Social:Treasure guardians in folklore

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The treasure guardian is a recurring motif in folklore of a being that guards a treasure. Typically, the hero must overcome the guardian in order to obtain the treasure. In some cases the treasure guardians are non-human beings, although one subtype, known as "treasure ghosts", were deceased humans who had been murdered and buried with the treasure to protect it.[1][2][3] Animals are often shown as treasure guardians—an index of folklore chronicles stories of snakes, crows, ravens, cocks, swans, and night-birds as treasure guardians.[4] In some stories, the treasure is guarded by "the Devil himself".[1][2]:44–45

In folklore

  • Jinn, an Arabian legendary creature sometimes depicted as a treasure guardian
  • Gnome, a European legendary creature sometimes depicted as a treasure guardian
  • Leprechaun, a treasure guardian from Irish folklore
  • Dragon, a creature often portrayed as hoarding a treasure
  • Salamander, a legendary creature often described as a lizard in shape (even looking like a common salamander), but usually with an affinity for fire
  • Spriggan, Cornish guardian of fairy treasure, said to be the ghosts of giants that can swell to enormous sizes.

In popular culture

  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade features a crusader knight who guards the Holy Grail.
  • Works by Tolkien feature Smaug, a treasure-guarding dragon.[2]:45–46

See also

  • Salamander letter

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Huggins, Ronald V. (Winter 2003), "From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism", Dialogue 36 (4): 17–42, https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V36N04_37.pdf 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ashurst-McGee, Mark (2006), "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian", FARMS Review 18 (1), http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1446&index=5 
  3. ↑ Ashurst-McGee, Mark (Fall 2001), "Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian?", Mormon Historical Studies 2 (2): 39–75, http://mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Mhs2.2-Ashurst-McGeeFall2001.pdf 
  4. ↑ Baughman, Ernest Warren (1967), Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America, Indiana University folklore series, no. 20, The Hague: Mouton, p. 85, OCLC 491929 

External links




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