This word is documented in earlier Italian works ( Fazio degli Uberti, 14th century Luigi Pulci, 15th century Ludovico Ariosto, 15th–16th centuries) and has even older cognates with the Latin orcus and the Old English orcnēas found in Beowulf lines 112–113, which inspired J.R.R. The Italian author Giambattista Basile (1575–1632) used the related Neapolitan word uerco, or in standard Italian, orco in some of his tales. The ogres in this rhyme may refer to the ogres who were, in the pseudohistorical work History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the inhabitants of Britain prior to human settlement.
"And it is written that he will come again,
Its earliest attestation is in Chrétien de Troyes' late 12th-century verse romance Perceval, li contes del graal, which contains the lines: The word ogre is of French origin, originally derived from the Etruscan god Orcus, who fed on human flesh. Puss in Boots before the ogre (illustrated by Walter Crane). Other characters sometimes described as ogres include the title character from " Bluebeard", the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, Humbaba from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Grendel from Beowulf, Polyphemus the Cyclops from Homer's Odyssey, the Man-eating giant in " Sinbad the Sailor", and the Oni of Japanese folklore. In both folklore and fiction, giants are often given ogrish traits (such as the giants in " Jack and the Beanstalk" and " Jack the Giant Killer", the Giant Despair in The Pilgrim's Progress, and the Jötnar of Norse mythology) while ogres may be given giant-like traits.įamous examples of ogres in folklore include the ogre in " Puss in Boots" and the ogre in " Hop-o'-My-Thumb". Ogres are closely linked with giants and with human cannibals in mythology. In mythology, ogres are often depicted as inhumanly large, tall, and having a disproportionately large head, abundant hair, unusually colored skin, a voracious appetite, and a strong body. They appear in many classic works of literature, and are most often associated in fairy tales and legend with a taste for infants. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world. One of the platters on the table serves human babies (illustrated by Gustave Doré).Īn ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster usually depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children.
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