Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I is for Imp


Imps come from Germanic folklore. They're lesser demons, but they didn't used to be exclusively evil. Instead they were more like fairies--tricky, mischievous, fond of pranks, but not always cruel. They could control fire, and often tried to befriend humans. They'd still play jokes on any people they managed to charm, though. Hence the word "impish."

Imps show up in all sorts of books, including the Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud (which I love!). Whee for imps!

8 comments:

  1. Yup - impish would describe my daughter when she was little. Thank goodness she didn't get into the. Ontrolling fire phase though.

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    1. If my sons could control fire, we would be doomed.

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  2. Oops - I need to proofread. Darn autocorrect. I meant she didn't get into the controlling fire phase...

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    1. I got it anyway! And I've made some mistakes on all the commenting I'm doing, too, so I completely understand!

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  3. I like their mischievous nature..as long as they aren't being evil ;)

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  4. Sounds like Puck. Who I totally played in the 4th grade rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Looking back, I have no idea how my teacher cleaned that up for 4th grade appropriateness. hm...

    A to Zer!

    prose-spective.blogspot.com

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  5. I love Puck! And in fourth grade? Impressive!

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