Episode 152: Dark Fae: Gremlins

The folklore of gremlins in a nutshell, translated to Afrikaans, and how I reimagined it for my writing.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2025 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about gremlins in folklore here.

Get the transcript here.

Learn more about the author and her writing here.

Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With over a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my Dark Court Sisters book series. Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Three sisters. Three destinies. Three ways to destroy the world. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/darkcourtsistersseries for more.

You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion. Go to buymeacoffee.com/ronel to support me.

We’re continuing our exploration of Dark Fae.

Today’s Faery: Gremlin

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Of all the folklore creatures I’ve researched, gremlins are the youngest by far. They originated during the world wars among pilots who blamed these small monsters on engine failure and other mysterious mishaps, especially concerning technology. They became quite popular among pilots from the RAF (royal air force), American and even German pilots during world war 2.

The first written record of gremlins is in a poem published in the journal Aeroplane in Malta in April 1929. A novel in 1938 by aviator Pauline Gower, describes Scotland as “gremlin country” where gremlins cut the wires of biplanes with scissors. In April 1942, Hubert Griffith wrote an article about gremlins that got published in the Royal Air Force Journal. And there’s an article in The Spectator in January 1943 titled “Gremlins”.

Clearly these creatures had a big impact on pilots and those around them in the first half of the twentieth century. And as they were equal opportunity mischief makers, no-one seriously hunted them. Even Roald Dahl, famous children author of the time, wrote a book titled “The Gremlins” that was published by Random House in 1943.

By the second half of the twentieth century, the movie about Gremlins who shouldn’t get wet and shouldn’t be fed after midnight overtook the traditional gremlin in people’s imagination.

But even today, nearly a century after gremlins were first blamed for mechanical issues, when something goes wrong with something technological or mechanical, gremlins get the blame.

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an Origin of the Fae: Gremlin

Tiny faeries with sharp claws, big pointy ears, big bulbous eyes, and sharp teeth. They can get into anything as they aren’t limited to the physical plane, but can turn themselves into a form of electricity to inhabit even small things like smart phones. They love mischief for mischief’s sake. They enjoy messing with technology and machines. They eat metal, glass, microchips… Anything, really, that shouldn’t be eaten. Lost your homework? A gremlin probably ate it. They find humans and their reliance on technology fascinating and will inhabit – infest! – homes and buildings with lots of technology and machinery in it. Among the fae, no-one really knows what to do with them. Brownies, technology-loving creatures, eat any gremlins they come across before they destroy their kitchen toys.

As a little bonus, let’s look at this faery translated to Afrikaans: Kobold

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

You can now own the backlist seasons as audiobooks. All proceeds go to hosting the podcast. Exclusively available from Ronel’s store.