- Halloween - Shortening of All Hallow's Eve, All Saints Day being Nov. 1. Also, as early Christians were wont to do, an absorption of the Celtic harvest festival, Samhain. Hence the jack o'lantern, which has as much to do with Christian saints as black cats. By the by, carving pumpkins is an American adaptation. In Great Britain they carved turnips.
- Werewolf - From Wer- meaning man in Old English, and wolf meaning, well, wolf.
- Ghost - From the Old Saxon word gest, meaning spirit.
- Ghoul - From an Arabic word, ghul. The ghul was a demon that lured people into the desert to eat them.
- Goblin - Continental European origin. The source is either French (gobelin), German (kobold), or Latin (gobelinus). Or all three.
- Vampire - Already did them.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Halloween, etc.
Various Halloween goodies.
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