Mazapégul

The , also known by several other names in Romagnol, are mischievous nocturnal elves in the folklore of Romagna, especially around the Apennines of Forlì, in northern Italy.

Portrayed as homunculi with feline features, wear a distinctive red cap, which they require to perform their mischief. They disrupt sleep, make objects disappear, and disturb animals, especially horses, whose tails and manes they braid. are particularly attracted to beautiful young girls, with whom they tend to sleep and compliment. A 's power can be removed by stealing its cap, performing an action to disgust the elf, or reciting a poem while walking along a rope.

The , particularly its red cap, features in Romagnol carnival costumes. It is often incorporated into cultural events in Romagna aimed at children and families, and its name has been adopted in music and by a brewery.

Names and etymology

The 's name varies across Romagna, including variants of , , and . The variant is common in Faenza and is common in Cesena. In hilly areas by the Apennines, it is called (), (), or , and at the legend's southern extremities, the names , , and appear.

The etymology of is contested. It may relate to the Italian (poleaxe), or some kind of murderer ( meaning 'murder') of children, stones, fathers, or sheep. In another hypothesis, the term combines , suggesting a heavy object, and , suggesting something viscous and sticky, to leave the impression of a weight trapping a person from above.

History

The descend from the mythological incubus, a demon that would disturb sleeping humans and take advantage of women. They share characteristics with elves from other regions of Italy, such as the of southern Italy, as well as from the French Vosges. Folklore surrounding the is recorded in a survey of early 15th-century Cesena by Giuliano Fantaguzzi.

According to one legend, the were domestic elves of the Lombards, who imported them to Romagna following their territorial expansion. In a 1924 fable distributed in regional schools, John the Apostle eschewed his responsibility to wipe out elves and fairies that preceded Jesus Christ, and the creatures hid in a pine forest in , near Ravenna.

Attributes and behaviour

The elves are portrayed as a cross between apes and homunculi, with grey fur, also resembling cats or monkeys. They wear a distinctive red cap, which they require to perform their mischief.

The are credited for causing nightmares, including sleep paralysis or sensations of suffocation, ruffling women's hair in their sleep, causing stomach pains, making objects disappear, playing the cymbals, causing dishes to fly, and making victims gain weight. In the countryside, they disturb animals, especially horses, who wake in the mornings covered in sweat and with braided tails and manes. The elves especially visit houses on the night of Samhain.

Attracted by beautiful young girls, the elves enter their rooms at night and fall asleep on their stomachs. They compliment them, saying: "What beautiful eyes! What beautiful hair!" (). Girls responding kindly are brought good luck, and the rewards them with stockings and tidying their room. A girl who disrespects a becomes the victim of its mischief: the elf could bite, shake, scratch or pinch her, and they are especially mischievous with women's breasts.

Protections

A 's presence can be identified from paw marks if flour is laid in front of a house's entrance, and from its red cap being pinned by a well. If its cap is stolen or thrown into the well, either its vanquisher is tormented at night with the demand of "give me back my cap!" (), or they are safe from the elf's torment, as the merely laments its demands to passers-by at the well.

Priests and exorcists ward off the . Other traditions against the include keeping a pitchfork under beds and in stables, placing a broom in front of a house's entrance, planting a ''caveja'', a wrought iron rod symbolic of Romagna, outside the house, and sprinkling grains of rice on a windowsill so that the is distracted by counting them until daybreak.

In one ritual to rid the , a tormented victim straddles a window while eating cheese. In another, they sit on a chamber pot in their bedroom and, while defecating, eat bread with one hand and pretend to remove headlice with the other, which disgusts the , who tells its former victim: "Ugly cow, you eat and piss and shit!" ()

In another ritual, a tormented victim ties a noose at the top of seven yards of rope used for pairing cattle, and then suspends the rope outside for three days and three nights, before tying it to the foot of their bed. Then, the victim recites a poem while walking along the rope barefoot:

In popular culture

The , particularly its red cap, features in Romagnol carnival costumes. The elf has been the subject of several local songs, and is often incorporated into local cultural events aimed at children and families.

In Romagnol, misbehaving children are called . A craft beer from Civitella di Romagna is known as Mazapegul, as well as a regional band, , active in the 1990s.

Inspired by the , 's 1840 dictionary defines as "that oppression, and almost suffocation, that others sometimes feel when sleeping on their back".

See also

* Folklore of Italy
* – a sweet focaccia topped with raisins, almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts, and traditionally eaten in November for All Souls' Day in Rimini
* Redcap – a mischievous goblin in the folklore of the Anglo-Scottish border, who also wears a red capHenderson, William (1879). ''Folklore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders'' (2nd ed.) W. Satchell, Peyton & Co. p. 253.Briggs, Katharine (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. Pantheon Books. p. 339. .

References

{{Reflist

Italian legendary creatures
Culture in Emilia-Romagna
Elves