In 

folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ignis
fatuus (Latin for 'giddy flame',[1] plural ignes fatui), is
an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night,
especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The
phenomenon is known in English folk belief, English
folklore and much of European folklore by a variety of
names, including jack-o'-lantern, friar's
lantern, hinkypunk and hobby lantern and is said to
mislead travellers by resembling a flickering lamp
or lantern.[2] In literature, will-o'-the-wisp metaphorically
refers to a hope or goal that leads one on, but is
impossible to reach, or something one finds strange or
sinister.[3]

Wills-o'-the-wisp appear in folk tales and traditional

legends of numerous countries and cultures; notable wills-
o'-the-wisp include St. Louis Light in Saskatchewan, the
Spooklight in Southwestern Missouri and Northeastern
Oklahoma, the Marfa lights of Texas, the Naga fireballs on
 the Mekong in Thailand, the Paulding Light in Upper
Peninsula of Michigan and the Hessdalen light in Norway.

In urban legends, folklore and superstition, wills-o'-the-

wisp are typically attributed to ghosts, fairies or elemental
spirits. Modern science explains the light aspect as natural
phenomena such
as bioluminescence or chemiluminescence, caused by
the oxidation of phosphine (PH3), diphosphane (P2H4) and
methane (CH4) produced by organic decay.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Folklore
o 2.1Americas
o 2.2Asia
o 2.3China
o 2.4Europe
 2.4.1Britain
o 2.5Oceania
 3Natural explanations
 4In culture
o 4.1Literature
o 4.2Music
o 4.3Visual media
 5Reported light locations
o 5.1Americas
o 5.2Asia
o 5.3Europe
o 5.4Oceania
 6See also
 7Notes
 8References
 9External links

Etymology[edit]

The term "will-o'-the-wisp" comes from "wisp", a bundle of

sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch and the name
"Will", thus meaning "Will of the torch". The term jack-o'-
lantern (Jack of the lantern) originally referred to a will-o'-
the-wisp.[4] In the United States, they are often called
"spook-lights", "ghost-lights", or "orbs" by folklorists
and paranormal enthusiasts.[5][6][7]

The Latin name ignis fatuus is composed of ignis,

meaning "fire" and fatuus, an adjective meaning "foolish",
"silly" or "simple"; it can thus be literally translated into
English as "foolish fire" or more idiomatically as "giddy
flame".[1] Despite its Latin origins, the term ignis fatuus is
not attested in antiquity, and what the ancient
Romans called the will-o'-wisp may be unknown.[1] The
term is not attested in the Middle Ages either. Instead, the
Latin ignis fatuus is documented no earlier than the 16th
century in Germany, where it was coined by a
German humanist, and appears to be a free translation of
the long-existing German name Irrlicht ("wandering light"
or "deceiving light") conceived of in German folklore as a
mischievous spirit of nature; the Latin translation was
made to lend the German name intellectual credibility.[8]
[9]
 Beside Irrlicht, the will-o'-the-wisp has also been called
in German Irrwisch (where Wisch translates to "wisp"), as
found in e.g. Martin Luther's writings of the same 16th
century.[9]

Folklore[edit]

The Will o' the Wisp and the Snake by Hermann

Hendrich (1854–1931)

Folk belief attributes the phenomenon to fairies or

elemental spirits, explicitly in the term "hobby lanterns"
found in the 19th century Denham Tracts. In her book A
Dictionary of Fairies, K. M. Briggs provides an extensive
list of other names for the same phenomenon, though the
place where they are observed (graveyard, bogs, etc.)
influences the naming considerably. When observed in
graveyards, they are known as "ghost candles", also a
term from the Denham Tracts.
The names will-o'-the-wisp and jack-o'-lantern are used
in etiological folk-tales, recorded in many variant forms
in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Appalachia,
and Newfoundland.[10][11][12] In these tales, protagonists
named either Will or Jack are doomed to haunt the
marshes with a light for some misdeed. One version
from Shropshire is recounted by Briggs in A Dictionary of
Fairies and refers to Will Smith. Will is a wicked blacksmith
who is given a second chance by Saint Peter at the gates
of heaven, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being
doomed to wander the earth. The Devil provides him with
a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he
then uses to lure foolish travellers into the marshes.

An Irish version of the tale has a ne'er-do-well named

Drunk Jack or Stingy Jack who, when the Devil comes to
collect his soul, tricks him into turning into a coin, so he
can pay for his one last drink. When the Devil obliges,
Jack places him in his pocket next to a crucifix, preventing
him from returning to his original form. In exchange for his
freedom, the Devil grants Jack ten more years of life.
When the term expires, the Devil comes to collect his due.
But Jack tricks him again by making him climb a tree and
then carving a cross underneath, preventing him from
climbing down. In exchange for removing the cross, the
Devil forgives Jack's debt. However, no one as bad as
Jack would ever be allowed into heaven, so Jack is forced
upon his death to travel to hell and ask for a place there.
The Devil denies him entrance in revenge but grants him
an ember from the fires of hell to light his way through the
twilight world to which lost souls are forever condemned.
Jack places it in a carved turnip to serve as a lantern.[13]
[14]
 Another version of the tale is "Willy the Whisp", related
in Irish Folktales by Henry Glassie. Séadna by Peadar Ua
Laoghaire is yet another version—and also the first
modern novel in the Irish language.

Americas[edit]
"Feu follet" redirects here. For other uses, see Feu follet
(disambiguation).
Mexico has two equivalents as well. In one they are
called brujas (witches), folklore explains the phenomenon
to be witches who transformed into these lights. The
reason for this, however, varies according to the region.
Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to
places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which
can be found only with the help of children, in this one they
are called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del
tesoro (treasure lights).

The swampy area of Massachusetts known as

the Bridgewater Triangle has folklore of ghostly orbs of
light, and there have been modern observations of these
ghost-lights in this area as well.

The fifollet (or feu-follet) of Louisiana derives from the

French. The legend says that the fifollet is a soul sent
back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead
attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in
harmless mischievous acts, the fifollet sometimes sucked
the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the
soul of a child who died before baptism.[15][16]

Boi-tatá (Portuguese pronunciation: [bojtaˈta]) is
the Brazilian equivalent of the will-o'-the-wisp.
[17]
 Regionally it is
called Boitatá, Baitatá, Batatá, Bitatá, Batatão, Biatatá, M'
boiguaçu, Mboitatá and Mbaê-Tata. The name comes
from the Old Tupi language and means "fiery serpent"
(mboî tatá). Its great fiery eyes leave it almost blind by
day, but by night, it can see everything. According
to legend, Boi-tatá was a big serpent which survived a
great deluge. A "boiguaçu" (a cave anaconda) left its cave
after the deluge and, in the dark, went through the fields
preying on the animals and corpses, eating exclusively its
favourite morsel, the eyes. The collected light from the
eaten eyes gave "Boitatá" its fiery gaze. Not really a
dragon but a giant snake (in the native language, "boa" or
"mboi" or "mboa").
In Argentina and Uruguay the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon
is known as luz mala (evil light) and is one of the most
important myths in both countries' folklore. This
phenomenon is quite feared and is mostly seen in rural
areas. It consists of an extremely shiny ball of light floating
a few inches from the ground.

In Colombia, La Candileja is the will-o'-the-wisp ghost of a

vicious grandmother who raised her grandchildren without
morals, and as such they became thieves and murderers.
In the afterlife the grandmother's spirit was condemned to
wander the world surrounded in flames.

In Trinidad and Tobago a Soucouyant is a "fireball witch"

that is literally a witch that takes on the form of a flame at
night. This spirit is, like the other versions, evil – it enters
homes through any gap it can find, and drinks the blood of
its victims.

Asia[edit]
See also: Chir Batti and Naga fireball

Aleya (or marsh ghost-light) is the name given to a

strange light phenomena occurring over the marshes as
observed by Bengalis, especially the fishermen
of Bangladesh and West Bengal. This marsh light is
attributed to some kind of marsh gas apparitions that
confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings, and
may even lead to drowning if one decided to follow them
moving over the marshes. Local communities in the region
believe that these strange hovering marsh-lights are in fact
Ghost-lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who
died fishing. Sometimes they confuse the fishermen, and
sometimes they help them avoid future dangers.[18][19]

A Japanese rendition of a Russian will-o'-the-wisp

Chir batti (ghost-light), also spelled chhir batti or cheer
batti, is a strange dancing light phenomenon occurring on
dark nights reported from the Banni grasslands, its
seasonal marshy wetlands[20] and the adjoining desert of
the marshy salt flats of the Rann of Kutch[21] near Indo-
Pakistani border in Kutch district, Gujarat State, India.
Local villagers have been seeing these sometimes
hovering, sometimes flying balls of lights since time
immemorial and call it Chir Batti in their Kutchhi–Sindhi
language, with Chir meaning ghost and Batti meaning
light.[20]

Other varieties (and sources) of ghost-lights appear in

folklore across of India, including the Kollivay Pey of
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the Kuliyande Choote of
Kerala, and many variants from different tribes in
Northeast India.[22]

Similar phenomena are described in Japanese folklore,

including Hitodama (literally "Human Soul" as a ball of
energy), Hi no Tama (Ball of Flame), Aburagae,
Koemonbi, Ushionibi, etc. All these phenomena are
described as balls of flame or light, at times associated
with graveyards, but occurring across Japan as a whole in
a wide variety of situations and locations. Kitsune,
mythical yokai demons, are also associated with will 'o the
wisp, with the marriage of two kitsune producing kitsune-bi
(狐火), literally meaning 'fox-fire'.[23] These phenomena are
described in Shigeru Mizuki's 1985 book Graphic World of
Japanese Phantoms (妖怪伝 in Japanese).[24]

In Korea, sightings of blue-white light at night are said to

have been quite commonly reported even up to the 1960s.
The lightballs were ususally seen flaming and hovering
over rice paddies, near old trees, in mountains or even in
some houses and were called 'dokkebi bul(Korean: 도깨비
불)', meaning 'goblin fire (or goblin light)' in folklore terms.
They were deemed malevolent and impish, as they
confused and lured passerbys to lose their way or fall into
pits at night.
China[edit]

Medieval Chinese polymath Sheng Gua may have

recorded such a phenomenon in the Book of Dreams,
stating, "In the middle of the reign of emperor Jia You, at
Yanzhou, in the Jiangsu province, an enormous pearl was
seen especially in gloomy weather. At first it appeared in
the marsh… and disappeared finally in the Xinkai Lake." It
was described as very bright, illuminating the surrounding
countryside and was a reliable phenomenon over ten
years, an elaborate Pearl Pavilion being built by local
inhabitants for those who wished to observe it.[25]

Europe[edit]
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See also: Supernatural beings in Slavic folklore

In European folklore, these lights are believed to be spirits

of the dead, fairies, or a variety of
other supernatural beings which attempt to lead travellers
to their demise. Sometimes the lights are believed to be
the spirits of un-baptized or stillborn children, flitting
between heaven and hell.

In Sweden, the will-o'-the-wisp represents the soul of

an unbaptized person "trying to lead travellers to water in
the hope of being baptized".[26][unreliable source?]

Danes, Finns, Swedes, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians,
and Irish people and amongst some other groups believed
that a will-o'-the-wisp also marked the location of a
treasure deep in ground or water, which could be taken
only when the fire was there. Sometimes magical tricks,
and even dead man's hand, were required as well, to
uncover the treasure. In Finland and several other
northern countries, it was believed that early autumn was
the best time to search for wills-o'-the-wisp and treasures
below them. It was believed that when someone hid
treasure, in the ground, he made the treasure available
only at the Saint John's Day, and set will-o'-the-wisp to
mark the exact place and time so that he could come to
take the treasure back. For then he could be fulfilled with
treasures.

The Aarnivalkea (also known
as virvatuli, aarretuli and aarreliekki), in Finnish
mythology, are spots where an eternal flame associated
with wills o' the wisp burns. They are claimed to mark the
places where faerie gold is buried. They are protected by
a glamour that would prevent anyone finding them by pure
chance. However, if one finds a fern seed from a mythical
flowering fern, the magical properties of that seed will lead
the fortunate person to these treasures, in addition to
providing one with a glamour of invisibility. Since in reality
the fern produces no flower and reproduces via spores
under the leaves, the myth specifies that it blooms only
extremely rarely.

Britain[edit]
See also: Puck (mythology)

Sculpture of a will-o'-the-wisp by Harriet Hosmer

The will-o'-the-wisp can be found in numerous folk tales

around the United Kingdom, and is often a malicious
character in the stories. In Welsh folklore, it is said that the
light is "fairy fire" held in the hand of a púca, or pwca, a
small goblin-like fairy that mischievously leads lone
travellers off the beaten path at night. As the traveller
follows the púca through the marsh or bog, the fire is
extinguished, leaving them lost. The púca is said to be one
of the Tylwyth Teg, or fairy family. In Wales the light
predicts a funeral that will take place soon in the
locality. Wirt Sikes in his book British Goblins mentions the
following Welsh tale about púca.

A peasant travelling home at dusk sees a bright light

travelling along ahead of him. Looking closer, he sees that
the light is a lantern held by a "dusky little figure", which he
follows for several miles. All of a sudden he finds himself
standing on the edge of a vast chasm with a roaring
torrent of water rushing below him. At that precise moment
the lantern-carrier leaps across the gap, lifts the light high
over its head, lets out a malicious laugh and blows out the
light, leaving the poor peasant a long way from home,
standing in pitch darkness at the edge of a precipice. This
is a fairly common cautionary tale concerning the
phenomenon; however, the ignis fatuus was not always
considered dangerous. There are some tales told about
the will-o'-the-wisp being guardians of treasure, much like
the Irish leprechaun leading those brave enough to follow
them to sure riches. Other stories tell of travellers getting
lost in the woodland and coming upon a will-o'-the-wisp,
and depending on how they treated the will-o'-the-wisp,
the spirit would either get them lost further in the woods or
guide them out.

Also related, the Pixy-light from Devon and Cornwall is

most often associated with the Pixie who often has "pixie-
led" travellers away from the safe and reliable route and
into the bogs with glowing lights. "Like Poltergeist they can
generate uncanny sounds. They were less serious than
their German Weiße Frauen kin, frequently blowing out
candles on unsuspecting courting couples or producing
obscene kissing sounds, which were always
misinterpreted by parents."[27] Pixy-Light was also
associated with "lambent light"[28] which the Old
Norse might have seen guarding their tombs. In Cornish
folklore, Pixy-Light also has associations with the Colt
pixie. "A colt pixie is a pixie that has taken the shape of a
horse and enjoys playing tricks such as neighing at the
other horses to lead them astray".[29][30] In Guernsey, the
light is known as the faeu boulanger (rolling fire), and is
believed to be a lost soul. On being confronted with the
spectre, tradition prescribes two remedies. The first is to
turn one's cap or coat inside out. This has the effect of
stopping the faeu boulanger in its tracks. The other
solution is to stick a knife into the ground, blade up. The
faeu, in an attempt to kill itself, will attack the blade.[31]

The will-o'-the-wisp was also known as the Spunkie in

the Scottish Highlands where it would take the form of
a linkboy (a boy who carried a flaming torch to light the
way for pedestrians in exchange for a fee), or else simply
a light that always seemed to recede, in order to lead
unwary travellers to their doom.[32] The spunkie has also
been blamed for shipwrecks at night after being spotted on
land and mistaken for a harbour light.[33] Other tales of
Scottish folklore regard these mysterious lights as omens
of death or the ghosts of once living human beings. They
often appeared over lochs[34] or on roads along which
funeral processions were known to travel.[35] A strange
light sometimes seen in the Hebrides is referred to as
the teine sith, or "fairy light", though there was no formal
connection between it and the fairy race.[36]

Oceania[edit]
See also: Min Min light

The Australian equivalent, known as the Min Min light is

reportedly seen in parts of the outback after dark.[37][38] The
majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in
the Channel Country region.[37]

Stories about the lights can be found in aboriginal myth

pre-dating western settlement of the region and have
since become part of wider Australian folklore.
[37]
 Indigenous Australians hold that the number of
sightings has increased alongside the increasing
ingression of Europeans into the region.[37] According
to folklore, the lights sometimes followed or approached
people and have disappeared when fired upon, only to
reappear later on.[37][38]

Natural explanations[edit]

Science proposes that will-o'-the-wisp phenomena (ignis

fatuus) are caused by
the oxidation of phosphine (PH3), diphosphane (P2H4), and
methane (CH4). These compounds, produced
by organic decay, can cause photon emissions. Since
phosphine and diphosphane mixtures spontaneously
ignite on contact with the oxygen in air, only small
quantities of it would be needed to ignite the much more
abundant methane to create ephemeral fires.
[39]
 Furthermore, phosphine produces phosphorus
pentoxide as a by-product, which forms phosphoric
acid upon contact with water vapor, which can explain
"viscous moisture" sometimes described as accompanying
ignis fatuus.
The idea of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomena being caused
by natural gases can be found as early as 1596, as
mentioned in the book Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking
by Night, And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie
forewarnings, which commonly happen before the death of
men: Great Slaughters, and alterations of
Kingdomes, by Ludwig Lavater, in the chapter titled "That
many naturall things are taken to be ghoasts":

Many times candles & small fires appeare in the night, and
seeme to runne up and downe... Sometime these fires goe
alone in the night season, and put such as see them, as
they travel by night, in great feare. But these things, and
many such lyke have their naturall causes... Natural
Philosophers write, that thicke exhilations aryse out of the
earth, and are kindled. Mynes full of sulphur and
brimstone, if the aire enter unto it, as it lyeth in the holes
and veines of the earth, will kindle on fier, and strive to get
out.[40]
In 1776, Alessandro Volta first proposed that natural
electrical phenomena (like lightning) interacting
with methane marsh gas may be the cause of ignis fatuus.
[41]
 This was supported by the British polymath Joseph
Priestley in his series of works Experiments and
Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1772–1790); and
by the French physicist Pierre Bertholon de Saint-
Lazare in De l’électricité des météores (1787).[42]

Early critics of the marsh gas hypothesis often dismissed it

on various grounds including the unlikeliness of
spontaneous combustion, the absence of warmth in some
observed ignis fatuus, the odd behavior of ignis fatuus
receding upon being approached, and the differing
accounts of ball lightning (which was also classified as a
kind of ignis fatuus).[42] An example of such criticism is the
following by the American anthropologist John G.
Owens in Folk-Lore from Buffalo Valley (1891):

This is a name that is sometimes applied to a

phenomenon perhaps more frequently called Jack-o'-the-
Lantern, or Will-o'-the-Wisp. It seems to be a ball of fire,
varying in size from that of a candle-flame to that of a
man's head. It is generally observed in damp, marshy
places, moving to and fro; but it has been known to stand
perfectly still and send off scintillations. As you approach
it, it will move on, keeping just beyond your reach; if you
retire, it will follow you. That these fireballs do occur, and
that they will repeat your motion, seems to be established,
but no satisfactory explanation has yet been offered that I
have heard. Those who are less superstitious say that it is
the ignition of the gases rising from the marsh. But how a
light produced from burning gas could have the form
described and move as described, advancing as you
advance, receding as you recede, and at other times
remaining stationary, without having any visible
connection with the earth, is not clear to me.[43]

However, the apparent retreat of ignis fatuus upon being

approached might be explained simply by the agitation of
the air by nearby moving objects, causing the gases to
disperse. This was observed in the very detailed accounts
of several close interactions with ignis fatuus published
earlier in 1832 by Major Louis Blesson after a series of
experiments in various localities where they were known
to occur.[44] Of note is his first encounter with ignis fatuus in
a marshland between a deep valley in the forest of
Gorbitz, Newmark, Germany. Blesson observed that the
water was covered by an iridescent film, and during day-
time, bubbles could be observed rising abundantly from
certain areas. At night, Blesson observed bluish-purple
flames in the same areas and concluded that it was
connected to the rising gas. He spent several days
investigating the phenomenon, finding to his dismay that
the flames retreated every time he tried to approach them.
He eventually succeeded and was able to confirm that the
lights were indeed caused by ignited gas. The British
scientist Charles Tomlinson in On Certain Low-Lying
Meteors (1893) describes Blesson's experiments as thus:

On visiting the spot at night, the sensitive flames retired as

the major advanced; but on standing quite still, they
returned, and he tried to light a piece of paper at them, but
the current of air produced by his breath kept them at too
great a distance. On turning away his head, and screening
his breath, he succeeded in setting fire to the paper. He
was also able to extinguish the flame by driving it before
him to a part of the ground where no gas was produced;
then applying a flame to the place whence the gas issued,
a kind of explosion was heard over eight or nine square
feet of the marsh; a red light was seen, which faded to a
blue flame about three feet high and this continued to burn
with an unsteady motion. As the morning dawned the
flames became pale and they seemed to approach nearer
and nearer to the earth, until at last they faded from sight.
[42]

Blesson also observed differences in the colour and heat

of the flames in different marshes. The ignis fatuus in
Malapane, Upper Silesia (now Ozimek, Poland) could be
ignited and extinguished, but were unable to burn pieces
of paper or wood shavings. Similarly, the ignis fatuus in
another forest in Poland coated pieces of paper and wood
shavings with an oily viscous fluid instead of burning them.
Blesson also accidentally created ignis fatuus in the
marshes of Porta Westfalica, Germany, while
launching fireworks.[42][44]

One attempt to replicate ignis fatuus under laboratory

conditions was in 1980 by British geologist Alan A. Mills
of Leicester University. Though he did succeed in creating
a cool glowing cloud by mixing crude phosphine and
natural gas, the color of the light was green and it
produced copious amounts of acrid smoke. This was
contrary to most eyewitness accounts of ignis fatuus.[45]
[46]
 As an alternative, Mills proposed in 2000 that ignis
fatuus may instead be cold flames.[45][47] These are
luminescent pre-combustion halos that occur when
various compounds are heated to just below ignition point.
Cold flames are indeed typically bluish in color and as
their name suggests, they generate very little heat. Cold
flames occur in a wide variety of compounds,
including hydrocarbons (including
methane), alcohols, aldehydes, oils, acids, and
even waxes. However it is unknown if cold flames occur
naturally, though a lot of compounds which exhibit cold
flames are the natural byproducts of organic decay.[45][48]

A related hypothesis involves the

natural chemiluminescence of phosphine. In 2008, the
Italian chemists Luigi Garlaschelli and Paolo Boschetti
attempted to recreate Mills' experiments. They
successfully created a faint cool light by mixing phosphine
with air and nitrogen. Though the glow was still greenish in
colour, Garlaschelli and Boschetti noted that under low-
light conditions, the human eye cannot easily distinguish
between colours. Furthermore, by adjusting the
concentrations of the gases and the environmental
conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.), it was possible to
eliminate the smoke and smell, or at least render it to
undetectable levels. Garlaschelli and Boschetti also
agreed with Mills that cold flames may also be a plausible
explanation for other instances of ignis fatuus.[47]
In 1993, professors Derr and Persinger proposed that
some ignis fatuus may be geologic in
origin, piezoelectrically generated under tectonic strain.
The strains that move faults would also heat up the rocks,
vaporizing the water in them. Rock or soil containing
something piezoelectric, like quartz, silicon, or arsenic,
may also produce electricity, channelled up to the surface
through the soil via a column of vaporized water, there
somehow appearing as earth lights. This would explain
why the lights appear electrical, erratic, or even intelligent
in their behaviour.[49][50]

Glowing firefly (Lampyris noctiluca)

Panelluses stipticus, Mt. Vernon, Wisconsin (long
exposure)

The will-o'-the-wisp phenomena may occur due to

the bioluminescence of various forest dwelling micro-
organisms and insects. The eerie glow emitted from
certain fungal species, such as the honey fungus, during
chemical reactions to form white rot could be mistaken for
the mysterious will-o'-the-wisp or foxfire lights. There are
many other bioluminescent organisms that could create
the illusions of fairy lights, such as fireflies. Light reflecting
off larger forest dwelling creatures could explain the
phenomenon of will-o'-the-wisp moving and reacting to
other lights. The white plumage of Barn owls may reflect
enough light from the moon to appear as a will-o'-the-wisp;
hence the possibility of the lights moving, reacting to other
lights, etc.[51]
Ignis fatuus sightings are rarely reported today. The
decline is believed to be the result of the draining and
reclamation of swamplands in recent centuries, such as
the formerly vast Fenlands of eastern England which have
now been converted to farmlands.[46]

In culture[edit]
Literature[edit]

In literature, will-o'-the-wisp sometimes has a metaphorical

meaning, describing a hope or goal that leads one on but
is impossible to reach, or something one finds sinister and
confounding.[3] In Book IX of John Milton's Paradise Lost,
lines 631–642, Satan is compared to a will-o-the-wisp
when he leads Eve to the Tree of Knowledge of good and
evil.[52]

[As] a flame,
Which oft, they say, some evil Spirit attends,
Hovering and blazing with delusive light,
Misleads the amazed night-wanderer from his way
To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool;
There swallowed up and lost, from succour far.
—9.631-642

Two Wills-o-the-wisp appear in Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe's fairy tale The Green Snake and the Beautiful
Lily (1795). They are described as lights which consume
gold and are capable of shaking gold pieces again from
themselves.[53]

Emily Dickinson's "Those — dying then," a poem about

the absence of God and the abdication of belief, closes
with the lines "Better an ignis fatuus / Than no illume at all
—".[54]

It is seen in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre when Jane Eyre

is unsure if it is a candle or a Will-o-the-wisp.

"Mother Carey" wrote a popular 19th-century poem titled

"Will-O'-The-Wisp".[55]
The Will o' the wisp makes an appearance in the first
chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula, as the Count,
masquerading as his own coach driver, takes Jonathan
Harker to his castle in the night. The following night, when
Harker asks Dracula about the lights, the Count makes
reference to a common folk belief about the phenomenon
by saying that they mark where treasure is buried.[56]

In Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876), the

term is part of the description of the Snark: "The first is the
taste, // Which is meagre and hollow, but crisp: // Like a
coat that is rather too tight in the waist, // With a flavour of
Will-o’-the-wisp."

"Will o' the wisp" was the anonymous author of Paper

Lantern for Puseyites, published in 1843 by Smith, Elder &
Co., London. In that anti-Tractarian skit, the hero, the Rev.
Hilary Oriel, writes an account to his friend Clement Loyola
of his proposed alterations in his church.
In J. R. R. Tolkien's work The Lord of the Rings, wills o'
the wisp are present in the Dead Marshes outside of
Mordor. When Frodo Baggins and Samwise
Gamgee make their way through the bogs the spindly
creature Gollum tells them "not to follow the lights",
meaning the wills o' the wisp. He tells them that if they do,
they will "keep the dead company" and "have little candles
of their own".[57]

The hinkypunk, the name for a will o' the wisp in South
West England has achieved fame as a magical
beast in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. In the books, a
hinkypunk is a one-legged, frail-looking creature that
appears to be made of smoke. It is said to carry a lantern
and mislead travellers.[58]

The children's fantasy series The Spiderwick Chronicles,

by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, includes wills o'the
wisp; they are listed in "Arthur Spiderwick's Guide to the
Fantastical World Around You." In the series, wills o' the
wisp are described as fat fireflies that lead travellers
astray.

The German fantasy novel by Michael Ende The

Neverending Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte
1979 and Ralph Manheim's English translation 1983)
begins in Fantastica, when a will-o'-the-wisp goes to ask
the Childlike Empress for help against the Nothing, which
is spreading over the land. The film based on the book
does not contain the Will -o'-the-wisp.

Civil War Confederate soldier and author Sam

Watkins writes in his war memoir, "Co. Aytch", about
witnessing "jack-o-lanterns (ignis fatui)" while standing
watch late in the night near Corinth, Mississippi in early
October 1862.[59]

American historian and historical novelist Frances Fuller

Victor ends her poem "A Letter" with—
We tread on thorns where we saw only roses,
And find an ignis fatuus in a star.

Music[edit]

In classical music, one of Franz Liszt's most challenging

piano studies (the Transcendental Etude No. 5), known for
its flighty and mysterious quality, bears the title "Feux
Follets" (the French term for Will-o'-the-wisp). The
phenomenon also appears in "Canción del fuego fatuo"
('Song of the will-o'-the-wisp') in Manuel de Falla's ballet El
amor brujo,[60] later covered by Miles Davis as "Will-O'-
The-Wisp" on Sketches Of Spain. The German name of
the phenomenon, Irrlicht, has been the name of a song by
the classical composer Franz Schubert in his song
cycle Winterreise. Additionally, the first solo album of
electronic musician Klaus Schulze is named Irrlicht. Part 3,
Scene 12 of Hector Berlioz' "The Damnation of Faust" is
entitled "Menuet des follets" - "Minuet of the Wills-o'-the-
Wisp". Finally, the second piece in Edward
MacDowell's Woodland Sketches is titled "Will-o-the-Wisp"
and reflects other composer's portrayal of the phenomena
as mysterious.[61]

The 2016 album Sorceress by Swedish band Opeth,

contains the track "Will O The Wisp", using the term 'wisp'
as a short form of whispering.

Several bands have written songs about or referring to

wills-o'-the-wisp, such as K-pop girl groups Aespa and Le
Sserafim with their respective songs "Illusion" and "Blue
Flame", Magnolia Electric Co.,[62] Verdunkeln, Leon
Russell and Steve Howe. The will-o'-the-wisp is also
referred to during the song "Maria" in The Sound of Music.
[63]

"Will-o-the-wisp" is the opening track on the Pet Shop

Boys 2020 album "Hotspot", in which the narrator (Neil
Tennant) describes visions of a phantom lover from the
past riding on an elevated train overhead.
Visual media[edit]

Will-o'-the-wisp phenomena have appeared in numerous

computer games (such as Ori and the Will of the
Wisps, Castlevania, Runescape, Ultima, EverQuest,
the Quest for Glory series, Warcraft series and the Elder
Scrolls series) and tabletop games (including Dungeons &
Dragons, Magic: The Gathering and Small World
Underground), frequently with reference to folklore of the
phenomena misleading or harming travellers. The Final
Fantasy series also pays tribute to the tradition of a will-o'-
the-wisp being a lantern-carrying individual, with
the Tonberry creature. The Will o the Wisp is also a
monster in Chrono Cross that either moves away from the
character as they approach or follows them when they
walk away. It is seen in areas relating to the dead. In
the Pokémon game series, the Fire-type move "Will-O-
Wisp", introduced in Generation III, can inflict a burn on
the opponent and is often learned by Ghost types. The
character of Wisp from the Animal Crossing series is also
named after the Will-o'-the-Wisp and references the
phenomenon by being a ghost. In the Mana series, Wisp
is one of the eight Mana spirits, representing the element
of light. In Secret of Evermore, a spin-off of
the Mana series, Wills-o'-the-Wisp are small flame
enemies located in a swamp area that move erratically
toward the player.

In television, Willo the Wisp appeared as a short cartoon

series on BBC TV in the 1980s, voiced by Kenneth
Williams.

In Lost Girl season one episode two, Bo and Kenzi meet a

Will of the wisp who appears as a shaggy hobo and uses
blue fire (foxfire) to confuse trespassers in his forest
home.

"Will O' The Wisp" is also the name of the 13th episode in

season one of Disney channel's So Weird in which one of
the main characters, Jack, is possessed by a will-o'-the-
wisp while visiting the ghost lights festival in Marfa, Texas.
The Disney/Pixar short Mater and the Ghostlight features
a Will-o'-the-wisp aptly named "the Ghostlight", described
as a glowing orb of blue light.

Wills-o'-the-wisp play a prominent role in

the Disney/Pixar film Brave. In a break from the usual
characterization, these wills-o'-the-wisp appear benevolent
or at least neutral in nature. They are hinted to be spirits of
the dead, who aid the living by leading them towards their
destinies.

Will-o'-the-wisp (renamed to Isaribi) is also the name of

the reddish ship owned by Tekadan in the Japanese
anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.