From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young female. In modern use, it is used as a slang term, especially in Yorkshire, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. Its origin is in a meaningless representation of chattering.

This word also has a historical use as a name for a fiend, devil or sprite. In Shakespeare’s King Lear (IV, i (1605)), he is one of the five fiends Edgar (in the posture of a beggar, ‘poor Tom’) claimed was possessing him. Shakespeare got the name from Samuel Harsnett’s Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603), where one reads of 40 fiends, which Jesuits cast out and among which was Fliberdigibbet, described as one of “foure deuils of the round, or Morrice, whom Sara in her fits, tuned together, in measure and sweet cadence.”

By extension it has also been used as a synonym for Puck. Through its use as a nickname for a character in Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth, it has gained the meaning of an impish child.

Flibbertigibbet similarly features as a name in a local legend around Wayland’s Smithy. According to the tale, Flibbertigibbet was apprentice to Wayland the Smith, and greatly exasperated his master. Eventually Wayland threw Flibbertigibbet down the hill and into a valley, where he transformed into a stone. Scott associates his Flibbertigibbet character in Kenilworth with Wayland Smith.

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Category: Folklore of England
Tags: English, Flibbertigibbet, folklore

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Chronos

Working as a Manager for Uhaul, when I do get spare time I sit with my ouija board, do as many paranormal investigations as I can, and research everything and anything paranormal.