Treasure guardians in folklore
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 and Chrysophylax, both treasure-guarding dragons.[5][2]: 45–46
- The Dragons of Earthsea in Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea hoard treasure.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Huggins, Ronald V. (Winter 2003), "From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism" (PDF), Dialogue, 36 (4): 17–42
- ^ a b c Ashurst-McGee, Mark (2006), "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian", FARMS Review, 18 (1)
- ^ Ashurst-McGee, Mark (Fall 2001), "Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian?" (PDF), Mormon Historical Studies, 2 (2): 39–75
- ^ Baughman, Ernest Warren (1967) [1966], 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
- ^ a b Unerman, Sandra (April 2002). "Dragons in twentieth-century fiction". ProQuest. ProQuest 202737943.