Page 124 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

104 Mysterious Creatures

Spence, Lewis. The Fairy Tradition in Britain. London: Spence, Lewis. The Fairy Tradition in Britain. London:
Rider, 1948. Rider, 1948.

Goblins Gremlins
Goblins are closely related to demonic enti- Although gremlins are a recent addition to
ties. Although some Europeans recognize a the folklore of the wee folk, it would seem that
gentler variety known as a “hobgoblin,” gob- their antecedents are the goblins of old. The
lins seem never to be satisfied with creating term “gremlin” was derived from the Old Eng-
mischief. Their specialty is wreaking havoc lish word greme, which means to vex and
and malicious acts of harm. Usually portrayed annoy. And that is certainly what the grem-
as small, grotesque beings, the basic nature of lins did to the pilots and their aircraft in
goblins is as foul as their appearance. World War II (1939–45) when the pesky enti-
ties were routinely blamed for engine troubles,
The spunkie is a Scottish goblin that par-
ticularly has it in for those travelers who ven- electronic failures, and any other thing that
ture out after dark. The spunkie is considered might go wrong with an airplane.
so nasty that tradition claims it to be a direct Although the tales of gremlins received
agent of Satan. It hovers about in the dark- their greatest notoriety annoying the pilots of
ness, just waiting for a traveler to become lost Great Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) in the
in the night, perhaps during a rainstorm when period 1940–45, Dave Stern, an aerospace, avi-
visibility is especially bad. The goblin mani- ation, and history writer, says that the legend
fests a light that appears to the desperate way- began in 1923 when a British navy pilot
farer like illumination shining through a win- crashed into the sea. Once he was rescued, he
dowpane, thus signaling shelter and a dry blamed the accident on some little people who
place to spend the inclement evening. But as had jumped out of a beer bottle and had tor-
the hopeful traveler approaches the light, it mented him all night. It was these wee trouble-
keeps moving just a bit farther away. Since the makers who had followed him into the air-
poor, drenched pilgrim has no choice in the plane, entered into the engine, messed with the
darkness but to keep pursuing the light source, flight controls, and caused him to crash. Not
the spunkie keeps moving it just a bit farther long after this reported gremlin attack, some
on—until the evil goblin has lured the unfor- pilots and mechanics stationed at an overseas
tunate traveler over a cliff. RAF aerodrome complained of being bothered
by the annoying entities, and by 1925, British
M Delving Deeper pilots were cussing the little monsters and
Bord, Janet. Fairies: Real Encounters with Little People. blaming gremlins for almost anything that
New York: Dell Publishing, 1998. might possibly go wrong with their aircraft.
DuBois, Pierre, with Roland Sabatier and Claudine
According to airmen who swore that they
Sabatier, illustrators. The Great Encyclopedia of
had survived close encounters with the mis-
Fairies. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
chief makers, the gremlins dressed in red or
Froud, Brian. Good Faeries, Bad Faeries. New York: green double-breasted frock coats, old-fash-
Simon & Schuster, 1998. ioned tricorn hats with a feather (or some-
Jones, Alison, ed. Larousse Dictionary of World Lore. times stocking caps with tassels at high alti-
New York: Larousse, 1995. tudes), tights, and pointed footwear. Some of
Keightley, Thomas. The World Guide to Gnomes, the gremlins loved to suck the high octane gas
Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People. New York: out of the tanks; others messed with the land-
Random House, 2000. ing gears; and still others specialized in jam-
Mack, Carol K., and Dinah Mack. A Field Guide to ming the radio frequencies. Just as the pilots
Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subver- and mechanics were learning to respect the
sive Spirits. New York: Henry Holt, 1999. gremlin crowd, it wasn’t long before they also
Rose, Carol. Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: began to be annoyed by the gremlins’ girl-
An Encyclopedia. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998. friends, the finellas, nicknamed the widgets.

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