Ogre

This article is about the mythical creature. For alternative meanings, see ogre (disambiguation).

The Ogre from Tom Thumb illustrated by Gustave Doré

An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a large and hideous humanoid monster. Ogres are often represented in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings and have appeared in many classic works of literature. In art, ogres are often depicted with a big head, abundant and hirsute hair and beard, a huge belly, and a strong body. Today, variants of ogres can be found in most modern fantasy games, and the term is also often applied in a metaphorical sense to disgusting persons who exploit, brutalize, or otherwise metaphorically devour their victims.

Contents

1 Etymology
2 Ogres in various folklores and mythologies
3 Ogres in modern fiction
4 Ogres in modern games
5 See also
6 References

Etymology

Ogre comes from the French and is thought to be derived from the Latin Orcus, the monstrous God of the Underworld (the Italian word for "ogre" is orco). The word is first known to have appeared in the 17th century fairy tales of Charles Perrault (some of which had Neapolitan origins).

Ogres in various folklores and mythologies

A Japanese aka-oni, or "red ogre," vanquishes demons at an onsen in Beppu

According to the folklore and mythology of the peoples of Northern Europe, an ogre is a member of a race of humanoid beings, fierce and cruel monsters, that eat human flesh; in some stories they are also shy and cowardly, and have little or no intelligence and cleverness, which makes it easy for men to defeat them. Ogres are sometimes said to be able to change shape at will into animals or objects, and they often dwell in marvelous palaces or castles, sometimes underground.

In Scandinavian countries, the word "ogre" is not used; instead, beings called trolls take their role in the fairy tales. Trolls are considered to be the inhabitants of mountains or castles far away in the wilderness, where they hoard fabulous treasures (compare with the Irish leprechaun). Scandinavian fairy tales usually imagine trolls as gigantic creatures, often with monstrous features – although a south-Scandinavian tradition holds them to be a much more human-like folk, both in appearance and customs.

Many Japanese fairy tales inspired by mythology and religion include the oni, a creature very similar to the ogre. Momotaro ("Peach Boy"), is one example, including the appearance of blue, red, and yellow onis with horns and iron clubs.

Pygmy mythology includes the tale of Negoogunogumbar, an ogre who devours children.

In the classic tale Puss in Boots, a cat outwits a shape-changing ogre. Other fairy tales with ogres in them include Motiratika, Tritill, Litill, and the Birds, Don Firriulieddu, Snow-White-Fire-Red, Shortshanks, Thirteenth and Don Joseph Pear.

Many Ogre-like creatures are also found in Native American tribal traditions and are usually in the form of man-eating giants. They are often linked to legends of bigfoot. A possible example could be the windigo.

Ogres in modern fiction

Literature for children has plenty of tales mentioning ogres and kidnapped princesses who were rescued by valiant knights and, sometimes, peasants. Ogres are also popular in fantasy fiction, such as C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, and in various fantasy games.

Shrek, an ogre from the popular movie of the same name

The protagonist of the film Shrek is an ogre. Shrek is voiced by Mike Myers, and has a seemingly Scottish accent. The ogre Shrek is not depicted as a stereotypically hostile ogre. Shrek is not a villain, but an ogre that lives in a swamp and prefers not to be disturbed.

In the movie Time Bandits, the protagonists are found by an ogre and his wife on the ogre's ship. The ogre is outsmarted and is left at sea after the protagonists take over the ship.

The animated television series Digimon provides many references to mythical beasts. The Digimon Ogremon is most obviously an ogre, holding a club to whack enemies with.

In the Xanth chronicles by Piers Anthony, ogres are idiotic beasts with immense strength that communicate almost exclusively through rhyme as in the Chronicle Ogre, Ogre.

Ogre is often used metaphorically as well, as in the association of ogres with Nazis made in Michel Tournier's novel Le Roi des aulnes (1970; The Ogre). Other modern works dealing with ogres are L'Ogre (1973) by Jacques Chessex and Nacer Khemir's L'Ogresse (1975), a collection of Tunisian tales.

In the Spiderwick Chronicles, Mulgerath, the main antagonist of the fifth book, is an evil ogre who wishes to enslave the world and rid it of all humans.

Ogres in modern games

Ogres appear in many popular fantasy roleplaying and computer games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer Fantasy, Warcraft, Magic the Gathering and RuneScape. For more information see Ogre (disambiguation).

References

South, Malcom, ed. Mythical and Fabulous Creatures: A Source Book and Research Guide. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.
"ogre." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 15 May 2006