Talk:Imp

Edit

I am adding links on this part. I noticed it had zero and felt like someone added it hastily.

• In the Georgina Kincaid book series written by Richelle Mead, the main character, Georgina, is a succubus who's best friend is an imp.

--D3t3ctiv3 (talk) 01:50, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Scratch that,Im deteting this part.I just read it and searched.It adds nothing to the article.--D3t3ctiv3 (talk) 01:52, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

The pictures in "Imp" and "familiar" are the same - the woman feeding them... just sayin'. Sorry if I don't do this right... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.225.0.154 (talk) 13:16, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

There's no contradiction. They are imps that acts as familiars. An imp is a type of creature, though it's rather vaguely defined for obvious reasons (i.e. they don't exist). A familiar is a supernatural being that serves as an attendant to someone. Compare it to a police dog; its picture could be both in the "dog" and "police" articles. One is what it is, the other is what it does. - Alltat (talk) 09:05, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Etymology

The adjective corresponding to "imp" is "impish," not "impious." Impious means "not pious," i.e., lacking reverence. See Wiktionary for definitions: Impious - [1]; Imp - [2]. --209.6.179.179 15:54, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism???

quote: Imps are known to take over the world. With Ernie that is..

References

Imps are the least evil of all demons, described as dark, shadowy creatures...

--Where did that come from? Where did the imps originate, and what legends dipict them in this way? Colonel Marksman 21:56, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

It looks like an "expert" on imps wrote this and appears as a dominate editor or something of the nature. Instead of saying, "Imps are ...." it should read, "German mythology of the [1400's] depicted imps as..." Needs a bit of clean-up. Colonel Marksman 21:59, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Could someone please add the definition of imp and it's place of origin? I know, for example, that "imp" refers to a grafted tree. Someone with a copy of the OED or a similar dictionary could probably give an accurate etymology. 67.167.26.239 04:38, 19 January 2007 (UTC) Chris G.

"Some accounts of imps treat them as capable of being turned to good, because they are so desperately lonely they would do almost anything — even commit good deeds — to have a committed friend; however, it is regarded as almost impossible for any imp to fully forsake its "impish" ways." - Who, in God's name, let their nine-year old children near the computer? This sentence has nothing to do with mythology, historic references or descriptive matter whatsoever. Someone should change it ASAP. Oganj (talk) 20:54, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Imps as spirit familiars

Added a little info on that. According to some research "imps" were what people called spirits in service of witches and warlocks in ancient history. Basically small demons under the service of magicians.

I'm suprised that this article left out the fact that imps were considered to be familiar spirits that served witches since, I believe, the middle ages. Another myth states that imps were sometimes kept inside artifacts such as gemstone pieces or vials and summoned for service by magic workers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.20.166.211 (talk • contribs)

"Imp" redirects here??

Dude, Imp doesn't redirect here, It is here. I don't know tags well or anything (I mostly fix grammar) but there has to just be a disambiguation link tag.

I'm guessing that message was added, and then later the page was moved.--MDude 03:33, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Hogwash

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary the original meaning of "imp" is "young shoot, graft", which came to be used for "child, offspring" in the 14th century. From common use in phrases like "imp of Satan" – that is, child of Satan – it got its modern meaning of "little devil" in the late 16th century.[3] If that is correct (and I have no reason to doubt it), the claims in the Folklore section about the Imp originating from Germanic Folklore are hogwash, and the whole section is basically OR.  --Lambiam 17:20, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Capitalization tag?

I only saw one capitalization error in the Folklore section, although I fixed all other grammatical errors I saw. Leaving the capitalization tag up in case someone meant something else. If so, please tell me. Catspjs01 (talk) 06:05, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

"Originating from Germanic folklore"

Could we please have sources on this?

There is no common term in modern German widely used for this kind of creature.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.39.112.174 (talk) 14:32, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Imp vs. Kobold

I came here because I was trying to understand what the English term Imp refers to, but there is no link to a German Wiki page. It sounds as if this would be in line with the German Kobold. But Kobold has its own article in the English Wiki. So could anyone who is better in understanding of English and mythology than me please just check if these articles are overlapping? TribbleFun (talk) 08:28, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Shapeshifting

Are imps in mythology able to shapeshift into animals? 71.58.181.194 (talk) 05:19, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Possession

Can imps possess people? 107.2.58.192 (talk) 01:28, 29 May 2023 (UTC)