Ogre: The Mythological Monster

Ogres are fascinating mythological creatures that have captured the imaginations of humans for very long. An ogre is a large, hideous monster of mythology, folklore and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature. In art, ogres are often depicted with a large head, abundant hair and beard, a voracious appetite, and a strong body. Symbolically, the term is often used for the persons who exploit, brutalize or devour their victims.

Giovanni Lanfranco's painting depicting an ogre 

Like many mythical creatures, ogres have an origin shrouded in mystery. The word ogre is of French origin, and was originally believed to have been coined by either Charles Perrault (1628-1703) or Marie-Catherine Jumelle de Berneville, Comtesse d' Aulnoy (1650-1705), both of whom were French authors. Other sources say that the name is derived from the word Hongrois, which means Hungarian. The word is also thought to have been actually inspired by the works of Italian author Giambattista Basile (1575-1632), who used the Neapolitan word uerco, which means 'orco' in Italian language, meaning demon. Some believe that ogre has been derived from the two mythical giants ‘Gog’ and 'Magog', or even from some kind of Greek river god whose name was Oiagros, who was also father of Orpheus.

Regardless of their origins, ogres are undeniably part of a group of folklore creatures that exists in most mythical traditions. This group includes various types of humanoid creatures of great size and strength, who in general possess a dislike of humans, a taste for human flesh, and a lower than average intelligence.

Ogres have appeared in many classic works of literature. Its earliest attestation is in Chrétien de Troyes' late 12th century verse romance Perceval, li contes del graal, which contains the lines:

“ et s'est escrit que il ert ancore,

que toz li reaumes de Logres,

qui ja dis fu la terre as ogres,
ert destruite par cele lance.”

In English this meant:"And it is written that there will come a time when all the kingdom of Logres [England] which formerly was the land of the ogres will be destroyed by that spear." In the fictional History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, ogres were the inhabitants of Britain prior to human settlement.

The word ogre came into wider usage in the works of Charles Perrault or Marie-Catherine Jumelle de Berneville, Comtesse d' Aulnoy. The first appearance of the word ogre in Charles Perrault's work occurred in his Histoires ou Contes du temps Passé (1697). It later appeared in several of his other fairy tales, many of which were based on the Neapolitan tales of Basile. The first example of a female ogre being referred to as an ogress is found in his version of Sleeping Beauty, where it is spelled ogresse.

The Ogre Fountain in Bern, Switzerland

In the literature for children also ogres have been extensively used. Ogres have appeared in a variety of fairy tales and fantasy stories, including works by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien,Ruth Manning-Sanders and more modern authors such as Piers Anthony.   Today, variants of ogres can also be found in many popular fantasy roleplaying and video games series such as Dungeons and Dragons, Final Fantasy, RuneScape, Warcraft, Two Worlds, Ogre Battle, AdventureQuest and Magic: The Gathering.

Shrek, an ogre

In addition, Shrek, the hero of a recent series of DreamWorks movies, is probably one of the best-known (and best liked) modern ogres where Shrek is depicted as a large, green,physically intimidating ogre.