Loose Ends

For the last time referring to the previous post about mythical whosiewhatsits, this final addendum should leave us feeling extremely well-educated on the subject.

A will-o’-the-wisp is a light that appears over marshy ground. It is thought to be caused by combustion of marsh gases. Legend says that you should never follow the light because it will deliberately mislead you. I found seven other terms describing the same phenomenon, and since I like to make lists, too, here they are.

Ignis fatuus (Latin), literally “foolish fire”
Corpse candle (Welsh)
Friar’s lantern
Jack o’ Lantern
Spunkie (Scottish)
Walking fire
The Fair Maid of Ireland

Now for the remaining weird words: a cluricaune is pretty much the same thing as a leprechaun, a kobold is a German gnome that lives and works underground, a wili is a vampirish Slavic fairy (according to Wikipedia.com), a nix is a water spirit, and inui are . . . well, inui are probably something, but I have no idea what. I could not find any references to them anywhere. If I ever find out what they are, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I’m going to make up a definition for them and say that inui are from ancient Roman legend: fat supernatural beings that do nothing but eat cheese all day.

Good-bye, all you fairies, demons, goblins, and other weird whosieswhatsits!