Three Ravens Bestiary #24: Imps

Three Ravens Bestiary #24: Imps

From The Three Ravens Podcast by Three Ravens

May 18, 2026 · 1h 21m · Season 7 · Episode 88

About this episode

This episode explores the mythology and evolution of Imps in English folklore.

It's time to uncork the bottle of mythology and folklore to talk about a true English original - Imps! Beginning their lives as horticultural metaphors, the Anglo Saxon 'ympe' appears in all sorts of moralizing, overtly Christian texts, including those written by Alfred the Great - only by the 17th century if you had an imp of your own you could be hanged for the crime. How did this all come about? Well, it's a combination of several factors, including Bronze Age beliefs about Middle Eastern supernatural entities that haunted toilets, bed chambers, and windowsills, the stinking bogs and fens of Ireland and the British Isles, and Medieval explanations for the hierarchies of demons following Lucifer's rebellion against God. We track the imp's evolution from House Spirits made of dough, fed with milk and flour, through to the Witch Hunts of the English Republic, and the 19th century 'Imp Revival' as prompted by Romantic and Gothic literature, fairy stories, and Victorian satire. With a disgraceful number of puns (even more than last month!) and some really weird beliefs, as well as Eleanor reading some Old English, they may be tiny but we've gone in on Imps in a big way. Just don't…

People in this episode

Host: Three Ravens

Topics covered

  • mythology
  • folklore
  • Imps
  • demonology
  • history
  • literature

Keywords

  • Imps
  • mythology
  • folklore
  • demonology
  • Anglo Saxon
  • Witch Hunts
  • Victorian satire

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Creature Castle

Books & works: Old English

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