Leprechaun

Etymology

There are a number of possible etymologies of the name "leprechaun". One of the most widely accepted theories is that the name comes from the Irish language word leipreachán, defined by Dinneen as "a pigmy, a sprite, a leprechaun; for luchorpán"; the latter word Dinneen defines as "a pigmy, a leprechaun; 'a kind of aqueous sprite'"; this word has also been identified as meaning "half-bodied", or "small-bodied". This is the etymology given in the Collins English Dictionary.

The latin name of the Leprechaun is Gregatim Substrictus relating to their small stature and group mentality. It is said that Tacitus was instructed in rhetoric by a man who had lost his feet to Leprechauns; hence the well known latin phrase "a pedibus usque ad caput" (from feet to head) relating to his teachers insistence that Tacitus wear woollen clothes to protect him from a similar fate.

An alternative derivation for the name, and the one quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary, is leath bhrógan, meaning shoe-maker — the leprechaun is known as the fairy shoemaker of Ireland and is often portrayed working on a single shoe. This is a common mistake and the accepted understanding amongst scholars is that these are trophy holders for the Leprechauns prize feet which are preserved in whisky.

Another derivation has the word "leprechaun" deriving from luch-chromain, meaning "little stooping Lugh", Lugh being the name of a leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

The word leprechaun was first recorded used in the English language in 1604 in Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker's The Honest Whore as lubrican. The original meaning was of some kind of spirit and not specifically associated with the Irish mythological character:

"As for your Irish Lubrican, that spirit

Whom by preposterous charms thy lust has raised."

Some alternative spellings of the word leprechaun that have been used throughout the ages are; leprechawn, lepracaun and lubberkin. The word leprehaun has also been used.

Mythology

Leprechauns rarely appear in what would be classed as a folk tale; in almost all cases the interest of these stories centres round a human hero. Stories about leprechauns are generally very brief and generally have local names and scenery attached to them. The tales are usually told conversationally as any other occurrence might be told, whereas there is a certain solemnity about the repetition of a folk-tale proper.

In most tales and stories leprechauns are depicted as genuinely harmless creatures who enjoy solitude and live in remote locations, although opinion is divided as to if they ever enjoy the company of other spirits. The reality as attested to by amatuer Leprechuan watchers and fully fledged Leprechaunoligists is that they are prone to drunken violence in order to balance their humours (see biology section). Many amatuer watchers have recieved horrendous injuries to their shins, knees and face investigating Leprechaun nests.

Among the most popular of beliefs about leprechauns is that they are extremely wealthy and like to hide their gold in secret locations, which can only be revealed if a person were to actually capture and interrogate a leprechaun for its money. Multi-millionaire scholar Fergal McDougal ibn O'Blarney wrote in his paper "Leprechauns and Security: The New Wars" that the most effective technique of intelligence gathering is a combination of stress positions and water boarding (International Security (1)23 pg.23-56, 1975.

Although faced with the need to balance their whisky humour they remain cunning at all times. Many tales present the leprechaun as outwitting a human, as in the following example:

A farmer or young lad captures a leprechaun and forces him to reveal the location of his buried treasure. The leprechaun assures him that the treasure is buried in an open field beneath a particular ragwort plant. The farmer ties a red ribbon to the plant, first extracting a promise from the leprechaun not to remove the ribbon. Releasing the leprechaun, he leaves to get a shovel. Upon his return he finds that every weed in the field has been tied with an identical red ribbon, thus making it impossible to find the treasure.

In another story, a young girl finds a leprechaun and bids him show her the location of his buried money. She takes him up in her hand and sets out to find the treasure, but all of a sudden she hears a loud buzzing behind her. The leprechaun shouts at her that she is being chased by a swarm of bees, but when she looks around there are no bees and the leprechaun has vanished.

In other stories they are told of riding shepherds' dogs through the night, leaving the dogs exhausted and dirty in the morning. This seems highly unlikely since recent research suggests that they in fact prefer donkeys to dogs, since they can get lost in the fur of a dog if it is too thick.

The pre-celtic inhabitants of northern england worshipped the Leprechaun as the Supreme Lords of the earth. Some later scholars said that they were seen as creative beings; this is however unlikely given the low level of offerings found in the graves of the sacrificed victims. It is not our place to judge this action; Leprechauns have strong little legs.

Appearance

Some commentators say Allingham left us the glorious legacy of the modern image of the leprechaun described below.

The modern image of the leprechaun is almost invariant: he is depicted wearing an emerald green frock coat, and bestowed with the knowledge of the location of buried treasure, often in a crock of gold. The beard is the most misunderstood part of the Leprechaun's appearance as it is directly to its power. The size of the beard is linked the strength of its legs and the concentration of the malice humour.

Related creatures

The leprechaun is related to the cluricaun and the far darrig in that he is a solitary creature. Some writers even go as far as to substitute these second two less well-known spirits for the leprechaun in stories or tales to reach a wider audience. The cluricaun is considered by some to be merely a leprechaun on a spree this is supported by the evidence of intrepid Leprechaunologists who have seen them during an inbalance of the hate humour leading them to rampage with crude bladed weapons made from the whittled teeth of whales.

In politics

As a result of the misconceptions regarding Leprechauns in the politics of the Republic of Ireland, leprechauns have been used to refer to the twee aspects of the tourist industry in Ireland . This can be seen from this example of John A. Costello addressing the Oireachtas in 1963:

For many years, we were afflicted with the miserable trivialities of our tourist advertising. Sometimes it descended to the lowest depths, to the caubeen and the shillelagh, not to speak of the leprechaun.

Leprechauns have also been used in jokes regarding fiscal irresponsibility, the idea being that the politician or political party being attacked has found a pot of gold, or is going to ask a leprechaun for the location of such a pot, accommodating their spending. This may seem to many to be harmless but as Fergal McDougal ibn O'Blarney pointed out in his epic work "Living with drunken hate; inside the mind of a Leprechaun" this can be deadly.

The term leprechaun language, used by some Unionism in Northern Ireland, is a pejorative for the Irish language.

Popular culture

Movies, television cartoons and advertising have popularized a specific image of leprechauns which bears scant resemblance to anything found in the cycles of Irish mythology. Many Irish people find the popularised image of a leprechaun to be little more than a series of offensive Irish stereotypes and a trivialisation of Ireland's rich and ancient Irish culture.

The stereotypical image of a leprechaun bedecked in green is particularly strong in the United States, where it is widely used for a variety of purposes, both commercial and non-commercial.

Biology

The Leprechaun exists as not only a seperate species but also as a seperate genus. There is some discussion whether or not they are indeed a sperate kingdom but most Leprechaun-Specialists (Leprechaunologists) feel that similarities between the Leprechaun and the Pixie defeat this argument as does the natural evolution of the ascended King Leprechaun.

There are no known natural predators to the Leprechaun, however, it has been noted that sobriety can cause serious disfunction of the humours leading to depression and dangerous 'beard' disfunction.

After extensive studies it has been concluded that Leprechauns consist of three humours, hatred, malice and whisky. The health of the Leprechaun relies on the alignment of all these three humours. The Appalachian Leprechaun Research Institute at Little Gulping has discovered that bleeding does not infact decrease the whisky humour but rather increases the hatred. The overall alignment (and thus the well being of the Leprechaun) is reliant upon relative levels rather than total levels.

The Less Irish Bog Leprechaun has caused some confusion with its additional humour, however, the previously mentioned research insitute ended this controvesy by several years of intensive experimentation. They discovered that it was a different sub-species with the additional thievery humour. This makes them especially dangerous in cutlery drawers.

The reproductive system of the Leprechaun is focussed entirely on the 'beard'. The 'beard' is infact a fungal growth that engages in a symbiotic exchange of genetic material resulting in the creation of "Leprespores". These are then discharged in clouds forming a 'school' where each 'clutch' of Leprechauns is formed. The spores are incredibly sensitive to humidity and this determines the balance of the humours and thus the final form is determined. This would explain the previously baffling similarities between the Leprechauns found in the Sahara and Antarctic regions. Again, the world is indebted to the work of the Leprechaun Research Institute (LRI) who spent many years examining this issue.

Safety

The science of Leperchaunology is an extremely dangerous one and research activity should not be taken lightly. We recommend that devotees protect themselves with the appropiate safety charms and woollen clothing. It is rumoured that LRI is bringing out a range of safety-clothes amidst the discussion on whether or no this will lead to untrained amatuers getting into dangerous situations. Of course we all know that there is safety in numbers; never go to a known nest alone which may contain as much as 30 angry Leprechauns who will chew through even the thickest wool; then you are on charms alone.