Leprechauns!?

April 25, 2006 5:45 PM

OddQuestionFilter: Is there a myth surrounding leprechauns where time is supposed to stop when they fall asleep?
posted by arrhn to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

Surely if there were then Google would find something relevant for time stops when leprechauns sleep, so I'll say no.
posted by nicwolff at 6:09 PM on April 25, 2006

Well, according to the Myth Encyclopedia, there are times that they sit still. I can't find anything about time sitting still, though.
posted by Laen at 7:28 PM on April 25, 2006

Time is supposed to stand still in Tir Na n'Og (Tír na nÓg, Tir na n-og, whatever), the Irish fairy kingdom.
posted by stavrogin at 8:48 PM on April 25, 2006

stavrogin has it right. Just to follow on using my vast leprechaun knowledge (my uncle was a leprechaun), there are lots of tales of people falling asleep near, or on, or beside fairy rings, mounds, hills, standing stones, and when they emerge one solid sleep later they find that they are unaged, but the world around them has moved on dozens/hundreds of years.

Given that leprechauns are generally associated with all things "faerie" i'd say thats how this association came about for you.
posted by kev23f at 7:59 AM on April 26, 2006