Changeling
Also called changeling, Changelings.
A changeling is a fairy child or enchanted substitute left behind when supernatural beings steal a human infant, an archetype of European and American folklore often blamed for unusual appearance or behavior.
At a glance
- Trait family
- The Unseen-Walkers
Near this figure
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Changeling substitution
why
Sources describe fairies, or in some regional tellings witches or other supernatural beings, as covetous of robust, well-favored human children, which they were said to steal, usually before the child could be baptized, leaving one of their own sickly or ill-favored offspring in its place.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Shadow carries
4 citations
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Changeling."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Changeling."
- Jan Harold Brunvand, editor, American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, s.v. "Changeling."
- Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, s.v. "Changeling."
- Trickster meets
4 citations
- Ad de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery, s.v. "Changeling."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Changeling."
- Jan Harold Brunvand, editor, American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, s.v. "Changeling."
- Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, s.v. "Changeling."