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82-789: In F. Grice's telling of the traditional story The Duergar in Folk Tales of the North Country (1944), one of them is described as being short, wearing a lambskin coat, moleskin trousers and shoes, and a hat made of moss stuck with a feather. The legendary dwarfs of Simonside were mentioned in the local newspaper, the Morpeth Gazette , in 1889, and in Tyndale's Legends and Folklore of Northumbria , 1930. They delighted in leading travellers astray, especially after dark, often carrying lighted torches to lead them into bogs, rather like

164-610: A Will-o'-the-wisp . The menacing creatures would often disappear at dawn. The word duergar is likely to be derived from the dialectal words for "dwarf" on the Anglo-Scottish border which include dorch , dwerch , duerch , Duergh and Duerwe amongst others with a later, mistakenly added Norse -ar plural, perhaps as a result of linguistic misattestation. It may also come from the Old Norse word for dwarf or dwarfs ( dvergar ). These Border words for "dwarf" , like

246-592: A ball of energy) , hi no tama ("ball of flame"), aburagae , koemonbi ( 小右衛門火 ) , ushionibi , etc. All these phenomena are described as associated with graveyards. Kitsune , mythical yokai demons, are also associated with will 'o the wisp, with the marriage of two kitsune producing kitsune-bi (狐火), literally meaning 'fox-fire'. These phenomena are described in Shigeru Mizuki 's 1985 book Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms (妖怪伝 in Japanese). In Korea

328-663: A bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch and the name ' Will ', thus meaning 'Will of the torch'. The term jack-o'-lantern ('Jack of the lantern') originally referred to a will-o'-the-wisp. In the United States, they are often called spook-lights , ghost-lights , or orbs by folklorists. The Latin name ignis fatuus is composed of ignis , meaning 'fire' and fatuus , an adjective meaning 'foolish', 'silly' or 'simple'; it can thus be literally translated into English as 'foolish fire' or more idiomatically as 'giddy flame'. Despite its Latin origins,

410-453: A by-product, which forms phosphoric acid upon contact with water vapor, which can explain "viscous moisture" sometimes described as accompanying ignis fatuus. The idea of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomena being caused by natural gases can be found as early as 1596, as mentioned in the works of Ludwig Lavater . In 1776 Alessandro Volta first proposed that natural electrical phenomena (like lightning) interacting with methane marsh gas may be

492-516: A crucifix, preventing him from returning to his original form. In exchange for his freedom, the Devil grants Jack ten more years of life. When the term expires, the Devil comes to collect his due. But Jack tricks him again by making him climb a tree and then carving a cross underneath, preventing him from climbing down. In exchange for removing the cross, the Devil forgives Jack's debt. However, no one as bad as Jack would ever be allowed into heaven, so Jack

574-587: A drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way. Jack-o'-lanterns carved from pumpkins are a yearly Halloween tradition that developed in the United States when Irish, Cornish, Scottish and other Celtic influenced immigrants brought their root vegetable carving traditions with them. It is common to see jack-o'-lanterns used as external and interior decorations prior to and on Halloween. To make

656-527: A faint cool light by mixing phosphine with air and nitrogen. Though the glow was still greenish in colour, Garlaschelli and Boschetti noted that under low-light conditions, the human eye cannot easily distinguish between colours. Furthermore, by adjusting the concentrations of the gases and the environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.), it was possible to eliminate the smoke and smell, or at least render it to undetectable levels. Garlaschelli and Boschetti also agreed with Mills that cold flames may also be

738-412: A fern seed from a mythical flowering fern , the magical properties of that seed will lead the fortunate person to these treasures, in addition to providing one with a glamour of invisibility. Since in reality the fern produces no flower and reproduces via spores under the leaves, the myth specifies that it blooms only extremely rarely. In Welsh folklore, it is said that the light is "fairy fire" held in

820-414: A few inches from the ground. In Colombia , la Bolefuego or Candileja is the will-o'-the-wisp ghost of a vicious grandmother who raised her grandchildren without morals, and as such they became thieves and murderers. In the afterlife, the grandmother's spirit was condemned to wander the world surrounded in flames. In Trinidad and Tobago , a soucouyant is a "fireball witch" — an evil spirit that takes on

902-453: A form of behaviour sometimes ascribed also to the Irish leprechaun . Other stories tell of travellers surprising a will-o'-the-wisp while lost in the woods and being either guided out or led further astray, depending on whether they treated the spirit kindly or harshly. Also related, the pixy-light from Devon and Cornwall which leads travellers away from the safe and reliable route and into

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984-398: A jack-o'-lantern, the top of a pumpkin is cut off to form a lid, the inside flesh is scooped out, and an image—usually a "scary" or "funny" face—is carved out of the rind exposing the hollow interior. A light source, traditionally a candle flame or tealight, is placed within before the lid is closed. Artificial jack-o'-lanterns with electric lights are also marketed. The term jack-o'-lantern

1066-466: A light that always seemed to recede, in order to lead unwary travellers to their doom. The spunkie has also been blamed for shipwrecks at night after being spotted on land and mistaken for a harbour light. Other tales of Scottish folklore regard these mysterious lights as omens of death or the ghosts of once living human beings. They often appeared over lochs or on roads along which funeral processions were known to travel. A strange light sometimes seen in

1148-825: A mischievous spirit of nature; the Latin translation was made to lend the German name intellectual credibility. Beside Irrlicht , the will-o'-the-wisp has also been called in German Irrwisch (where Wisch translates to 'wisp'), as found in e.g. Martin Luther 's writings of the same 16th century. The names will-o'-the-wisp and jack-o'-lantern are used in etiological folk-tales , recorded in many variant forms in Ireland , Scotland , England , Wales , Appalachia , and Newfoundland . Folk belief attributes

1230-582: A night watchman. The OED gives 1837 as the earliest date for when the term was used to refer to a lantern carved from a turnip or pumpkin. The carving of vegetables has been a common practice in many parts of the world. It is believed that the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween time began in Ireland and Britain. In the 19th century, " turnips or mangel wurzels , hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces," were used on Halloween in parts of England, Ireland, Wales and

1312-476: A path or direction. These wisps are portrayed as dancing or flowing in a static form, until noticed or followed, in which case they visually fade or disappear. Modern science explains the light aspect as natural phenomena such as bioluminescence or chemiluminescence , caused by the oxidation of phosphine ( PH 3 ), diphosphane ( P 2 H 4 ) and methane ( CH 4 ), produced by organic decay. The term will-o'-the-wisp comes from wisp ,

1394-442: A plausible explanation for other instances of ignis fatuus. In 1993 professors Derr and Persinger proposed that some ignis fatuus may be geologic in origin, piezoelectrically generated under tectonic strain. The strains that move faults would also heat up the rocks, vaporizing the water in them. Rock or soil containing something piezoelectric, like quartz , silicon , or arsenic , may also produce electricity , channelled up to

1476-556: A wide variety of compounds, including hydrocarbons (including methane), alcohols , aldehydes , oils , acids , and even waxes . However it is unknown if cold flames occur naturally, though a lot of compounds which exhibit cold flames are the natural byproducts of organic decay. A related hypothesis involves the natural chemiluminescence of phosphine. In 2008 the Italian chemists Luigi Garlaschelli and Paolo Boschetti attempted to recreate Mills' experiments. They successfully created

1558-490: A will-o'-the-wisp to mark the exact place and time so that he could reclaim the treasure. The Aarnivalkea (also known as virvatuli, aarretuli and aarreliekki), in Finnish mythology , are spots where an eternal flame associated with will-o'-the-wisps burns. They are claimed to mark the places where faerie gold is buried. They are protected by a glamour that would prevent anyone finding them by pure chance. However, if one finds

1640-409: Is Good Company teamed up with Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, to break the record. A record was set on October 21, 2006, when 30,128 jack-o'-lanterns were simultaneously lit on Boston Common in downtown Boston, Massachusetts . Highwood, Illinois , tried to set the record on October 31, 2011, with an unofficial count of 30,919 but did not follow

1722-488: Is a carved lantern , most commonly made from a pumpkin , or formerly a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel , rutabaga or turnip . Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs , called jack-o'-lanterns (also known as will-o'-the-wisps ). It is suggested that the name also has ties to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack ,

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1804-922: Is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in the United Kingdom by a variety of names, including jack-o'-lantern , friar's lantern , and hinkypunk , and is said to mislead and/or guide travellers by resembling a flickering lamp or lantern. Equivalents of the will-o'-the-wisps appear in European folklore by various names, e.g., ignis fatuus in Latin, feu follet in French, Irrlicht or Irrwisch in Germany, Hessdalen light in Norway . Equivalents occur in traditions of cultures worldwide (cf. § Global terms ); e.g.,

1886-483: Is an uncertain light which may sometimes be seen dancing over churchyards and marshy places. No one really know how it is produced, and chemists are continually experimenting to discover its nature. It is thought that it is formed by the mixing of marsh gas, which is giving off decaying vegetable matter, with phosphoretted hydrogen, a gas which ignites instantly. But this theory has not been definitely proved.' One attempt to replicate ignis fatuus under laboratory conditions

1968-551: Is forced upon his death to travel to hell and ask for a place there. The Devil denies him entrance in revenge but grants him an ember from the fires of hell to light his way through the twilight world to which lost souls are forever condemned. Jack places it in a carved turnip to serve as a lantern. Another version of the tale is "Willy the Whisp", related in Irish Folktales by Henry Glassie . Séadna by Peadar Ua Laoghaire

2050-619: Is the eve of All Saints' Day (1 November)/ All Souls' Day (2 November). On January 16, 1836, the Dublin Penny Journal published a long story on the legend of "Jack-o'-the-Lantern", although this does not mention the lantern being carved from a vegetable. In 1837, the Limerick Chronicle refers to a local pub holding a carved gourd competition and presenting a prize to "the best crown of Jack McLantern". The term "McLantern" also appears in an 1841 publication of

2132-492: Is yet another version—and also the first modern novel in the Irish language. Mexico has equivalents. Folklore explains the phenomenon to be witches who transformed into these lights. Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which can be found only with the help of children. In this one, they are called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del tesoro (treasure lights). The swampy area of Massachusetts known as

2214-824: The Banni grasslands , its seasonal marshy wetlands and the adjoining desert of the marshy salt flats of the Rann of Kutch Other varieties (and sources) of ghost-lights appear in folklore across India, including the Kollivay Pey of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the Kuliyande Choote of Kerala, and many variants from different tribes in Northeast India. Similar phenomena are described in Japanese folklore, including hitodama ( 人魂 , literally "Human Soul" as

2296-479: The Bridgewater Triangle has folklore of ghostly orbs of light, and there have been modern observations of these ghost-lights in this area as well. The fifollet (or feu-follet) of Louisiana derives from the French. The legend says that the fifollet is a soul sent back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in harmless mischievous acts,

2378-457: The Colt pixie . "A colt pixie is a pixie that has taken the shape of a horse and enjoys playing tricks such as neighing at the other horses to lead them astray". In Guernsey , the light is known as the faeu boulanger (rolling fire), and is believed to be a lost soul. On being confronted with the spectre, tradition prescribes two remedies. The first is to turn one's cap or coat inside out. This has

2460-752: The Headless Horseman with a jack-o'-lantern in place of his severed head. In the original story, a shattered pumpkin is discovered next to Ichabod Crane's abandoned hat on the morning after Crane's supposed encounter with the Horseman, but the story does not reference jack-o'-lanterns or Halloween. The story of the jack-o'-lantern comes in many forms and is similar to the story of Will-o'-the-wisp retold in different forms across Western Europe , including, Italy , Norway , Spain and Sweden . In Switzerland , children will leave bowls of milk or cream out for mythical house spirits called Jack o'

2542-609: The Hebrides is referred to as the teine sith , or "fairy light", though there was no formal connection between it and the fairy race. The Australian equivalent, known as the Min Min light is reportedly seen in parts of the outback after dark. The majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in the Channel Country region. Stories about the lights can be found in aboriginal myth pre-dating western settlement of

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2624-895: The Naga fireballs on the Mekong in Thailand . In North America the phenomenon is known as the Paulding Light in Upper Peninsula of Michigan , the Spooklight in Southwestern Missouri and Northeastern Oklahoma, and St. Louis Light in Saskatchewan . In Arab folklore it is known as Abu Fanoos In folklore, will-o'-the-wisps are typically attributed as ghosts, fairies or elemental spirits meant to reveal

2706-467: The Old Tupi language and means "fiery serpent" ( mboî tatá ). Its great fiery eyes leave it almost blind by day, but by night, it can see everything. According to legend, Boi-tatá was a big serpent which survived a great deluge . A "boiguaçu" (cave anaconda) left its cave after the deluge and, in the dark, went through the fields preying on the animals and corpses, eating exclusively its favourite morsel,

2788-599: The Scottish Highlands . In Gaelic -speaking regions, Halloween was also the festival of Samhain and was seen as a time when supernatural beings (the Aos Sí ) walked the earth. In Wales such nights were known as Ysbrydnosau (spirit nights), with Calan Gaeaf being the one which occurred on the night of 31 October. Jack-o'-lanterns were also made at Halloween time in Somerset , England (see Punkie Night ) during

2870-732: The Standard English form, all derive from the Old English dweorh or dweorg via the Middle English dwerg . In the 2004 film Van Helsing , the Duergar are the minions of Count Dracula . This article relating to a European folklore is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Will-o%27-the-wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp , will-o'-wisp , or ignis fatuus ( Latin for 'foolish flame'; pl.   ignes fatui ),

2952-449: The baptismal formula to sanctify the child. In Sweden also, the will-o'-the-wisp represents the soul of an unbaptised person "trying to lead travellers to water in the hope of being baptized". Danes , Finns , Swedes , Estonians , Latvians , Lithuanians , and Irish people and amongst some other groups believed that a will-o'-the-wisp also marked the location of a treasure deep in ground or water, which could be taken only when

3034-438: The oxidation of phosphine (PH 3 ), diphosphane (P 2 H 4 ), and methane (CH 4 ). These compounds, produced by organic decay , can cause photon emissions. Since phosphine and diphosphane mixtures spontaneously ignite on contact with the oxygen in air, only small quantities of it would be needed to ignite the much more abundant methane to create ephemeral fires. Furthermore, phosphine produces phosphorus pentoxide as

3116-476: The 1 November 1866 edition of the Daily News ( Kingston, Ontario ): The old time custom of keeping up Hallowe'en was not forgotten last night by the youngsters of the city. They had their maskings and their merry-makings, and perambulated the streets after dark in a way which was no doubt amusing to themselves. There was a great sacrifice of pumpkins from which to make transparent heads and face, lighted up by

3198-461: The 19th century. By those who made them, the lanterns were said to represent either spirits or supernatural beings, or were used to ward off evil spirits . For example, sometimes they were used by Halloween participants to frighten people, and sometimes they were set on windowsills to keep harmful spirits out of one's home. It has also been suggested that the jack-o'-lanterns originally represented Christian souls in purgatory , as Halloween

3280-589: The American jack-o'-lantern custom with the British bonfire custom: It is an ancient British custom to light great bonfires (Bone-fire to clear before Winter froze the ground) on Hallowe'en, and carry blazing fagots about on long poles; but in place of this, American boys delight in the funny grinning jack-o'-lanterns made of huge yellow pumpkins with a candle inside. Adaptations of Washington Irving 's short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " (1820) often show

3362-496: The Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. In both folktales, Jack lets Satan go only after he agrees to never take his soul. Many years later,

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3444-533: The Han dynasty, shows. Although no longer in use alone, 粦 lín is in the character 磷 lín phosphorus, an element involved in scientific explanations of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon, and is also a phonetic component in other common characters with the same pronunciation. Chinese polymath Shen Gua may have recorded such a phenomenon in the Book of Dreams , stating, "In the middle of the reign of emperor Jia You, at Yanzhou, in

3526-514: The Jiangsu province, an enormous pearl was seen especially in gloomy weather. At first it appeared in the marsh… and disappeared finally in the Xinkai Lake." It was described as very bright, illuminating the surrounding countryside and was a reliable phenomenon over ten years, an elaborate Pearl Pavilion being built by local inhabitants for those who wished to observe it. In European folklore

3608-583: The Shang dynasty oracle bones, depicting a human-like figure surrounded by dots presumably representing the glowing lights of the will-o'-the-wisp, to which feet such as those under 舞 wǔ, 'to dance' were added in bronze script. Before the Han dynasty the top had evolved or been corrupted to represent fire (later further corrupted to resemble 米 mǐ, rice), as the small seal script graph in Shuowen Jiezi, compiled in

3690-496: The absence of warmth in some observed ignis fatuus, the odd behavior of ignis fatuus receding upon being approached, and the differing accounts of ball lightning (which was also classified as a kind of ignis fatuus). An example of such criticism is found in Folk-Lore from Buffalo Valley (1891) by the American anthropologist John G. Owens . The apparent retreat of ignis fatuus upon being approached might be explained simply by

3772-400: The agitation of the air by nearby moving objects, causing the gases to disperse. This was observed in the very detailed accounts of several close interactions with ignis fatuus published earlier in 1832 by Major Louis Blesson after a series of experiments in various localities where they were known to occur. Of note is his first encounter with ignis fatuus in a marshland between a deep valley in

3854-464: The bogs with glowing lights. "Like Poltergeist they can generate uncanny sounds. They were less serious than their German Weiße Frauen kin, frequently blowing out candles on unsuspecting courting couples or producing obscene kissing sounds, which were always misinterpreted by parents." Pixy-Light was also associated with "lambent light" which the Old Norse might have seen guarding their tombs. In Cornish folklore, Pixy-Light also has associations with

3936-405: The bowl . An old Irish folk tale from the mid-18th century tells of Stingy Jack , a lazy yet shrewd blacksmith who uses a cross to trap Satan . One story says that Jack tricked Satan into climbing an apple tree , and once he was up there, Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that Satan could not get down. Another version of the story says that Jack

4018-476: The cause of ignis fatuus. This was supported by the British polymath Joseph Priestley in his series of works Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1772–1790); and by the French physicist Pierre Bertholon de Saint-Lazare in De l'électricité des météores (1787). Early critics of the marsh gas hypothesis often dismissed it on various grounds including the unlikeliness of spontaneous combustion,

4100-647: The coal inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or jack o'lantern. Cornish folklorist Dr. Thomas Quiller Couch (d. 1884) recorded the use of the term in a rhyme used in Polperro , Cornwall , in conjunction with Joan the Wad , the Cornish version of Will-o'-the-wisp. The people of Polperro regarded them both as pixies . The rhyme goes: Jack o'

4182-421: The earth. The Devil provides him with a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he then uses to lure foolish travellers into the marshes. An Irish version of the tale has a ne'er-do-well named Drunk Jack or Stingy Jack who, when the Devil comes to collect his soul, tricks him into turning into a coin, so he can pay for his one last drink. When the Devil obliges, Jack places him in his pocket next to

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4264-475: The effect of stopping the faeu boulanger in its tracks. The other solution is to stick a knife into the ground, blade up. The faeu, in an attempt to kill itself, will attack the blade. The will-o'-the-wisp was also known as the Spunkie in the Scottish Highlands where it would take the form of a linkboy (a boy who carried a flaming torch to light the way for pedestrians in exchange for a fee), or else simply

4346-405: The etiological (origin) tales, protagonists named either Will or Jack are doomed to haunt the marshes with a light for some misdeed. One version from Shropshire is recounted by Briggs in A Dictionary of Fairies and refers to Will Smith. Will is a wicked blacksmith who is given a second chance by Saint Peter at the gates of heaven, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander

4428-463: The eyes. The collected light from the eaten eyes gave "Boitatá" its fiery gaze. Not really a dragon but a giant snake (in the native language, boa or mboi or mboa ). In Argentina and Uruguay , the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon is known as luz mala ( evil light ) and is one of the most important myths in both countries' folklore. This phenomenon is quite feared and is mostly seen in rural areas. It consists of an extremely shiny ball of light floating

4510-455: The fifollet sometimes sucked the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the soul of a child who died before baptism. Boi-tatá ( Portuguese pronunciation: [bojtaˈta] ) is the Brazilian equivalent of the will-o'-the-wisp. Regionally it is called Boitatá , Baitatá , Batatá , Bitatá , Batatão , Biatatá , M'boiguaçu , Mboitatá and Mbaê-Tata . The name comes from

4592-451: The fire was there. Sometimes magical procedures, and even a dead man's hand , were required as well, to uncover the treasure. In Finland and several other northern countries, it was believed that early autumn was the best time to search for will-o'-the-wisps and treasures below them. It was believed that when someone hid treasure in the ground, he made the treasure available only at the summer solstice (Midsummer, or Saint John's Day) , and set

4674-423: The following Welsh tale about púca. A peasant travelling home at dusk sees a bright light travelling along ahead of him. Looking closer, he sees that the light is a lantern held by a "dusky little figure", which he follows for several miles. All of a sudden he finds himself standing on the edge of a vast chasm with a roaring torrent of water rushing below him. At that precise moment the lantern-carrier leaps across

4756-481: The forest of Gorbitz, Newmark , Germany. Blesson observed that the water was covered by an iridescent film, and during day-time, bubbles could be observed rising abundantly from certain areas. At night, Blesson observed bluish-purple flames in the same areas and concluded that it was connected to the rising gas. He spent several days investigating the phenomenon, finding to his dismay that the flames retreated every time he tried to approach them. He eventually succeeded and

4838-504: The form of a flame at night. It enters homes through any gap it can find and drinks the blood of its victims. Aleya (or marsh ghost-light) is the name given to a strange light phenomenon occurring over the marshes as observed by Bengalis , especially the fishermen of Bangladesh and West Bengal . This marsh light is attributed to some kind of marsh gas apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings, and may even lead to drowning if one decided to follow them moving over

4920-452: The gap, lifts the light high over its head, lets out a malicious laugh and blows out the light, leaving the poor peasant a long way from home, standing in pitch darkness at the edge of a precipice. This is a fairly common cautionary tale concerning the phenomenon; however, the ignis fatuus was not always considered dangerous. Some tales present the will-o'-the-wisp as a treasure-guardian, leading those brave enough to follow it to certain riches -

5002-493: The hand of a púca , or pwca, a small goblin-like fairy that mischievously leads lone travellers off the beaten path at night. As the traveller follows the púca through the marsh or bog, the fire is extinguished, leaving them lost. The púca is said to be one of the Tylwyth Teg , or fairy family. In Wales the light predicts a funeral that will take place soon in the locality. Wirt Sikes in his book British Goblins mentions

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5084-552: The ignis fatuus in another forest in Poland coated pieces of paper and wood shavings with an oily viscous fluid instead of burning them. Blesson also accidentally created ignis fatuus in the marshes of Porta Westfalica , Germany, while launching fireworks. A description of 'The Will-o'-the Wisp appeared in a 1936 UK publication of The Scout's Book of Gadgets and Dodges , where the author (Sam F. Braham), describes it as follows: 'This

5166-440: The lantern! Joan the wad, Who tickled the maid and made her mad Light me home, the weather's bad. Jack-o-lanterns were also a way of protecting one's home against the undead . Superstitious people used them specifically to ward off vampires . They thought this because it was said that the jack-o-lantern's light was a way of identifying vampires who, once their identity was known, would give up their hunt for you. Sections of

5248-476: The lights are associated with rice paddies, old trees, mountains or even in some houses and were called ' dokkebi bul’ (Hangul: 도깨비 불), meaning goblin fire (or goblin light). They were deemed malevolent and impish, as they confused and lured passersby to lose their way or fall into pits at night. The earliest Chinese reference to a will-o'-the-wisp appears to be the Chinese character 粦 lín, attested as far back as

5330-404: The lights are often believed to be the spirits of un-baptised or stillborn children, flitting between heaven and hell ( purgatory ). In Germany there was a belief that a Irrlicht was the soul of an unbaptised child , but that it could be redeemed if the remains are first buried near the eaves of the church, so that at the moment rainwater splashes onto this grave, the churchman could pronounce

5412-404: The marshes. Local communities in the region believe that these strange hovering marsh-lights are in fact Ghost-lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who died fishing. Sometimes they confuse the fishermen, and sometimes they help them avoid future dangers. Chir batti (ghost-light), also spelled "chhir batti" or "cheer batti", is a dancing light phenomenon occurring on dark nights reported from

5494-473: The mysterious will-o'-the-wisp or foxfire lights. There are many other bioluminescent organisms that could create the illusions of fairy lights, such as fireflies . Light reflecting off larger forest dwelling creatures could explain the phenomenon of will-o'-the-wisp moving and reacting to other lights. The white plumage of barn owls may reflect enough light from the Moon to appear as a will-o'-the-wisp; hence

5576-437: The phenomenon explicitly in the term hob lantern or hobby lantern (var. 'Hob and his Lantern', 'hob-and-lanthorns"). In her book A Dictionary of Fairies, K. M. Briggs provides an extensive list of other names for the same phenomenon, though the place where they are observed (graveyard, bogs, etc.) influences the naming considerably. When observed in graveyards, it is known as a ghost candle or corpse candle . In

5658-409: The possibility of the lights moving, reacting to other lights, etc. Ignis fatuus sightings are rarely reported today. The decline is believed to be the result of the draining and reclamation of swamplands in recent centuries, such as the formerly vast Fenlands of eastern England which have now been converted to farmlands. Jack-o%27-lantern A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern )

5740-401: The pumpkin or turnip are cut out to make holes, often depicting a face, which may be either cheerful, scary, or comical. Jack-o'-lanterns are typically made from Connecticut field pumpkins , which are described as "the original commercial jack-o'-lantern pumpkin". For a long time, Keene, New Hampshire , held the world record for most jack-o'-lanterns carved and lit in one place. The Life

5822-431: The region and have since become part of wider Australian folklore . Indigenous Australians hold that the number of sightings has increased alongside the increasing ingression of Europeans into the region. According to folklore, the lights sometimes followed or approached people and have disappeared when fired upon, only to reappear later on. Science proposes that will-o'-the-wisp phenomena (ignis fatuus) are caused by

5904-484: The same paper. There is also evidence that turnips were used to carve what was called a "Hoberdy's Lantern" in Worcestershire , England, at the end of the 18th century. The folklorist Jabez Allies outlines other derivations of the name, "Hobany's", which is most likely derived from "Hob and his", with other variations including "Hob-o'-Lantern", "Hobbedy's Lantern" and "Hobbady-lantern". The application of

5986-481: The surface through the soil via a column of vaporized water, there somehow appearing as earth lights. This would explain why the lights appear electrical, erratic, or even intelligent in their behaviour. The will-o'-the-wisp phenomena may occur due to the bioluminescence of various forest dwelling micro-organisms and insects. The eerie glow emitted from certain fungal species, such as the honey fungus , during chemical reactions to form white rot could be mistaken for

6068-606: The term ignis fatuus is not attested in antiquity, and the name for the will-o'-the-wisp used by the ancient Romans is uncertain. The term is not attested in the Middle Ages either. Instead, the Latin ignis fatuus is documented no earlier than the 16th century in Germany, where it was coined by a German humanist , and appears to be a free translation of the long-existing German name Irrlicht ('wandering light' or 'deceiving light') conceived of in German folklore as

6150-528: The term to carved pumpkins in American English is first seen in 1837. In the United States and Canada, the carved pumpkin was first associated with the harvest season in general before it became a symbol of Halloween. In 1895, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended giving a lit jack-o'-lantern as a child's prize in Thanksgiving games. The poet John Greenleaf Whittier , who

6232-422: The thief died, as all living things do. Of course, Jack's life had been too sinful for him to go to Heaven; however, Satan had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from Hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and Satan mockingly tossed him a burning coal, to light his way. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which were his favorite food), put

6314-404: The unfailing two inches of tallow candle. In 1879's Funny Nursery Rhymes , a poem admonishes children to avoid being similar to untrustworthy "Master Jack o' Lantern," described as a "wicked, deceiving boy" similar to a will-o'-the-wisp who "dances, and jumps, and gambols." He is humorously illustrated as a personification of a lantern. An 1885 article "Halloween Sports and Customs" contrasts

6396-596: Was able to confirm that the lights were indeed caused by ignited gas. The British scientist Charles Tomlinson in On Certain Low-Lying Meteors (1893) described Blesson's experiments. Blesson also observed differences in the colour and heat of the flames in different marshes. The ignis fatuus in Malapane, Upper Silesia (now Ozimek , Poland ) could be ignited and extinguished, but were unable to burn pieces of paper or wood shavings. Similarly,

6478-468: Was born in Massachusetts in 1807, wrote the poem "The Pumpkin" (1850), which mentions Thanksgiving but not Halloween: Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling, When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling! When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin, Glaring out through the dark with a candle within! The carved pumpkin lantern's association with Halloween is recorded in

6560-406: Was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen. He then met Satan, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting Satan with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told Satan to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (Satan could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin (Satan) disappeared,

6642-659: Was in 1980 by British geologist Alan A. Mills of Leicester University . Though he did succeed in creating a cool glowing cloud by mixing crude phosphine and natural gas, the color of the light was green and it produced copious amounts of acrid smoke. This was contrary to most eyewitness accounts of ignis fatuus. As an alternative, Mills proposed in 2000 that ignis fatuus may instead be cold flames . These are luminescent pre-combustion halos that occur when various compounds are heated to just below ignition point . Cold flames are indeed typically bluish in color and as their name suggests, they generate very little heat. Cold flames occur in

6724-577: Was originally used to describe the visual phenomenon ignis fatuus (lit., "foolish fire") known as a will-o'-the-wisp in English folklore . Used especially in East England , its earliest known use dates to the 1660s. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) records use of the term in Britain from 1658 in reference to ignis fatuus , and from 1663 to 1704 in reference to a man with a lantern or to

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