Jetins are small, imaginary creatures from

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, mostly mentioned by

Paul Sébillot Paul Sébillot (6 February 1843 in Matignon, Côtes-d'Armor, France – 23 April 1918 in Paris) was a French folklorist, painter, and writer. Many of his works are about his native province, Brittany. Early life and art Sébillot came from a ...

along the coast of

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

and on the island of

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

. Compared with similar lutins, they are characterized by their great strength, enabling them to throw huge boulders over very long distances, and by their habitat, mainly in rocks and caves on the shore. They also have a habit, much feared by humans, of kidnapping beautiful babies to replace them with their old-fashioned

changelings A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...

. Pierre Dubois gives many details on the appearance of Jetins in '' La Grande Encyclopédie des lutins''.

Etymology and terminology

The name varies from Jetins to J'tins or J'tuns. These names derive from the Jetins' habit of throwing rocks (and hence the word "''jeter''", which means "to throw" in French).

Françoise Morvan Françoise Morvan (born 1958 in Rostrenen, Côtes-d'Armor) is a French writer who specialises in Breton history and culture. She studied literature in Colombes, then at the Sorbonne. Her doctoral thesis was in French literature, discussing the ...

assumes that, like the

Fions Fions are lutin-like creatures of the Little people (mythology), little people, mostly mentioned in the maritime folklore of Upper Brittany. They might be of England, English origin. Most of the stories about them come from Paul Sébillot's colle ...

to whom they are closely related, they come from the

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

of English folklore, notably because of their habitat in sea caves known as "''houles''" (from the word hole in English). However, the limited amount of information available about them means that we don't know much more. In Saint-Suliac, the Bec-Dupuy cave is also known as "Trou aux Jetins".

Characteristics

collects most of the traditions about them. The Jetins are found in several maritime locations in

Upper Brittany Upper Brittany (; ; Gallo: ''Haùtt-Bertaèyn'') is the eastern part of Brittany, France, which is historically associated with the Gallo language. The name is in counterpoint to Lower Brittany, the western part of the ancient province and presen ...

, along the

coastline and notably on one of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. They enjoy the banks of the

Rance river The Rance (; , ) is a river of northwestern France. It is long. The semi-tidal river flows into the English Channel between Dinard and Saint-Malo. Before reaching the Channel, its waters are barred by a 750 metre long dam forming the Rance tid ...

. These dwarves are said to live "in the houles", sea caves, but don't seem to share the company of the ''houles'' fairies. Guernsey's caves may be frequented either by these fairies or by the Jetins. According to testimony gathered by Sébillot, they look like little men a

foot The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up o ...

and a half tall. Those from the banks of the

Rance Rance may refer to: Places * Rance (river), northwestern France * Rancé, a commune in eastern France, near Lyon * Ranče, a small settlement in Slovenia * Rance, Wallonia, part of the municipality of Sivry-Rance ** Rouge de Rance, a Devonian ...

, reputed to be very playful, come out of their holes every evening to amuse themselves in the countryside, in particular by playing tricks such as tangling horses' manes, making pigs run and opening hen houses. Jetins are generous by nature, however, and will gladly give bread, bacon or sausages to anyone who asks. Just don't try to keep one of their knives. One man found himself pinned to the ground by these little creatures, as punishment for trying to steal a utensil, until he agreed to return it. Their main characteristic is the throwing of stones "as big as a house" up to a

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

away: this is how the Bretons explained the presence of gigantic stones in the middle of their fields.

Changelings

The Jetins also replace human babies with their old-fashioned changelings, who never grow and suckle incessantly. According to a testimony collected by Sébillot in 1891 in Saint-Suliac, the Jetins kidnapped a woman's son, replacing him with an aged

changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...

. On the advice of her neighbor, she put half a dozen eggshells filled with water to boil in front of the fire. The changeling exclaimed, and the mother asked him where her son had gone. He replied that the Jetins had taken him to them "to have some of the breed". She took the changeling to the edge of the Jetins' hole, and threatened to kill him if she didn't get her son back, which she did. Like other changeling legends, this one involves "life and death blackmail" to get the real baby back, and an opposition between the chubby, young child of the men and the puny, 90-year-old child of the lutins. This story lends credence to the tendency of fairies and lutins to steal human babies on the grounds of beauty, to ensure the longevity of their own "race" and protect it from degeneration.

Popular culture

As with many other lutins, Pierre Dubois writes about the Jetins in '' La Grande Encyclopédie des lutins''. He attributes to them a half-foot height, a rustic dress, a hairy cap and silver clogs, adding that when the ''houles'' fairies left Brittany to reach England, it was the Jetins who definitively blocked "the entrance to the Teignouse Narrows which led to their former palace", thanks to their great strength, comparable to that of

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

References

Bibliography