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→In folklore: Added qualifying language to the effect that Djinn and gnomes are not solely or even primarily depicted as treasure guardians in their respective cultures.
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{{Orphan|date=May 2014}}
{{Orphan|date=May 2014}}


The '''treasure guardian''' is a recurring [[motif (narrative)|motif]] in [[folklore]] of a being that guards a treasure. Typically, the hero must overcome the guardian in order to obtain the treasure. In some cases the treasure guardians are non-human beings, although one subtype, known as "treasure ghosts", were deceased humans who had been murdered and buried with the treasure to protect it.<ref name="Huggins 2003">{{citation |first= Ronald V. |last= Huggins |authorlink= Ronald V. Huggins |url= https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V36N04_37.pdf |title= From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism |journal= [[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |volume= 36 |issue= 4 |date= Winter 2003 |pages= 17–42 }}</ref><ref name="Ashurst-McGee 2006">{{citation |first= Mark |last= Ashurst-McGee |authorlink= Mark Ashurst-McGee |title= Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1446&index=5 |journal= [[FARMS Review]] |volume= 18 |issue= 1 |year= 2006 |pages= }}</ref><ref>{{citation |first= Mark |last= Ashurst-McGee |authorlink= Mark Ashurst-McGee |title= Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? |url= http://mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Mhs2.2-Ashurst-McGeeFall2001.pdf |journal= [[Mormon Historical Studies]] |volume= 2 |issue= 2 |date= Fall 2001 |pages= 39-75}}</ref> Animals are often shown as treasure guardians—an index of folklore chronicles stories of snakes, crows, ravens, cocks, swans, and night-birds as treasure guardians.<ref>{{citation |first= Ernest Warren |last= Baughman |title= Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America |series= Indiana University folklore series, no. 20 |place= The Hague |publisher= [[Mouton Publishers|Mouton]] |orig-year= 1966 |year= 1967 |oclc= 491929 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=uk-W8g_68b8C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85 85] }}</ref> In some stories, the treasure is guarded by "the [[Devil]] himself".<ref name="Huggins 2003"/><ref name="Ashurst-McGee 2006"/>{{rp|44-45}}
The '''treasure guardian''' is a recurring [[motif (narrative)|motif]] in [[folklore]] of a being that guards a treasure. Typically, the hero must overcome the guardian in order to obtain the treasure. In some cases the treasure guardians are non-human beings, although one subtype, known as "treasure ghosts", were deceased humans who had been murdered and buried with the treasure to protect it.<ref name="Huggins 2003">{{citation |first= Ronald V. |last= Huggins |authorlink= Ronald V. Huggins |url= https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V36N04_37.pdf |title= From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism |journal= [[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |volume= 36 |issue= 4 |date= Winter 2003 |pages= 17–42 }}</ref><ref name="Ashurst-McGee 2006">{{citation |first= Mark |last= Ashurst-McGee |authorlink= Mark Ashurst-McGee |title= Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian |url= http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1446&index=5 |journal= [[FARMS Review]] |volume= 18 |issue= 1 |year= 2006 |pages= }}</ref><ref>{{citation |first= Mark |last= Ashurst-McGee |authorlink= Mark Ashurst-McGee |title= Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? |url= http://mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Mhs2.2-Ashurst-McGeeFall2001.pdf |journal= [[Mormon Historical Studies]] |volume= 2 |issue= 2 |date= Fall 2001 |pages= 39–75}}</ref> Animals are often shown as treasure guardians—an index of folklore chronicles stories of snakes, crows, ravens, cocks, swans, and night-birds as treasure guardians.<ref>{{citation |first= Ernest Warren |last= Baughman |title= Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America |series= Indiana University folklore series, no. 20 |place= The Hague |publisher= [[Mouton Publishers|Mouton]] |orig-year= 1966 |year= 1967 |oclc= 491929 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=uk-W8g_68b8C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85 85] }}</ref> In some stories, the treasure is guarded by "the [[Devil]] himself".<ref name="Huggins 2003"/><ref name="Ashurst-McGee 2006"/>{{rp|44–45}}


==In folklore==
==In folklore==
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==In popular culture==
==In popular culture==
* ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' features a crusader knight who guards the [[Holy Grail]].
* ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' features a crusader knight who guards the [[Holy Grail]].
* Works by Tolkien feature [[Smaug]], a treasure-guarding dragon.<ref name="Ashurst-McGee 2006"/>{{rp|45-46}}
* Works by Tolkien feature [[Smaug]], a treasure-guarding dragon.<ref name="Ashurst-McGee 2006"/>{{rp|45–46}}


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 03:22, 9 July 2019

The treasure guardian is a recurring motif in folklore of a being that guards a treasure. Typically, the hero must overcome the guardian in order to obtain the treasure. In some cases the treasure guardians are non-human beings, although one subtype, known as "treasure ghosts", were deceased humans who had been murdered and buried with the treasure to protect it.[1][2][3] Animals are often shown as treasure guardians—an index of folklore chronicles stories of snakes, crows, ravens, cocks, swans, and night-birds as treasure guardians.[4] In some stories, the treasure is guarded by "the Devil himself".[1][2]: 44–45 

In folklore

  • Jinn, an Arabian legendary creature sometimes depicted as a treasure guardian
  • Gnome, a European legendary creature sometimes depicted as a treasure guardian
  • Leprechaun, a treasure guardian from Irish folklore
  • Dragon, a creature often portrayed as hoarding a treasure
  • Salamander, a legendary creature often described as a lizard in shape (even looking like a common salamander), but usually with an affinity for fire
  • Spriggan, Cornish guardian of fairy treasure, said to be the ghosts of giants that can swell to enormous sizes.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Huggins, Ronald V. (Winter 2003), "From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism" (PDF), Dialogue, 36 (4): 17–42
  2. ^ a b c Ashurst-McGee, Mark (2006), "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian", FARMS Review, 18 (1)
  3. ^ Ashurst-McGee, Mark (Fall 2001), "Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian?" (PDF), Mormon Historical Studies, 2 (2): 39–75
  4. ^ Baughman, Ernest Warren (1967) [1966], Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America, Indiana University folklore series, no. 20, The Hague: Mouton, p. 85, OCLC 491929
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