I

I –IMPS

First, let me give you dear readers some information about upcoming events at my blog. I will be doing various book reviews here and there, and will be hosting a stop on a fellow writer’s blog tour on May 20, as well as having guest bloggers on occasion. I’m trying to spice things up a bit, and am grateful for the help from others and to be able to provide help. Stay tuned!

For some reason I wasn’t able to think of/find any creatures that start with the letter I, except for imps. It happened a few times in my alphabetic search. If anyone would like to throw out any suggestions in the comments, I would love to see what else is out there!

The Lincoln Imp at the Medieval Cathedral of Lincoln, England.

Imps are similar to faeries or demons. Coming from German folklore, they were known to be a lesser demon, but not always an evil one. They could be known for their mischief.

In appearance, they are small and not very easy on the eyes. They are uninhibited and akin to the behavior of fearies. Throughout time, it became commonplace to consider faeries as good creatures, and imps as their counterpart. This isn’t necessarily true because both are culprits of pranks from time to time. Myth says they can be injured and kept away with certain charms.

Thought to be lonely, imps sought friendship with humans. Their mischievous nature would often deter the human, leaving them solitary once again. They only did these things because it was simply who they are, not out of spite. This gives way to the term “impish” when describing a person with a joking quality.

Associated with hell and fire, they were known to play with temperatures, and to be servants of witches. They were sought as proof of witchcraft during the witch hunts, and black cats, toads, etc, were thought to be imps in disguise.

Some stories find them bound to objects, and having a genie quality of gifting wishes.

They can be found in architecture hiding under eves or in other small, tucked away places.

The above information was found at Wikipedia.