Smelfungus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smelfungus is a name given by Laurence Sterne to Tobias Smollett as author of a volume of Travels through France and Italy, for the snarling abuse he heaps on the institutions and customs of the countries he visited.

In the 19th century it was adopted by Thomas Carlyle as a pen-name when he had any seriously severe criticisms to offer on things, particularly those that have gone or are going to the bad. Patrick Proctor Alexander also used the name in his book Mill and Carlyle, which contrasted Carlyle's views with those of John Stuart Mill. Proctor's Occasional Discourse on Sauertieg by Smelfungus attacks Carlyle's more brutal ideas.

It is also a pet name used by the Furies in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (DC Comics Modern Age).

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.