spirit of Brazilian folklore
• Leshy
• Imp
• Killorglin A town in Co. Kerry, Ireland that hosts an annual fair dedicated to King Puck, featuring a male mountain goat.
• Lubber fiend

The Púca (also Pooka, Phouka, Púka, Glashtyn, Gruagach) is a creature of Irish and Welsh myth. ... The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. ... A faun, as painted by Hungarian painter Pál Szinyei Merse In Roman mythology, fauns were place-spirits (genii) of untamed woodland. ... Ancient Greek Satyr statuette In Greek mythology, satyrs (in Greek, Σάτυροι — Sátyroi) are young humans, possibly with horse ears, that roamed the woods and mountains, and were the companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of nature who watches over shepherds and their flocks: paein means to pasture. ... Marble sculpture of Pan copulating with a goat, recovered from Herculaneum Pan (Greek Παν, genitive Πανος) is the Greek god who watches over shepherds and their flocks. ... The Curupira is a forest spirit in Tupi mythology. ... This article needs cleanup. ... An imp is a mythological being similar to a fairy, frequently described in folklore and superstition. ... A goat atop the Puck Fair stand. ... The lubber fiend, Lob, lubberkin, lurdane or Lob Lie-By-The-Fire was a legendary creature of England that was was similar in attributes to the urisk or brownie of Scotland and northern England. ...

External links

• A Puck website gives the text of early 17th century ballads of Robin Goodfellow.
• A folklore page, with a 1639 Puritan image of a demonized Puck
• The Ballads of Robin Goodfellow