I found a very interesting definition of ghouls on Wikipedia, I know that's not the best source but it had a lot of good information. In the definition it mentions that ghouls eat young children, which is an interesting thought considering the ghouls came across Bod. At the end of this it also says that a ghoul can be described as "anyone who delights in the macabre". Here is the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul
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This article was very fascinating, and I'm not just saying that. Even if it is just from Wiki, the most interesting articles always are.....
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoyed the descriptions of ghouls from specific works of fantasy towards the middle of the article.
"The Graveyard Book" was actually relatively high up on the list, citing that "ghouls are small, ape-like creatures who make their home in an extradimensional realm called Ghulheim. They travel to our world through Ghoul gates, and name themselves after the first person they eat on becoming a ghoul"
This particular definition accompanies the overview definition of ghouls given at the top of the page.
For the main part, the following literary examples also follow this definition, however, it was interesting to read JK Rowling's use of ghouls in the Harry Potter series: "ghouls are harmless creatures that live in the homes of wizards, making loud noises and occasionally groaning"
She portrays them almost as pet like, which is a complete 180 of the definition originally given. Should we take this as there are different types of ghouls perhaps? Or does this merely mean that to each his own when it comes to creating a ghoul? Or perhaps that JK Rowling was just wrong.......but that would be silly, because we all know she could never do anything wrong.
I remember the ghoul in the HP series now from the Burrow, that didn't even cross my mind. I guess it's just her definition of a ghoul, although she does make him different than Nearly Headless Nick, ghouls in her world seem very troubled. I wonder if Moaning Myrtle could possibly be a ghoul then, in J.K. Rowling's definition. She makes an awful lot of noise and moaning.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few similarities in the definition of a ghoul to the "normal" definition of a vampire. "Drink blood," "fear crosses," can disguise themselves into an animal e.g. hyena, as in a vampire can turn into a bat? Just something I came across looking at the definition, some aspects which I never knew.
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