Grimalkin

Last updated
Louis Le Breton's illustration of a grimalkin from the Dictionnaire Infernal Ill dict infernal p0328-312 grimalkin.jpg
Louis Le Breton's illustration of a grimalkin from the Dictionnaire Infernal

A grimalkin, also known as a greymalkin, is an archaic term for a cat. [1] The term stems from "grey" (the colour) plus "malkin", an archaic term with several meanings (a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name) derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud. [2] Scottish legend makes reference to the grimalkin as a faery cat that dwells in the highlands.

Contents

During the early modern period, the name grimalkin and cats in general became associated with the devil and witchcraft. Women tried as witches in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were often accused of having a familiar, frequently a grimalkin.

Uses in fiction

Beware the Cat was published in 1570 by William Baldwin. The novel is a story of talking cats, and part of it relates the story of the Grimalkin's death. According to the editors of a modern edition, the story, and thus the name, originates with Baldwin in terms of being the earliest example known in print. It is also spelled Grimmalkin or Grimolochin. [3]

A cat named Grimalkin in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth helped the Three Witches look into Macbeth's future. [4]

A grimalkin appears in chapter 18 of The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The narrator questions if it is a cat looking at a mouse or the devil looking for a soul, in this case that of Judge Pyncheon.

A grimalkin is also mentioned in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights , who briefly sits on a bench next to Mr. Lockwood before being removed hastily by Joseph.

The Anna Seward poem An Old Cat's Dying Solilioquy, published in The Gentleman's Magazine in 1792, contains the line "Before thou lay’st an aged grimalkin low".

A cat named Grimalkin appears in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Man in the Woods". It is soon ousted in a brief catfight by the new, unnamed black cat who has just arrived in the heels of the young protagonist Christopher. The new cat assumes the name of Grimalkin.

A grimalkin is mentioned in the Episode "The Joke's on Catwoman" (Episode 17 of Season 3) of the 1960's Batman TV Series.

Grimalkin is a character in The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. A malk, cat-like faerie acting as a servant to Mab. She uses him as an interpreter, with Grimalkin speaking to other people in her stead while she remains silent. He first appears in Summer Knight .

Grimalkin is the most powerful witch assassin in the popular children's series, Spook's , by Joseph Delaney. She is depicted as a cruel torturer who uses a large pair of scissors to take the thumb bones of her enemies. Her main role is as a close ally and mentor of the main character, Thomas Ward.

A faery cat named Grimalkin appears in Julie Kagawa's book series The Iron Fey Series . He has similarities to the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland

The Grimalkin are an anthropomorphic feline race in the Ni No Kuni franchise.

In Wicked (Maguire novel) , the main character Elphaba has a pet cat named Grimalkin while staying in the Emerald City.

A cat named Grimalkin is a companion to Sham and Agba in Marguerite Henry's Newbery Medal children's novel King of the Wind .

A cat named Grimalkin is mentioned as a deceased former companion to Elaine in Anna Biller's 2016 film The Love Witch .

A cat identified as a "Grey Malkin" (as of an exotic cat breed) is the eponymous subject of the serial story The Riddle of the Gray Malkin, starting with Part 1 in Issue #1899 [5] (August, 2021) of the Australian published edition of The Phantom comic series.

A cat familiar named “Grimalkin” is the watch cat of Dr. Julian Karswell in the 1957 film Curse of the Demon directed by Jacques Tourneur. It normally looked like a small housecat, but had the ability to transform into a large jaguar to attack intruders.

Grimalkin is the name of a mysterious black cat in the game Cat Cafe Manager.

In Bruva Alfabusa's "Hunter: The Parenting" webseries based on the World of Darkness setting, 'Grimaline' is the name of a side-character, which is a name derived from Grimalkin.

In Roger Zelazny's story A Night in the Lonesome October, a cat called Graymalk is the companion or familiar of a Witch known as Crazy Jill.

In the 2023 launched MMO Palia, there is the species of the Grimalkin. They came to the world of Palia several generations ago, presumably from another planet. They are cat-like creatures with four ears and are depicted as cunning beings living in a clan society. Children are separated from their parents at an early age and must find their own way to make a living. Therefore, they are often active in criminal guilds and mostly lead a life underground. In Palia, the Grimalkin are the only non-native species before humans that are allowed to use magic without the threat of punishment. The most famous representative of the Grimalkin in Palia is Zeki.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Macbeth</i> Play by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Macbeth, often shortened to Macbeth, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, Macbeth most clearly reflects his relationship with King James, patron of Shakespeare's acting company. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Familiar</span> Spiritual entity in European folklore

In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars were believed to be supernatural entities, interdimensional beings, or spiritual guardians that would protect or assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic, divination, and spiritual insight. According to records of the time, those alleging to have had contact with familiar spirits reported that they could manifest as numerous forms, usually as an animal, but sometimes as a human or humanoid figure, and were described as "clearly defined, three-dimensional... forms, vivid with colour and animated with movement and sound", as opposed to descriptions of ghosts with their "smoky, undefined form[s]".

The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is killed by Dorothy; in Baum's subsequent Oz novels, the Wicked Witch of the West is occasionally referred to.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben and Polly</span> Fictional characters in the TV series Doctor Who

Benjamin "Ben" Jackson and Polly, sometimes called Polly Wright in spin-off material, are fictional characters played by Michael Craze and Anneke Wills, in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

<i>The Midnight Folk</i> 1927 book by John Masefield

The Midnight Folk is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield first published in 1927. It is about a boy, Kay Harker, who sets out to discover what became of a fortune stolen from his seafaring great grandfather Aston Tirrold Harker. The treasure is also sought by a coven of witches who are seeking it for their own ends. Kay's governess Sylvia Daisy Pouncer is a member of the coven. The witches are led or guided by the wizard Abner Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gruoch</span> Queen of Scotland from 1040 to 1057

Gruoch ingen Boite was a Scottish queen, the daughter of Boite mac Cináeda, son of Cináed II. The dates of her life are uncertain. She is most famous for being the wife and queen of MacBethad mac Findlaích (Macbeth), as well as the basis for Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth. However, Shakespeare's Macbeth is based on Holinshed's Chronicles and is not historically accurate.

Pyewacket was one of the supposed familiar spirits of an alleged witch accused by the claimed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in March 1644 in the town of Manningtree, Essex, England. Hopkins claimed he spied on the witches as they held their meeting close by his house, and heard them mention the name of a local woman. She was arrested and deprived of sleep for four nights, at the end of which she confessed and called out the names of her familiars, describing the forms in which they should appear. They were:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winged monkeys</span> Fictional characters from the Wizard of Oz

Winged monkeys are fictional characters that first appeared in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by the American author L. Frank Baum. They are described as jungle monkeys with bird-like feathered wings. They are playful, intelligent, and speak English. They are initially under the control of the Wicked Witch of the West, but are later controlled by the protagonist, Dorothy Gale. They lift Dorothy and fly her to two distant locations.

Malkin as a surname may refer to:

<i>Spooks</i> Childrens dark fantasy series by Joseph Delaney

Spook's, published as The Last Apprentice in the United States, is a children's dark fantasy series by English author Joseph Delaney. It is published by imprints of Penguin Random House in the United Kingdom and HarperCollins in the United States. The series has been published in 30 countries, with sales exceeding 4.5 million copies. It started in 2004 with The Spook's Apprentice, which has been adapted into a play script, a feature film titled Seventh Son, and a French graphic novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dejah Thoris</span> Character in Edgar Rice Burroughss Martian novels

Dejah Thoris is a fictional character and princess of the Martian city-state/empire of Helium in Edgar Rice Burroughs' series of Martian novels. She is the daughter of Mors Kajak, Jed (chieftain) of Lesser Helium, and the granddaughter of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium. She is the love interest and later the wife of John Carter, an Earthman mystically transported to Mars, and subsequently the mother of their son Carthoris and daughter Tara. She plays the role of the conventional damsel in distress who must be rescued from various perils, but is also portrayed as a competent and capable adventurer in her own right, fully capable of defending herself and surviving on her own in the wastelands of Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Delaney</span> English author (1945–2022)

Joseph Henry Delaney was an English author. He was best known for his children's dark fantasy series, Spook's, inspired by the folklore, history and geography of Lancashire. The series has been published in 30 countries, achieving sales of over 4.5 million copies.

"The Shakespeare Code" is the second episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was the fifth most popular broadcast on British television in that week. Originally titled "Love's Labour's Won", was also titled by David Tennant as "Theatre of Doom" during the "David's Video Diaries 2", part of the Series 3 DVD, the episode was re-titled as a reference to The Da Vinci Code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Witches</span> Characters in Macbeth

The Three Witches, also known as the Weird Sisters, Weyward Sisters or Wayward Sisters, are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. The witches eventually lead Macbeth to his demise, and they hold a striking resemblance to the three Fates of classical mythology. Their origin lies in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland. Other possible sources, apart from Shakespeare, include British folklore, contemporary treatises on witchcraft as King James VI of Scotland's Daemonologie, the Witch of Endor from the Bible, the Norns of Norse mythology, and ancient classical myths of the Fates: the Greek Moirai and the Roman Parcae.

William Baldwin was an English author, poet, printer and cleric.

A grimalkin is an old or evil-looking female cat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malkin Tower</span> Site related to the Lancashire witch trials of 1612

Malkin Tower was the home of Elizabeth Southerns, also known as Demdike, and her granddaughter Alizon Device, two of the chief protagonists in the Lancashire witch trials of 1612.

Beware the Cat (1561) is an English satire written by the printer's assistant and poet William Baldwin, in early 1553. It has been claimed by some academics to be the first novel ever published in English of any kind.

Cultural references to <i>Macbeth</i>

The tragic play Macbeth by William Shakespeare has appeared and been reinterpreted in many forms of art and culture since it was written in the early 17th century.

References

  1. "grimalkin, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, Web. 16 June 2015
  2. "malkin, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2014. Web. 27 October 2014.
  3. Baldwin, William (1570). Beware the Cat: The First English Novel, edited by William A. Ringler, Jr. and Michael Flachmann, Huntington Library Press, ISBN   0-87328-087-3 hardcover (1988), ISBN   0-87328-154-3 softcover (1995)
  4. "Obey the Kitty" . Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  5. "The Phantom 1899 (Frew)" . Retrieved 12 December 2021.