Introduction

This Guide to Little People is intended to be a comprehensive encyclopedia of all of the different breeds of Little People and how they are represented in traditional folklore and mythology. It is a long way from being as comprehensive and informative as I would like.

When I first began this project, I assumed that other people had probably done this before me, and that my job would be as simple as compiling a list of links to other people's work, organized by type of little person. Well, life is never as simple as we hope it will be. Although there are numerous other sites on the web about little people, I have been rather surprised to see that, first, no one has made a guide to all little people, and second, how little most sites are based on the traditional folklore--many are based on later fantasy, science fiction, gaming, and literary traditions. Some of these sites are quite good--I have included links to many of them. But I was hoping for the more traditional approach.

So I have done my research (well, some of it--I hope to add more information and many more stories to the Guide as time goes on), and here is, I hope, a decent Guide to Little People, as they appear in folklore throughout the world.