Talk:Sprite (creature)

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Contents

[edit] Discussion

This list may need alphabetization. Also, certain points should probably be sub-points (e.g. gnomes may be a type of dwarf). Honestly, I've put a lot of time into getting this much of a list together. Hopefully some kind people will come spruce up the room for me.

Question: Should I lay out general definitions for the beings or leave that to their linking pages?

Also, this is my first discussion post. I hope I did everything okay. Dustinasby

 :D hey, youve got a really good page there!
if i were you id leave the definitions to the linking page.#
keep up the good work!!!!
Selphie 08:21, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Well thanks! Yes it is quite big. And moving the big chunks around isn't too easy, but this is the best encylopædia service I've found to date.
In other news: Evidently dwarves are dark elves.
Also gnomes are fairly close cousins to dwarves. I figure, if this were taxonomy/genetics, dwarves and gnomes would probably be of varied genetic clines Dustinasby 10:08, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)
? I thought dark elves were different from dwarves? (dark elves are often called 'Drows' and are generally 'evil' and at war with other elves) maybe im wrong! --Selphie 10:30, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)
That would be Drow? If you take the Tolkien/D&D elves (tall, slender, beautiful, "evolved" beyond men), then yes, dark elves are Drow. Litterally they are elves with black skin. Often they are the antagonists.
Now if you take a look at the original tales, elves were usually no taller than a prepubesant child. Many of them were far from beautiful (that was the department of several other beings). In many languages "elf" and "fairy" is used almost interchangeably. In our modern world most of us tend to think of Fairies as thimble-sized clear wing'ed humanoids, and when we think of elves it's either beautiful lanky creatures or tiny squat chirstmastime helper (read: brownies). Funny huh? Dustin Asby
its weird how stuff changes over time!
Selphie 14:25, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC) **

Still unsure. I'm still unsure about how I've ranked the subsets. I would like multiple opinions on this. This is the sort of thing people should come to a consensus on. Currently I am thinking it should be more like: Sprite:

Fairy
Pixie ? (is it an elf, fairy, or neither?)
Elf
 Gnome
  Goblin
   Gremlin
  Brownie
  Kobold ? (is it a gnome, dwarf, elf, else?)
  Dwarf
   Leprechaun
 Troll ? (is it a gnome, elf, else?)
  Giant ? (is it a troll? is it a sprite at all?)

"?" denote uncertainty about location. Many sources will call an elf what many others call a farie and what many others call a dwarf. This can be very confusing, and I don't want to come up with my own taxonomy. I think an encyclopaedia should be a consensus driven. Perhaps what I will end up having to do is list them according to how different authors do (and label each according to author).

On other fronts, I'm thinking that I should seperate ghost-like sprites into a different page.

wow! that looks really good, i'd leave it like that, as for what others call them, maybe if you just put a little on a page as needed at the end called "also called" or "mistaken for" or something. this could provide links to other pages which could in turn link back to yours.
Selphie 08:10, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC) **

Now I've gone and made a mess. But it actually looks like it's progressing now. I think the == Layout will work much better. And I've succumb to the traditional 4 western elements agenda. Dustin Asby 07:50, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)

:) - it looks really good like that, i think it was probably the best way of splitting them into groups. Selphie 07:59, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) **

[edit] To add

I've decided to clean up the main page and put uncatagorized in here.

Polish: Bannik Boginki Djabelek Dogoda Dola Domowije Kikimora Lakanica Leszi Mamuna Mamony Mora Naw Neuri Nocnica Odmience Polewiki Poludnica Psotnik Rarog Rusalki Sky_Women Smierna Spore Strzyga Sudice Tloka Topielce Treasurer/Karzelek Wila Wodjanoj Zors

Mess (misc.): Ballybogs Bogles Dracs (Dracae) Drakes Aluxes Barbegazi Bergleute (Bergmännchen) Pooka (Glashtyn, Phooka, Phouka) Klabauters (Klabautermannikin, Kaboutermannikin) Wichtlein Yarthkins (Böhlers-Männchen, Gwarchells, Karlà, Kaukas, Kepetz, Malienitza, Onnerbänkissen, Querze, Unners-Boes-Töi, Untüeg, Zinselmännchen) Xindhi (Xindha) Alven Bocan Bogounskys Menehune Night Washers (Gollières à Noz, Mille-Lorraines, Villes-Lorraines, Les Lavandières) Thussers (Vardogls) Wilies Xanas Trolls Laminaks

List of species in folklore and mythology

Excerpts from List of species in folklore and mythology by type. Note: this list is very dirty, and the catagories floow no pattern.

[edit] Discrepancies

Poltersprites: "Poltersprites – Also a kind of Kobold. These wear grey or red caps that make them invisible. They thing they love the most is to make noise. They are sometimes confused with Poltergeists but these sometimes act with violent intensions but the Poltersprites only want to make noise, nothing more." Youkaimura

Church Grims: "Church Grims or Kyrkogrims – Familiar Dwarfs (sic. read Elves) that live in churches. They are not devout, in fact they hate the Church and the Christian Religion, but that is no excuse to let their home get dirty. They make the bells ring at midnight and anytime anyone dies. Same say that Church Grims are the ghosts of black hounds that were sacrificed and berried in the North part of churches to keep demons at bay." Youkaimura

Pixies: Not sure if they are Air, Water, or Earth. Usually they are in moors, meadows, or woods. Moors are wet ground. Fairies, Gnomes, Nymphs? I'm unsure, but will leave them where they have been placed.

Note: I'm placeing "wood" type elves under Air. It just seems most fitting. That's why you see Dryads there. I made a subsection briefly, but I thought better against it. I did the same for mountain under earth. Until many more elves are added to the list it doesn't matter either way. Dustin Asby 03:39, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Sprite (fantasy): It has ben suggested that "fantasy" is too synonomous with "fake," therefore I propose "Sprite (æthereal)" or "Sprite (ethereal)" for the title. [I suppose "Sprite (æþereal)" is equally valid, but somehow it doesn't seem to follow etymologically]

Sprite (mythology), sprite (folklore) or sprite (legendary creature) would all be more intuitive and would be keeping with the established naming conventions. Sprite (fantasy) suggests that the article is focusing on sprites in fantasy fiction, not folklore. You're never going to get a consensus among your sources as to whether most creatures are or are not subtypes of one another - I'd avoid saying "X is a kind of Y" and instead say "X is usually said to be a kind of Y, but some sources describe it as a Z". -Sean Curtin 02:41, Sep 4, 2004 (UTC)
The problem with all of those names is that some people believe they exist; calling them fantasy, folklore, lore, mythology, legendary, etc keeps the whole thing from being neutral. ~Sigh~ Good idea with the "usually said to be" part. However, the article could get very huge. One thing I was reading was calling all the earth elves (as I'm resolving to call them) dwarfs, everything was under them. Another website called them all elves. Pooka have been types of goblins, the character Puck (not Puck is a pooka, but Pooka is Puck), fairies, water horses, kobolds, and brownies, and this is all on the same website! It would be such a headache to read through that for each type I think. Dustin Asby 03:39, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I see the point in attempting to categorize these creatures, but it seems important to note that this taxonomy is essentially one of many, not a consensus or definitive breakdown. If anyone's watching this page, let me know what you think, and I'll come back in a week or two to have a crack at it. --Lumin 17:02, 2 May 2005 (UTC)
It doesn't matter if "some people" believe creatures from folklore exist. An encyclopedia can't list them as real. It must clearly state they are fictional. This has nothing to do with neutrality, just with factuality. 201.235.51.21 06:32, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Factual accuracy and sources

Just what are the sources for this article? What is called "elves" here (sylphs, gnomes, salamanders and undines) are the elementals of Paracelsus. And a more extensive list of legendary creatures by type can be found elsewhere on Wikipedia. According to Merriam-Webster's "sprite" is a synonym derived from Latin spiritus to elfs, fairies and similar beings (just as is pointed out in the article) is there much more to say about this notion?

I have added an "OriginalResearch"-tag. Salleman 20:42, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

IMHO the best thing to do is remove the list unless sources and references can be provided. -Sean Curtin 22:16, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)
I fully agree; and if someone could manage to conjure up some sources for that list, I would raise, not one, but both eyebrows. Good edit, btw. Salleman 00:29, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
It's been almost two weeks, and no response. The list is now deleted. Salleman 20:13, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)
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