Pech (mythology)

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For other uses, see Pech.

The pech were a type of gnome-like creatures in Scottish myth. They were of short height but extremely strong. In one fairy tale, an old blind pech is on his deathbed. He asks his sons if he can feel their arm muscles, to feel how strong they've grown. His sons play a prank on him, giving him a metal cup instead of one son's arm. He snaps the metal cup with his fingers, shattering it, to the amazement of the sons. Even sick on his deathbed, he is stronger than his young healthy sons.

The Pech were thought to be one of the aboriginal builders of the stone megaliths of ancient Scotland, along with giants. They might be related to the Picts and pixies of Scotland. They seem to be related to the word 'peck', as in Peter Piper's 'peck of pickled peppers'. A peck was a small amount, as in 'add pinch of salt'. This may be related to the pech's short stature. However, the amount may have grown over the years; it was between nine and thirteen litres dry measure by 1824.

[edit] Popular Media

'Pech' is used as a pejorative term for the halfling-like race in the 1988 film Willow by George Lucas - it can be assumed the idea comes from this myth.

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, pech are elemental creatures from the Inner Plane of Earth that are based on this myth. They are humanoid earth elementals who are related to gnomes. They sometimes leave their plane to mine in the deepest parts of the Prime Material Plane. Pech prefer enclosed dark spaces to open spaces, are generally peaceful, and many travel to the Prime Material Plane to escape the hostile Elemental Plane of Earth. Pech can communicate with stone.