Staff Writer- Mary Athorp
St. Patrick’s Day is always a day of great anticipation for many, especially college students who have Advising Day right after it, speaking hypothetically, of course. Now, whether or not you celebrated, I’m sure you still saw many people wearing green, you nodded to a ginger, or you noticed a mysterious number of people taking a walk down to St. Peter, their reasons still unclear. And perhaps, in the midst of all your observation, you thought about St. Patrick’s Day, wondering why we celebrate it so passionately here in the U.S. Perhaps you thought about four leaf clovers and why they’re considered lucky. Or, if you’re like me, perhaps you thought about leprechauns.
Leprechauns, as we are all familiar with, are a common symbol of St. Patrick’s Day. But, are we really as familiar with them as we think? Take a second— do you actually know what they are? Do you actually know what they do?
At least for me, the answer was no. The only words I could find in my vocabulary to describe a leprechaun were… “leprechaun”, “green”, and “lucky”. And I’m an English major— adjectives should be my thing. I figured there was more to the leprechaun story, so I went to Google and began to research.
Come to find out, the word leprechaun literally means “small body” or “small bodied fellow” in old Irish. Its story has a Celtic origin, putting leprechauns into a class of their own. Technically speaking, they are related to fairies, elves, and goblins and are generally regarded as solitary creatures. But what I gleaned from the articles is that leprechauns are just that—leprechauns, and not any other kind of creature.
In early stories of leprechauns, they were regarded as mildly mischievous and sly beings. They hid their treasures and often tricked and pranked people. There’s even an old legend that says leprechauns once tried to drown an old king, but the king defeated the leprechauns and forced them to grant him three wishes instead. Over the years, the reputation of leprechauns softened and they became more known as harmless jokesters.
When Irish settlers came to America in the mid 1800s, they faced extreme poverty. This caused them to tell the story of the leprechauns more and more, as you can imagine, because the leprechauns were said to guard their treasure. This is largely how leprechauns became symbols of luck because, to find one meant finding prosperity and fortune.
Well, now you know more about leprechauns than you probably ever thought you would know. And, perhaps you’ve gained some clarity on an unexpectedly mysterious tale. And hey, we college students certainly know what it’s like to be lacking in money, so maybe we should think more about leprechauns. Who knows? Maybe some good fortune is in your future!