Chronos
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Boggart:
« on: November 09, 2006, 09:34:19 PM »
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Boggart
In Celtic mythology, a boggart (or bogart, bogan, bogle or boggle) is a household spirit, sometimes mischievous, sometimes helpful. In Northern England, at least, there was the belief that the boggart should never be named, as when the boggart was given a name, it would not be reasoned with or persuaded and become uncontrollable and destructive.
It is said that the boggart crawls into people's beds at night and puts a clammy hand on their faces. Sometimes he strips the bedsheets off them. Sometimes a boggart will also pull on a person's ears. A horseshoe hung on the door of a house will keep a boggart away.
It is also an agricultural goblin, responsible for missing implements on the farm. This is why today the word boggart is a verb meaning to steal, to take more than one's fair share, or to refuse to share.
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