The Goblin King in Irish Mythology

[hoppytoad79]

A dream-spawned plotbunny has seized onto my mind with its long, pointy teeth and is demanding a story loosely based in the Labyrinth paradigm but set in Ireland. That requires me to fit the Goblin King and the labyrinth and all that into the paradigm of Irish mythology, which I know nothing about other than leprechauns aren't after my Lucky

Comments

[quizzicalsphinx]

Perhaps the Erlking? Traditionally, he's Scandinavian, but he appears in several other cultures, including English.

From Irish lore directly, there is King Finvarra (alternate spelling: Finbheara), who translates roughly to a dark version of King Auberon.

[dragonsblog]

I have absolutely nothing useful to say, except that sounds like a cool story and dream spawned plot bunnies are my favorite. They are more fun than other plot bunnies. Really, really weird, but fun.

[hoppytoad79]

I have a few dreambunnies roaming around. They can be a real pain to write, as trying to fit even a shell of reality around them can be a challenge.

[full4zaccordion]

The closest thing to the Goblin King I can think of off-hand is Balor, the one-eyed king of the Fomorians.

[sollersuk]

I'm not so well up on Irish legend, but in Welsh terms he sounds like Gwyn ap Nudd. Children who are taken seem always to have been replaced with changelings.

[zenokarasu]

If you'll remember, Labyrinth does make reference to the changeling folk myth when Jareth replaces the stolen child with a Goblin "child" who quickly runs away.