Bad Little People

How about Rumplestiltskin? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumplestiltskin

The dwarf in 'Snow White and Rose Red'

Goblins in 'The Princess and the Goblin', by George MacDonald, if my memory serves me correctly.

The wee folk in changeling tales.

The tale where the brother searches for his two elder brothers, and finds them enchanted by a dwarf - can't remember the name.

The tale where the stunted troll keeps his heart in a fingerbone in a tree, and the hero has to find it and break it to free the princess imprisoned by the troll - again can't remember the name.

The fairies in old folklore can be very malicious, and at the very least are credited with stealing cattle and causing (often fatal) illnesses. Dwarves and goblins are generally not nice to know, as are trolls, who can be very short in some tales. Imps are also usually bad for people, like Tom Tit Tot (an English version of Rumplestiltskin).

Bogles also come to mind, again from folklore.

The Elf King in the Oz series (the one who was afraid of eggs)

In Mexico there are legends about "chaneques", who are kinda like gnomes, mischevous and like to pull pranks on travelers.

Alberich the Nibelung.

Chickcharnies in the Bahamas.

I visited my daughter's kindergarten class the other day.

I think that pretty much fits into what you're looking for.

lol

How about the goblins in Rossetti's "Goblin Market" poem? (google it, it's very good!)

Why not just invent some of your own? I have this sense that current fantasy writing is getting hidebound by writers wanting only to piggyback on what's been done previously. Go create some new legends and myths.

caw

In Osage County in Oklahoma there are stories of little evil people that forces people to do deadly acts. Some people believed burning cedar trees in the house as incense kept them away.

I would like to hear more about those little people, MaLanie. The ones I am familiar with were mischeivous but not deadly. (usually) (heh)

All I can remember is overhearing a conversation between two uncles (married into the family) and my mom about these little people that would force them to do things when they were kids. Like one time when my uncle was around seven this little person forced him to put his hand in old wash machine which could have torn it off. Another time a little person talked the other uncle who was nine at the time into jumping from the second story of the house. I think my uncle said it had a knife to him.

My uncles were pretty ornery so it would not be a surprise if they made it up. I know they had a bunch of convinced though.

There's an old Scottish story/poem that's called The Ballad of Tam Lin. In it, the queen of the elves or fairies is evil and holds a man imprisoned into her service as a knight. Beautiful verses.

What's wrong with Jack and the bean stalk. Jack climbs the bean stalk and steals the giant's goose that lays the golden eggs. Not satisfied with an egg a day, he kills the goose to get all the eggs inside.
The giant is an innocent victim in this story.

Napoleon?

Randy Newman's song "Short People"

Of course...Gremlins!
(The original, 1940s critters, not the awful movie ones.)

Smiling Ted said:

Of course...Gremlins!
(The original, 1940s critters, not the awful movie ones.)

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But but but.. Gizmo!

RJK said:

What's wrong with Jack and the bean stalk. Jack climbs the bean stalk and steals the giant's goose that lays the golden eggs. Not satisfied with an egg a day, he kills the goose to get all the eggs inside.
The giant is an innocent victim in this story.

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When I was a kid I went to "college for kids" and took a law class. I had to argue that Jack was the criminal and the giant was an innocent victim. The jury found that the giant was innocent of any wrong doing. Maybe your husband could take this approach in his law class and look for the twist.

You might find Brian Froud's, 'Good Fairies, Bad Fairies' an interesting source.

Unique said:

I would like to hear more about those little people, MaLanie. The ones I am familiar with were mischeivous but not deadly. (usually) (heh)

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Sounds like The Nunnahee (Cherokee version of the Little People) to me.

My former boss worked in Los Angeles and knew some of the dwarfs from The Wizard of Oz (believe me, long story) and disliked them all intensely. Of course, my former boss is more than a little crazy, so.

How about in the Odyssey, where Odysseus meets the cyclops. Now my memory is a little rusty and the cyclops certainly wasn't meant to be the good guy, but I think we were meant to feel sympathy towards him. I may have misremembered that.

And how about Oscar Wilde's 'the Selfish Giant'? No bad little people in that though...