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For other uses see Changeling (disambiguation)
Trolls with the changeling they have raised, John Bauer, 1913.
Trolls with the changeling they have raised, John Bauer, 1913. A troll is a fearsome member of a race of creatures from Norse mythology. John Bauer ( June 4, 1882 – November 20, 1918) was a Swedish painter and illustrator Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

In West European folklore and folk belief, a changeling is the offspring of a fairy, troll, elf or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in the place of a human child. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Folk religion consists of Beliefs Superstitions and Rituals transmitted from generation to generation in a specific Culture. A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair A troll is a fearsome member of a race of creatures from Norse mythology. An elf is a creature of Norse mythology. The elves were originally imagined as a race of minor nature and fertility gods, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature The apparent changeling could also be a stock, a glamorized piece of wood that would soon appear to grow sick and die. The motivation for this conduct stems from the desire to have a human servant, the love of a human child, or malice. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus A domestic worker, domestic, servingman, servingwoman, or servant is one who works and often also lives within the employer's household Malice is a Legal term referring to a party's Intention to do Injury to another party [1] Most often it was thought that faeries exchanged the children. Simple charms, such as an inverted coat, were thought to ward them off.

Contents

Identifying a changeling

Changelings would be identified by voracious appetite, malicious temper, difficulty in movement, and other unpleasant traits. [2] Medieval chronicles record instances of this, which is one of the oldest known pieces of folklore about fairies. [3]

According to some legends, it is possible to detect changelings, as they are much wiser than human children. When changelings are detected in time, their parents have to take them back. In one tale of the Brothers Grimm, there's an account of how a woman, who suspected that her child had been exchanged, started to brew beer in the hull of an acorn. The Brothers Grimm ( German: Die Gebrüder Grimm) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed Alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea The acorn is the nut of the Oak tree (genera Quercus, Lithocarpus and Cyclobalanopsis, in the The changeling uttered: "now I am as old as an oak in the woods but I have never seen beer being brewed in an acorn", then disappeared. The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of Trees and Shrubs in the Genus Quercus (from Latin [1]

Purpose of a changeling

Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptized children.

Beauty in human children and young women, particularly blond hair, attracted the fairies. Blond (also spelled blonde, see below) or fair-haired is a Hair color characterized by low levels of the dark Pigment eumelanin [4]

In Scottish folklore, the children might be replacements for fairy children in the tithe to Hell;[5] this is best known from the ballad of Tam Lin. Teind is a Scottish word for Tithe. In Scotland, a teind was a tithe derived from the produce of the land for the maintenance of the Clergy. Tamas " Tam " Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lane, or True Thomas [6]

Some folklorists believe that fairies were memories of inhabitants of various regions in Europe who had been driven into hiding by invaders. They held that changelings had actually occurred; the hiding people would exchange their own sickly children for the healthy children of the invaders. [7]

Changelings in medieval folklore

Scandinavia

Since most beings from Scandinavian folklore are said to be afraid of steel, Scandinavian parents often placed a steel item such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of an unbaptized infant's cradle. Beings of Scandinavian folklore Perhaps most abundant are the stories about the race of Trolls ' a cunning and deceitful people living in the forestlands Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well Scissors are hand operated cutting instruments consisting of a pair of Metal Blades connected in such a way that the blades meet and cut materials placed A knife is a handheld sharp-edged instrument consisting of handle attached to a Blade used for cutting It was believed that if a human child was taken in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. The word whip describes two basic types of tools A long stick-like device usually slightly flexible with a small bit of leather or cord called a "popper" on the In Physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is Energy transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in Temperature An oven is an enclosed compartment for Heating, Baking or Drying. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven. Infanticide is the practice of someone intentionally causing the death of an Infant. [8]

Painting by John Bauer of two trolls with a human child they have raised
Painting by John Bauer of two trolls with a human child they have raised

In one Swedish changeling tale[9], the troll child grows up at a farm while the human child grows up among the trolls. John Bauer ( June 4, 1882 – November 20, 1918) was a Swedish painter and illustrator "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Everyone advises the human mother to brutalize the changeling so that the trolls would change children once more. However, the woman refuses to treat the innocent but maladapted troll child cruelly and persists in treating it as if it were her own. Eventually, the husband decides to leave his wife, as he can no longer support living with the troll child. His distraught wife allows him to leave her, because she can not abandon an innocent child, although it is a troll. When the husband has walked a distance into the forest, he meets his own son who tells him that he is free from the trolls. Every time someone tried to be cruel to the troll, his troll mother was about to treat the human child in the same manner, but when his mother sacrificed what was dearest to her, her husband, the trolls realized that they had no power over her and had to release the human child.

In another Swedish fairy tale[10] (which is depicted by the image), a princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. Princess is the feminine form of Prince (from Latin Princeps, meaning principal citizen The changelings grow up with their new parents and both become beautiful young females, but they find it hard to adapt. The human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll prince, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. Participants in wedding ceremonies, also known as the wedding party, include the bride and groom (or bridegroom) the maid of honor Prince, from the Latin root Princeps, is a general term for a Monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family and is a By coincidence, they both go astray in the forest, upset with the conditions of their lives, and happen to pass each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. List of current queens regnant A queen regnant (plural "queens regnant" is qualifying reference to a female Monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchal The original meaning of the adjective profane (from the Latin for "in front of or outside the Temple " was to refer to items not belonging to the church The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS **************

Wales

In Wales the changeling child (plentyn newid) initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. Shapeshifting is a common theme in Mythology and Folklore, as well as in Science fiction and Fantasy. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning.

The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. Brewery of Eggshells is a Welsh Fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his Celtic Fairy Tales. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is supposedly necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove. [11]

Ireland

In Ireland, looking at a baby with envy -- "over looking the baby" -- was dangerous, as it endangered the baby, who was then in the fairies' power. [12] So too was admiring or envying a woman or man dangerous, unless the person added a blessing; the able-bodied and beautiful were in particular danger. Women were especially in danger in liminal states: being a new bride, or a new mother. Liminality (from the Latin [13]

Putting a changeling in a fire would cause it to jump up the chimney and return the human child, but at least one tale recounts a mother with a changeling finding that a fairy woman came to her home with the human child, saying the other fairies had done the exchange, and she wanted her own baby. [12] The tale of surprising a changeling into speech -- by brewing eggshells -- is also told in Ireland, as in Wales. [14]

In parts of Ireland, left handed people are sometimes thought to be changeling fae. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair

Scottish

Child ballad 40, The Queen of Elfan's Nourice, depicts the abduction of a new mother, drawing on the folklore of the changelings. The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 Ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants collected by Francis James Child "The Queen of Elfan's Nourice" or "The Queen of Elfland's Nourice" is Child ballad number 40 although fragmentary in form Although it is fragmentary, it contains the mother's grief and the Queen of Elfland's promise to return her to her own child if she will nurse the queen's child until it can walk. [15]. This is also referenced in the Simple Minds song Changeling. Simple Minds are a rock band from Scotland, who had their greatest worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s

Cornish

The Men-an-Tol stones in kernow / Cornwall are supposed to have a fairy or pixy guardian who can make miraculous cures. The Mên-an-Tol is a small formation of Standing stones near the Madron - Morvah road in the Penwith area of Cornwall, United Kingdom A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair Pixies (also Piskies and Pigsies as they are sometimes known in Cornwall) are mythical creatures of Folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated In one case a Changeling baby was put through the stone in order for the mother to get the real child back. Evil pixies had changed her child and the ancient stones were able to reverse their evil spell. [16]

Spain

In Asturias (North Spain) there is a legend about the Xana, a sort of nymphs used to live near the rivers, fountains and lakes and sometimes to help the travelers in their pathway. The Principality of Asturias ( Spanish: Principado de Asturias, Asturian: Principáu d'Asturies or Asturies) is an The xana is a character found in Asturian Mythology. Always female she is a Fairy Nymph of extraordinary Beauty believed to In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human female form The Xanas were conceived as little female fairies with supernatural beauty. They could deliver babies called "xaninos" that sometimes changed for human babies in order to get them baptized. The legend says that in order to distinguish a "xanino" from a human baby, some pots and egg shells should be put close to the fireplace; a "xanino" would say: "I was born one hundred years ago, and since then I have not seen so many egg shells near the fire!".

"Changelings" in the historical record

Real children were sometimes taken to be changelings by the superstitious, and therefore abused or murdered.

Two Victorian cases reflected the belief in changelings. In 1826, Anne Roche bathed Michael Leahy, a four-year-old boy unable to speak or stand, three times in the Flesk; he drowned the third time. She swore that she was merely attempting to drive the fairy out of him, and the jury acquitted her of murder. [17] In the 1890s, Bridget Cleary was killed by several people, including her husband and cousins, after a short bout of illness (probably pneumonia). Bridget Cleary (Bríd Ní Chléirigh was an Irish woman murdered by her husband in 1895 Local storyteller Jack Dunne accused Bridget of being a fairy changeling. It is debatable whether her husband, Michael, actually believed her to be a fairy - many believe he concocted a 'fairy defence' after he murdered his wife in a fit of rage. The killers were convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, as even after the death they claimed that they were convinced they had killed a changeling, not Bridget Cleary. [18].

Changelings in other countries

The ogbanje (pronounced similar to "oh-BWAN-jeh") is a term meaning "child who comes and goes" among the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria. An Ogbanje (or Obanje) is a term in Igbo mythology and was believed to be an Evil spirit that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune The Igbo [iɡɓo] ( Igbo: Igbo, sometimes Nd'Igbo) sometimes referred to (usually formerly as the Ibo, Eboe, Ebo Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal When a woman would have numerous children either stillborn or die early in infancy, the traditional belief was that it was a malicious spirit that was being reincarnated over and over again to torment the afflicted mother. One of the most commonly-proscribed methods for ridding one's self of an ogbanje was to find its iyi-uwa, a buried object that ties the evil spirit to the mortal world, and destroy it. An Iyi-uwa is an object from Otu/Otwa or Igbo mythology that binds the spirit of a dead child (known as Ogbanje) to the world causing it to return and haunt the mother

Many scholars now believe that ogbanje stories were attempting to explain children with sickle-cell disease, which is endemic to West Africa and afflicts around one-quarter of the population. Sickle-cell disease or sickle-cell anaemia (or anemia) is a Blood disorder characterized by Red blood cells that assume an abnormal rigid West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Even today, and especially in areas of Africa lacking medical resources, infant death is common for children born with severe sickle-cell disease.

The similarity between the European changeling and the Igbo obanje is striking enough that Igbos themselves often translate the word into English as "changeling. "

Changelings in the modern world

Neurological differences

The reality behind many changeling legends was often the birth of deformed or retarded children. In Materials science, deformation is a change in the shape or size of an object due to an applied force. Mental retardation is a generalized triarchic disorder characterized by subaverage cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age Among the diseases with symptoms that match the description of changelings in various legends are spina bifida, cystic fibrosis, PKU, progeria, homocystinuria, Williams syndrome, Hurler syndrome, Hunter syndrome, and cerebral palsy. Spina bifida ( Latin: "split spine" is a developmental Birth defect involving the Neural tube: incomplete closure of the Embryonic neural Cystic fibrosis (also known as CF, mucoviscoidosis, or mucoviscidosis) is a hereditary disease affecting the exocrine (mucus glands of the lungs Phenylketonuria ( PKU) is an Autosomal recessive Genetic disorder characterized by a deficiency in the enzyme Phenylalanine hydroxylase Progeria is a condition of early aging which usually refers specifically to Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome. Homocystinuria, also known as Cystathionine beta synthase deficiency, is an inherited disorder of the Metabolism of the Amino acid Methionine Williams syndrome ( WS; also Williams-Beuren syndrome or WBS) is a rare Neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deletion of about 26 genes from Hurler syndrome, also known as Mucopolysaccharidosis type I ( MPS I) Hurler's disease or gargoylism, is a Genetic disorder Hunter syndrome, or Mucopolysaccharoidosis Type II is a Lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficient (or absent Enzyme, Iduronate-2-sulfatase Cerebral palsy ( CP) is an Umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non- contagious conditions that cause Physical disability The greater proneness of boys to birth defect correlates to the belief that boy babies were more likely to be taken. [19]

As noted, it has been hypothesized that the changeling legend may have developed, or at least been used, to explain the peculiarities of children who did not develop normally, probably including all sorts of developmental delays and abnormalities. In particular, it has been suggested that children with autism would be likely to be labeled as changelings or elf-children due to their strange, sometimes inexplicable behavior. Language development. The terminology This has found a place in autistic culture. Sociological and cultural aspects of autism come into play with recognition of autism and approaches to educating and socializing autistics Some high-functioning autistic adults have come to identify with changelings (or other replacements, such as aliens) for this reason and their own feeling of being in a world where they don’t belong and of practically not being the same species as the "normal" people around them. [20] In the book The Stolen Child, Keith Donohue talks about the life of a changeling from the point of view of two boys. " The Stolen Child " is a Poem by William Butler Yeats, published in 1889 in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems.

Failure to thrive

Infants diagnosed with Failure to thrive that have no history of neglect also fit the description of changelings. Failure to thrive (FTT is a medical term which denotes poor weight gain and physical growth failure over an extended period of time in Infancy. This can be a devastating diagnosis, and it is easy to see how people would have taken comfort in placing the cause outside their influence. The stories of kindness and care being rewarded with the return of the child also fit the nursing needed to restore an infant's health.

Changelings in popular culture

The Star Trek episode "The Changeling" involved a malevolent space probe called Nomad being intercepted by the crew of the Enterprise. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through " The Changeling " is a season two episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast on September 29, 1967 and repeated A space probe is a scientific Space exploration mission in which a Robotic spacecraft leaves the Gravity well of Earth and approaches the The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 is a Starship in Star Trek, which chronicles the vessel's mission "to explore strange new worlds to Nomad had been an exploratory Earth probe which was damaged in the past and subsequently merged with an alien probe. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 Outer space, often simply called space, comprises the relatively empty regions of the Universe outside the escape velocities of Celestial bodies. The device then assumed the identity of the original, though its new construction and purpose were significantly altered.

In Episode 12, Season 3 of So Weird, titled "Changeling", Annie and the boys are stuck babysitting a changeling. The following is an episode list for the Disney Channel Original Series So Weird. So Weird is a Television series shot in Vancouver British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a Midseason replacement

In Episode 2, Season 3 of Supernatural, titled "The Kids Are Alright", Sam and Dean discover that many of the neighborhood children are actually changelings, following several mysterious deaths in the neighborhood. Supernatural is an American horror television series regarding the Paranormal. In this episode the changelings are controlled by a mother changeling who feeds on the kidnapped children.

In the Doctor Who serial 'Attack Of The Graske' the Graske use transmats to teleport themselves and use handheld devices to zap people and leave the changeling forms of them, showing with the glowing eyes. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. " Attack of the Graske " is an interactive " mini-episode " of the British Science fiction television series Doctor

The trading card game Magic: The Gathering has a block named Lorwyn which is heavily based on European folklore. This article is somewhat over-complete Please do not add significant new content without first discussing it on the talk page Lorwyn is the 66th Magic The Gathering set 43rd expert level set and the first set in the Lorwyn Block released in October 2007. Changelings are a large part of it. Their cards become any creature type (obviously a nod to their shapeshifting abilities). There's even a card called Crib Swap, which refers to how they are switched with children.

In Star Trek Deep Space Nine the character Odo is a shapeshifter described as a changeling. Odo, played by René Auberjonois, is a main character on the science fiction television series Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Changelings are an alien race from the Star Trek universe Members of this race have the unique ability to Shapeshift. Odo soon discovers that he was from a race called the Founders, who lead the Dominion. Changelings are an alien race from the Star Trek universe Members of this race have the unique ability to Shapeshift. In the fictional Star Trek universe the Dominion is a ruthless and militaristic Gamma Quadrant state consisting of many different races

Multiple roleplaying games are also set in an environment with Changelings, such as White Wolf's popular Changeling: The Dreaming and the recent Changeling: The Lost. Changeling The Dreaming was part of White Wolf Game Studio 's original " World of Darkness " Role playing game line Changeling The Lost is the fifth supplementary Role-playing game line published by White Wolf Inc. Changelings are also featured in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Eberron, as the true-breeding offspring of Dopplegangers and humans. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by Eberron is a Campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons Role-playing game, set in a period after a vast destructive war on the continent of A doppelgänger ( or fetch is the ghostly double of a living person a sinister form of Bilocation.

A changeling appeared in the Hellboy story, "The Corpse. Hellboy is a Fictional character, created by writer-artist Mike Mignola, that first appeared in Comic books published by Dark Horse Comics " A changeling also appeared in the first Courtney Crumrin mini-series. Courtney Crumrin is an independent Comic book series written and illustrated by Ted Naifeh and released through Oni Press.

"The Doors" lead singer Jim Morrison was fascinated, not surpringsly, with the idea that humans could tranform themselves wholly by sheer will. "The Changeling" [1970] recalls a broke teenager who rolls into LA with all the usual ambitions, then seeks to escape the excess and falsity of showbiz.

In the 2007 film, Pan's Labyrinth, the young heroine of the story is alluded to be a Changeling. Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish El laberinto del fauno, literally The Labyrinth of the Faun) is a 2006 Spanish language Whether she is indeed magical or simply a child with an overactive imagination is left open-ended for the interpretation of the viewer, but many "real world" elements of the story are only explainable through magic.

Literary uses

The changeling theme has frequently appeared in literature, especially in the genres of fairy tale and fantasy. Notable 20th and 21st century appearances of changelings in literature include the following:

Notes

In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania and Oberon are fighting over the possession of a changeling boy, and because of their argument, nature is in upheaval, and all the subsequent action of the plot ensues. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by " The Knight's Tale " from

References

  1. ^ a b Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures "Changelings" (Pantheon Books, 1976) p. 71. ISBN 0-394-73467-X
  2. ^ Carole B. Silver, Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness (1999), p 47 ISBN 0-19-512199-6
  3. ^ Briggs (1976) "Changelings", p. 69
  4. ^ Briggs (1976) "Golden Hair", p. 194
  5. ^ Silver (1999) p. 74
  6. ^ Francis James Child, ballad 39a "Tam Lin", The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
  7. ^ Silver (1999) p. Francis James Child ( February 1, 1825 &ndash September 11, 1896) was an American scholar educationist and folklorist, 73
  8. ^ Klintberg, Bengt af; Svenska Folksägner (1939) ISBN 91-7297-581-4
  9. ^ The tale is notably retold by Selma Lagerlöf as Bortbytingen in her 1915 book Troll och människor. / sèlˈma ʊ̀tiːlɪa lʊ̀viˈsa lɑ̀ːgərˈløːv / (20 November 1858&ndash16 March 1940 was a Swedish Author and the first woman writer to win the
  10. ^ The tale is notably retold by Helena Nyblom as Bortbytingarna in the 1913 book Bland tomtar och troll [1]. Helena Nyblom (1843-1926 was a Swedish children's story author Bland tomtar och troll, Among Gnomes and Trolls, is a popular Swedish folklore and fairy tales annual
  11. ^ Wirt Sikes. British Goblins: The Realm of Faerie. Felinfach: Llanerch, 1991.
  12. ^ a b W. B. Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, in A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore (1986), p. 47, New York : Gramercy Books, ISBN 0-517-48904-X
  13. ^ Silver (1999) p. 167
  14. ^ Yeats (1986) p. 48-50
  15. ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 358-9, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  16. ^ Wentz, W. Y. Evans (1911). The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. Reprinted 1981. Pub. Colin Smythe. ISBN 0-901072-51-8 P. 179.
  17. ^ Silver (1999) p. 62
  18. ^ Silver (1999) p. 64-65
  19. ^ Silver (1999) p. 75
  20. ^ Kim Duff, The Role of Changeling Lore in Autistic Culture, presentation at the 1999 Autreat conference of Autism Network International

See also

External links

A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood-parasitism, a kind of Kleptoparasitism found among Birds Fish or Insects In Breton folklore, a Korrigan is a Fairy or Dwarf -like spirit

Dictionary

changeling

-noun

  1. (mythology) In British and Irish mythology, an infant of a fairy or sprite that the fairy has secretly exchanged for a human infant.
  2. (informal, rare) An infant secretly exchanged with another infant.
  3. (science fiction and fantasy) An organism which can change shape to mimic others.
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