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The Penanggalan & Goblins
15 Plays1 year ago
This week, it’s two tales of creepy creatures! Grotesque Ghost Heads and Goblins galore!
First up, Lauren covers the Penanggalan - a nocturnal vampiric creature originating in Malaysian folklore that’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen or heard of! This hideous entity appears as a floating, disembodied female head with its trailing organs and tail-like intestines still attached. It’s like if Medusa and a slimy snake made a Black Magic baby that bursts into a ball of flames! But are they ghosts? Or is it a witch? Or something even more? Listen to hear how these decapitated undead creatures are created and what they could possibly want from the living…
Next, Felicia discusses a more commonly seen creepy creature - Goblins! Of course we've all seen Goblins in their many forms, in everything from myths to movies and just as a general term for a creature, but Felicia talks about several unique kinds. Some of these little monsters might be relatively harmless, but others are just looking to dip their cap in your blood...
If you have requests for future episodes or just want to hang out, follow us on Instagram @sinistersisterspodcast
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Transcript
Introductions and Spooky Chores
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to the Sinister Sisters podcast. I'm Lauren. I'm Felicia. We're best friends. And we like spooky stuff. And you know what's really spooky? Lauren and I just spent, I don't know, a solid 20 minutes venting about household chores and how it's like you just have to keep doing those chores every single day until you die. Forever. Forever.
00:00:42
Speaker
And cooking. And cooking things. And cooking. To eat them. It really is like eating healthy to me or like getting fit where it's just like, I thought I could do it and then be done. Yes. Yes. It's like, why is there no finish? Like I just spent three days deep cleaning, decluttering my house. And I look around, it's not done because it'll never be done.
00:01:10
Speaker
Never. Ever. No matter what I do, there will always be more. And it's just not right. It's just not right. And that's. There's no finish line. Unsettling. And sinister. And sinister.
Mysterious Christmas Bow Story
00:01:26
Speaker
Wait, I have a scary story. I forgot that happened to me. Yeah. Is this a different? Okay, go ahead. What is it? I'm totally different. It just happened. I actually just gave myself skills talking about it. I'm scared. Your face is scared. Sorry. I'm really scared.
00:01:42
Speaker
Okay, so there was a Christmas bow in our elevator that for at least three days, we're like joking about this bow. Willow, James' daughter is with us. We're joking with Willow. At some point- About a literal Christmas, like a bow that you tie.
00:02:00
Speaker
Yes, like one of those just like little like you put on top of a present sticky bows. Oh, a sticky bow. Yeah, yeah. Sticky bow. So James at one point like like teasing puts it on the like, you know, emergency button that you can press in the elevator. No. Which is hilarious because Willow just is always like, don't touch it. Don't touch the emergency button. We're going to get in trouble. So he puts it on it very gently. We leave. We at some point
00:02:30
Speaker
After that, I think like later that day, I go out to walk Rufus. So like I turn around, I lock my door, everything's normal. I walk Rufus for maybe 10 minutes, come back upstairs, the Christmas bow from the elevator is on our front door. No! I go in, I say, haha James,
00:02:54
Speaker
Did you put the Christmas bow from the elevator on our door? And he goes, no. And we do not know how that happened, why we have been targeted. Oh, I wonder if it was like someone's from security that has like the security cameras and was like, let's freak some people out. Bro, it's the wrong Christmas? It's not even spooky season.
00:03:22
Speaker
I really don't know what to think about it. I will say- Or it's your curse now. Okay, I will say I took the bow and I threw it into the trash can, which maybe is a bad move. I don't know.
Idaho Murders Discussion
00:03:34
Speaker
They should have said it on fire, thrown it out the window. Somebody that we told this story was like, you should have put it on someone else's door, then they would be marked. Oh God.
00:03:47
Speaker
We are the first door that you would come to if you take a right out of the elevator. So I'm like, maybe it's totally happenstance. Maybe it's totally random. I doubt it. It's too specific. Do you think someone's talking to me? Or James. Or James, that's true. You didn't touch that bow. It's true. I'm innocent. Yeah, you're innocent. You're just an innocent bystander.
00:04:14
Speaker
So because we are both crazy and also James has gotten super into those Idaho murders that happened recently. Oh my god. I've seen all this. I can't think about it. They're so scary. So scary. I think they arrested someone. Yeah. They did arrest someone who is like a criminal psychology major. Yes. Oh my god. Yeah. So if y'all don't know what we're talking about in Idaho, there was four college students
00:04:40
Speaker
stabbed, murdered in their college house. Was it November? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. And they couldn't figure out who did it. It was super scary. And they left two people alive in the basement. But we think maybe because they didn't know they were down there. And yeah, the person they arrested is like a criminal psychology major that's like obsessed with true crime. And that's just like very unsettling. I hate it. Yeah. So super scary. I've been trying to actually not
00:05:08
Speaker
look into it or listen to it too much because it breaks down a lot. Very graphic. But because of that, James is really on edge right now. We got one of those cameras that you can put on your door. Oh, man. You want to catch the boat person. You know what's going to happen now? The boat person's going to put a boat on the camera so you can't see. That's hilarious.
00:05:37
Speaker
Anyway, that's my scary spray this week. I love it. That was so good. I can't believe so many scary things are happening to you. Is something wrong with me? I don't know. I don't know. You've been marked. How do you think I have? I'm going to say I've been marked with the Christmas spirit. Yes, that's right. That's right.
00:05:57
Speaker
Okay.
Movie Recommendations
00:05:58
Speaker
Do you have some recommendations? That's what I was going to say. I didn't give a lot of thought to this until this very moment, but I will tell you, I watched a movie last night that is not a horror movie and it's from 2018. But it was so good. It was called Leave No Trace and it's on Netflix. Have you ever heard of this? No, I'm looking it up now. Okay.
00:06:22
Speaker
So it was recommended to be on Netflix. I was like kind of bored last night. I was like, I just want to turn I want to actually watch a movie. And I looked it up and it had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. And I was like, what, what is this? What is this? Is this fake?
00:06:39
Speaker
It's about a girl and her father that kind of live off-grid in this big park in Oregon. And they're trying to live their lifestyle, but they get taken in by social services because it's like, illegals live in this park, basically.
00:06:59
Speaker
And it's like their story of like the different places they have to go in the system and through other people and like their relationship and like, because the movie starts out, they're like actually really happy with how they live. And then they're like forced to live another way. And it's, I don't know. A little Captain Fantastic vibes then. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. But it's kind of like a slow, quiet movie.
00:07:27
Speaker
And this is going to sound like so dramatic. But yeah, I was so I had TJ Maxx last week. This is going somewhere. I bought one of those like embroidery kits. Oh, I saw that. Yeah, I was on sale. I was like, I love puzzles. And I feel like maybe this would be like kind of like doing a puzzle. I just like I need something to do with my hands. That's not my phone. I agree. But me too.
00:07:52
Speaker
So I was like, I had like, some of that left to do. And so I just turn on this movie, I'm doing my freaking needlepoint embroidery mushrooms and leaves and watching this movie. And I was like, this is so joyful right now.
00:08:07
Speaker
It was so good. So that's my recommendation. And I think I deserved 100%. I'm rotten tomatoes. It was like actually that good. So yeah. That's amazing. It's the girl from last night in Soho. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yeah. She's so good. Which surprises me because she's so young in this movie to me, but I'm like 2018. But I guess that was like five years ago, but like, I don't know. Yeah, she is. Same girl.
00:08:34
Speaker
Oh, I love that. I will definitely check it out. So I have two to recommend. Neither of them are horror, really.
00:08:41
Speaker
But one is the banshees of Einischerin. I think that's how you say that. Oh, that sounds cool. It's Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason from Harry Potter. It's like very, very Irish movie. It's the one where like they basically just like out of nowhere, he stops wanting to be friends with him. It's like two guys in this Irish small town. It's directed by Martin McDonough.
00:09:10
Speaker
Yes. Oh my god, the playwright. Yes. Okay, because but my because my brain when you said that the reason I thought I thought I knew is because Lieutenant of Inishmore. Oh, yeah. So that's the same thing.
00:09:23
Speaker
or the Cripple of Vanishmore, which is the other one. Yes. But he directed this? That's so interesting. It's not quite as, I thought it was maybe going to be a little bit more unsettling or creepy. I see it's very dark. Yeah. It's more like, I don't know, kind of like a quiet,
00:09:46
Speaker
movie they don't like basically he says like if you ever like talked to me again I'm gonna chop off my finger and he's this like amazing violin player and I won't give away too much more than that but like it is dark ish but it's not like as dark as you would think based on that
00:10:06
Speaker
Oh, okay. There's comedy. It's like a black comedy, maybe. Yes. Definitely dark comedy. It feels like an A24 movie, sort of. Oh, okay. That kind of vibe. Interesting. Then on the flip side, I went and saw the new Avatar movie. Oh, what? How was it?
00:10:29
Speaker
I had a great time. It is 17 hours too long. We saw it in this new Cinemark movie concept where the walls are screens. It's almost like IMAX.
00:10:43
Speaker
That's pretty cool. We went and saw that and it's very long, but the second it started, I was just like, oh, it's so beautiful. That's great. I felt the same way with the original Avatar where I'm like, is this the best screenplay or everything else I've ever seen? No.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah. And they still, I did cry at one point, so still got me. Did you see that thing where Edie Falco thought the movie came out years ago and thought it flops? I had no idea it was being released. Did you see that? No, she was in an interview. They were like, she's like, yeah, it's funny that I'm doing this press stuff right now because I thought this movie came out years ago and I just assumed it flops because I didn't hear anything about it. What?
00:11:29
Speaker
because I guess her part was filmed so long ago. Yes. I guess so. She was just like, oh, I guess it didn't do well. Like four or five years ago. Oh, my God. That's crazy. Yeah. That's crazy. But it's definitely like if you want to, I don't know, it also kind of transports you back to wherever you were in 2009, I feel. Wow. Or whenever the last Avatar came out. When was that? The Regal Cinema in Frederick, Maryland. Exactly. Exactly.
00:11:57
Speaker
Is it that long ago? It was, right? Yeah. Yeah. 2009. Wow. Very good. Amazing. All right. Excellent. Let's do it. I go first, right? Yes. Take us away.
Malaysian Folklore - Penanggalan
00:12:10
Speaker
Okay. I'm covering. I'm going back to our creepy sort of folklore monster kind of category. And I am talking about the Penangalan.
00:12:28
Speaker
It is not a fake word, but it's basically this creature that's part of the vampire family. It is nocturnal and it comes from Malaysian folklore.
00:12:43
Speaker
So first I'll just say it is this creature that appears as a normal oftentimes very beautiful young woman during the day and then when night comes her true form comes out. So the name comes from the word tangle which means to remove or take off
00:13:05
Speaker
which is fitting because that is exactly what happens to her at night, basically. So the woman's head detaches itself from the body. And then the head flies around with its trailing organs still intact. What? The head flies around with organs, but no body.
00:13:33
Speaker
Nobody. Just the organs. Just a floating woman head with organs hanging out. What? I can't wait to see an image of this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The images are really good. Wow. And from afar, apparently, it can look like a ball of light. So it gets into the, you know, like I feel like when people see orbs or any of that. They thought Glenda the Good Witch was on her way and then it was a seven head.
00:13:58
Speaker
I can't wait for you to see this image because it's even better imagining that as Glinda coming down. I can't wait. But she does have blood red eyes, long fangs, scary looking. So how are they created you might ask?
00:14:17
Speaker
So the folklore is that they are mortal women who practice black magic. And there's a lot of different like legends behind how they could be created. One is that a woman must meditate during a ritual bath in vinegar, where you would submerge your whole body and leave your head out of the vinegar.
00:14:40
Speaker
And it also is something that you have to keep up, so the creature would have to regularly soak its organs in vinegar to make the entry back into its body easier. Horrifying. Weird.
00:14:56
Speaker
That's one of the telltale signs on how to know if you are meeting a penanglin is if they smell like vinegar. Sometimes they'll even smell like vinegar in the daytime as a woman. I'm drinking a kombucha right now. Doesn't that like vinegar? I don't know. Does it smell like vinegar? I don't know. What is kombucha again? Tea? It's just fermented. It doesn't matter. I'm impressed that you're drinking it. It tastes so gross to me.
00:15:26
Speaker
I'm like, this is like my attempting to be healthy in 2023. It's just one single kombucha. New year, new me. Don't people use vinegar to clean stuff? Yes.
00:15:40
Speaker
Interesting. So I don't know if that's part of it. They're very clean. They're very clean. They're very clean. Vampire witches. Exactly. So some other legends about how they are or how they were created. There's one story. I really like this one. There's one story that this woman was taking a ritual bath in a tub that once held vinegar. She was meditating. A man entered the room, which startled her. And the woman was so shocked that she jerked her head
00:16:14
Speaker
Bully your organs out of the neck opening. And then she was so furious with him for doing this that she rose up and attacked him. So I like that one. Don't startle a woman. Don't do it. Enough yourself. Yes. But there are other ones that talk about like, you know, women making packs with demons. And, you know, maybe it wasn't even it's basically like they decided to make a pact.
00:16:34
Speaker
up to look at him and it severed her head from her body.
00:16:42
Speaker
to get some sort of supernatural powers. And in this particular story, the pact is that she would not eat meat for 40 days, but then the demon had made this incredible feast. She was tempted by it. She ate the meat, and this meant that she broke the pact and was cursed forever to live as this creepy creature.
00:17:06
Speaker
This one I also like a lot. This one is that she was a mortal woman, but was very ugly. And because of this, men avoided her. So she was very lonely and alone and just grew angry and jealous of married women with children.
00:17:26
Speaker
So they became the focus of her rage. So she went on a rampage murdering innocent pregnant women because they had the life that she wanted. And then when she was finally captured, the villagers hung her neck from a tree and tied her legs, this is brutal, to a raging bull.
00:17:47
Speaker
So they released the bull and the force from it running snapped her neck away from her body, pulled out her organs, and they left the head to hang overnight. That's kind of a reminder to everyone that this was, you know,
00:18:02
Speaker
punishment if you murder people. And then when they awoke, the head was gone. And so this was like the start of this crazy demon creature. I hope nobody is having lunch right now while they're listening to this. I mean, you really shouldn't need anything when you listen to our podcast. People should know that by now. So probably you can tell from these stories, but some of her most frequent
00:18:30
Speaker
victims are typically pregnant women and young children. A lot of people that are just sleeping at night and in the Malaysian folklore stories, the Penangalan would hide under the slats of the house.
00:18:49
Speaker
And then would wait until pregnant women went to sleep and then would use its long invisible tongue to lap up the blood of the new mother after she gives birth. That is so icky. That is the worst thing you've said. An invisible tongue. The blood of someone that just gave birth.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yes. If this creature feeds on your blood, you will contract a wasting disease that will just basically cause you to waste away until you die.
00:19:30
Speaker
Even if this creature is not successful in actually lapping up your blood, anyone who is brushed by her organs will suffer painful open sores that will never heal unless you consult with a shaman. Gross. Sometimes they will even eat newborns completely, just like eat them whole.
00:19:57
Speaker
Like a steak. Supposedly. But where does it go? Oh wait, I guess there's a stomach. She has her stomach, yeah. At some point I figured out what it all is. Apparently there's at least lungs, stomach, and intestines floating with it. Okay, so she can at least have dinner. Okay.
00:20:15
Speaker
I'm going to at least have a little meal and keep going. A little newborn. Oh, God. It's horrible. Just a snack. This I also thought was a cool part of this. Clearly, interest in pregnant women and babies. People believe that sometimes they would work as midwives during the day.
00:20:36
Speaker
in order to get closer to pregnant women, figure out where their next meal is coming from. And so folklore says to be very careful about selecting a midwife and obviously if she smells of vinegar, throw her out immediately.
00:20:51
Speaker
So there are some other ways you can protect yourself. The most common way is to scatter the, there's this plant called Meng Quang, I think, and they have these like thorny leaves. So you can either, you know, put the thorns like on your door or on your windows and those thorns will hit the lungs, stomach, or intestines and prevent the creature from coming in.
00:21:17
Speaker
And people would commonly do this when a woman had just given birth or was about to give birth as protection. And then another technique that just seems so intense to me is that people would also glue shards of glass to the top of their walls around a house so that, again, I think if it's floating through the air, it would be hit by the glass.
00:21:41
Speaker
And then another thing people suggest is as an extra precaution, pregnant women should keep scissors under their pillows so that if a creature comes, they can use the scissors. Or I think also the penanglan is scared of scissors as well. So it might be like less likely to come attack you. And then if you're like me, you're probably already kind of thought about this, but obviously,
00:22:09
Speaker
as this head detaches, it's going about the body is left vulnerable. You can permanently destroy one of these creatures. This is graphic too, by either pouring pieces of broken glass into the neck cavity. Then when it tries to come reattach, all of its organs will be hit by that broken glass. Or you can
00:22:34
Speaker
do the, I just always think of Twilight, even though I'm sure it's so many other vampire movies, but you can also cremate the body or, you know, basically just burn the body. Set it on fire. Set it on fire and then you can't, you know, the head can't reattach to the body and so it will eventually die.
00:22:54
Speaker
And then you also, I thought this was hilarious, another non-lethal way. So like a way that you could get rid of this creature or, you know, hurt it, I guess, without killing it is that you could turn over the body if you found it. So that when it reattaches, the head is now on backwards and they couldn't get away with being in the real world as a human. Very tricky, very tricky.
00:23:20
Speaker
So I like that one a little bit more comedic to round it out. But there are several other countries in Southeast Asia that have other terms for a very similar kind of monster. I won't go into them because there's like, I don't know, there was like five or six, but I was looking at it. But interestingly enough, like how she looks and her mostly going after pregnant women.
00:23:40
Speaker
remains consistent in all these stories. And that's always just crazy to me where it feels like this one, I mean, we talk about this all the time, where it's like, you know, something, there has to be like something at the root of this, I feel that's like this many people. Yeah.
00:23:58
Speaker
And what was the country of origin? Did you say? It's Malaysia. Malaysia. OK. Yeah. So Southeast Asia, they have all these different creatures similar to this. And especially with it being this crazy of a creature, I'm just like, I have no witches. It's like, we can talk all day about powerful women or anything else where they could have people being threatened by them. But I'm like, this image? I'm like, I have no idea where this stemmed from. Very specific.
00:24:27
Speaker
Exactly. But she does also exist in some pop culture.
European Goblins Exploration
00:24:32
Speaker
So she was listed in the 1981 Dungeons and Dragons rule book, which I think is cool. And she's also featured in a Hellboy comic. So yeah, she's out there a little bit. But I personally would love to see a horror movie with this creature. Oh, my God. Yeah, absolutely. And that's it.
00:24:52
Speaker
The penangulum. That's so great. I loved it. I mean, what a cool creature that I've never even considered that image before in my life.
00:25:02
Speaker
Never, never. And I will definitely post some crazy pictures on our Instagram so you can take a look. Yeah. It's funny you mentioned Dungeons and Dragons because that can sort of lead us into mine. But today I'm talking about goblins. Yeah. Also make an appearance in Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc, etc. But the reason I chose this is because the 2022
00:25:33
Speaker
word of the year by Oxford, like Oxford dictionary is goblin mode. What? Yeah. So every year Oxford does a word of the year and it's voted on by the public and goblin mode got 93% of the votes this year, which is like crazy.
00:25:57
Speaker
And the definition, I mean, if you're on social media, I'm sure you've seen this phrase, but the slang term is defined as a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations. I love it. If you want to say it in a sentence, between Christmas and New Year's, I am in goblin mode.
00:26:26
Speaker
I love it. I think we were, or at least I was. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I still am probably. But yeah, so I've definitely seen that term on social media. Apparently, it first surfaced in like 2009 on like Twitter or something. But it went viral in 2022. And that's why I'm Wow, 2009. I know it's not weird.
00:26:46
Speaker
but it didn't catch on until this past year. I'm going to talk about a few different types of goblins and specifically European folklore because that's where they originated. But the goblins, we all might think of something slightly different, but I think we're mostly thinking about a small little creature with
00:27:10
Speaker
like pointy ears that is like very mischievous. And some other creatures similar to goblins are like, you know, leprechauns and dwarves and gnomes and things like that. So goblins started coming into stories around the Middle Ages. And they're really popular in like England, Scottish, Irish folklore, particularly.
00:27:38
Speaker
So the first type of goblin I want to talk about is called a red cap.
00:27:45
Speaker
And this is a type of goblin that was set to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border. And particularly in castles where very wicked, scary, bad, bloody things happened. And he was known for killing people and then dipping his hat in the blood, his little cap, and then wearing it.
00:28:12
Speaker
What? Which also makes me think about gnomes very differently. Yes, agreed. They're little hats. Yes. And these red caps in particular are said they're like short, thick set elf looking creatures with prominent teeth, skinny fingers with talons like eagles, large eyes that are red, grizzly hair, and
00:28:42
Speaker
a pike staff, which is like, it's just a giant staff that they're holding over their shoulder. Like in the middle ages, you'd be going into battle with basically. And then, some of these things are funny. I don't know why. It's just that the imagery of a small tiny creature doing these things, it's like Rumpelstiltskin. Do you know what I mean? It's like somehow become slightly funny because they're small. So this says, when travelers take refuge in his lair, so like an abandoned castle,
00:29:11
Speaker
He would fling huge stones at them, and if he kills them, he would soak his cap in their blood. He is unaffected by human strength, which I'm like, what does that mean? Like, you can't kick him across the room, I guess. I guess so. Guess that. But can be driven away by words or scripture or like a crucifix. So I'm like, like a vampire? Yeah, that does feel vampire-y. I don't know what that is. Or demon.
00:29:38
Speaker
or demon. Yeah, yeah. And if you do this, if you say like words from the Bible, hold up a crucifix, the red cap will yell burst into flames and leave behind a single large tooth.
00:29:58
Speaker
The bursting into flames is good. I know, that's nice. The red cap has a lot of vampire qualities, but in the imagery of a tiny goblin elf creature. Yes. But yeah, so that's the red caps. The next one reminds me more, I feel like we see more in our pop culture, the hobgoblin. Yes. Have you heard this before?
00:30:24
Speaker
Well, there's also a Spider-Man villain called the Hobgoblin. Oh, you're right. Good call. Good call. Green Goblin, Hobgoblin. She's a lot of Spider-Man goblins. We love the goblins. So a Hobgoblin is a household goblin that is actually considered typically helpful and also mischievous. So for example, in a Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck is a Hobgoblin.
00:30:54
Speaker
Yeah, so there are like human qualities to the Hobgoblin, but they love mischief. And yeah, and then also- And not murdering people. And they're not typically murdering. They're- They're dipping their caps in there. No, yeah. They're not necessarily sweet, but they're less violent. So they're small little hairy men.
00:31:16
Speaker
And they're associated with what are called brownies, which is a type of household goblin and Scottish folklore. They're mischievous, but they're also they do like household chores. So this reminded me of like Dobby and Harry Potter. Yeah.
00:31:34
Speaker
So they're often found in human dwellings, doing odd jobs around the house while the family is asleep, such chores, like small chores like dusting, ironing, whatever. This is what we need. I know. You're right. It all comes back. We just need help.
00:31:55
Speaker
And the only compensation necessary for a hobgoblin is food. So I would do it. So definitely similar to a house elf in Harry Potter or something like that. The next one is called an Erkling. And this is coming back to like a more sinister type of elf. He's using elf because like, a lot of these are also like called elves. So it's like they're similar kind of creatures. But
00:32:23
Speaker
This one's a little more sinister and it's more like grim fairy tale esque. So this is a goblin that lives in the woods and stalks children who stand in the woods too long and kills them with one single touch. Oh, wow. And it says, according to Jacob Grimm, the term originates with a Scandinavian word
00:32:54
Speaker
It's called Elkong, which means king of the elves. But then I started looking on Jacob Grimm's Wikipedia page and he is one of the editors of the Grimm fairy tales. But I didn't realize that like the the Grimm's like did a lot of other stuff too. There's like the Grimm's law of linguistics, like him and his brother, Wilhelm Grimm.
00:33:21
Speaker
They are the duo, the Brothers Grimm, but they actually did like a lot of different stuff in their lives. So I might, I might cover them sometime, maybe next time. I don't know. But that they're not just like, yeah, childhood stories. Yeah. Yeah. Their lives seem pretty interesting. So I'm going to look into them another day. But anyway, so one of the most famous arcling stories is called the Erkling's Daughter. And it's this Sir Olaf who is writing to get married.
00:33:51
Speaker
but gets distracted by the music of these elves and this elf maiden. And so this, see, Elvar Kong's daughter, so the king of the elves' daughter, appears and invites Ser Olaf to dance with her. He refuses and she's like offering him gifts and gold and all these things and he's like, no. And so she gets so mad, she smacks him.
00:34:17
Speaker
sans him on his way, deathly pale, like so he's like terrified. And then the next morning on the day of his wedding, his bride finds him lying dead under his scarlet cloak. So the Urclings are definitely more like, yeah, like they're they're woodsy goblins. But yeah, they they don't really care about humans and except for to kill them if they don't do what they want.
00:34:44
Speaker
I love it. And to scare children into not going into the woods. Yeah. Erkling also, I know I keep bringing up Harry Potter, but Erkling also comes into JK Rowling's, who we kind of hate now, unfortunately, but the work, you know, Woman's Day here.
00:35:05
Speaker
fantastic piece of where to find them. There's a creature called Erkling, which is very similar to Earl King. And yeah, so there's JK Rowling uses a lot of, you know, European folklore when naming and looking at the creatures in her books.
00:35:23
Speaker
And then the last one I'm going to talk about is called Atrázgu. And this one is actually from northern Spain and Portuguese in Portugal. Oh, I forgot to say this, the Earl King was from Germany.
00:35:42
Speaker
Okay. So the Trasgoo. This one is another domestic goblin. So one that lives in houses. Also mischievous, but kind of also nervous. So represented by a little man who limps with his right leg, which that seems very specific for all
00:36:04
Speaker
one type of goblin, but you know, it's fine. They all limp on the right leg, unclear why. He has darker skin, wears red clothes and a pointy red hat. He has a hole in his left hand. Don't know why.
00:36:22
Speaker
Not sure. Unclear. It took a little caning. Maybe, or the broom so he could sleep. I don't know. And that's the more traditional one. There's other versions of the tras-goo where he has horns or little animal ears and a little bit more animal-esque. So nighttime spooky noises are attributed to him. So when you hear bumps and creaks in the night, they would say that's the tras-goo.
00:36:52
Speaker
They'd also, Trasku would like to do small pranks in the middle of the night. So like moving, you know, moving something from one room to the other, trying to trick people basically. And he enters homes when everyone's asleep. If he's in a bad mood, he'll break stuff. So he'll be like, I'm gonna break this coffee mug. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna spill water everywhere. And he'll kind of like cause a ruckus.
00:37:20
Speaker
And if he's treated well, so like, I don't know how you would do that. I don't know how you let the Travsgoon know he's welcome. But if he's treated well, instead of breaking stuff, he'll do household chores during the night. So it's very nice. I feel like some of these, I'm like, that probably is like, I don't know, like a helpful, if something breaks, you're just like, oh. The Travsgoon. Yeah, the Travsgoon. It's just the family goblin. Yeah.
00:37:47
Speaker
Yeah, and then so if you have a bad trash goo and you want to get rid of him
00:37:52
Speaker
And I feel like we've seen things like this with a lot of different folklore creatures, but the way to get rid of him is to request an impossible task. So bringing up a basket of water from the sea, picking up little pieces of things off the floor, which falls through the hole in his hand. Oh, sad. The whitening of a black sheep, which I'm like, what? But yeah, just like things that he literally can't physically do.
00:38:21
Speaker
And when he can't do it, yeah, he'll basically get, he'll try because he's very stubborn. And then he'll eventually become exhausted. And then he'll be embarrassed. And then he'll leave and not return. So you have to embarrass him basically.
00:38:38
Speaker
Which is not nice, but you know. I was like, is that how you get rid of me at social situations too? Yeah, I just embarrass you and then you leave and I'm like, great. Got rid of it. Now we can all go home. But yeah, so that's basically it. So those are four different types of European goblins. I'll post little pictures of each one. But yeah, they're all, a lot of them mischievous, some are violent, but they're all small.
00:39:09
Speaker
So at least, well, no, I was going to say at least you can punt them, but you can't because they don't. Some of them, they are, what's not oblivious, what's the word? Impervious to human strength. Impervious to human strength. Good word, impervious. I don't know if that's what you said. They're oblivious to human strength. That's me, oblivious. Yeah, I'm just oblivious. But yeah, that's our episode this week. We hope you enjoyed it.
00:39:34
Speaker
Yes, I loved hearing all about those different kinds of goblins and I feel like there's probably even more that we could go into in the future. But amazing. Thank you all for listening. We hope you have some sweet, sweet nightmares. Bye.