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"Amine Discovered with the

Goule", from the story of Sidi

Nouman, of the Arabian

Nights.

GhoulFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aghoul is a folkloric monster associated withgraveyards and consuming human flesh, oftenclassified as undead. The oldest survivingliterature that mention ghouls is likely OneThousand and One Nights. The term is firstattested in English in 1786, in William Beckford's

Orientalist novel Vathek,[1]

which describes theghl of Arabian folklore.

By extension, the word ghoul is also usedderogatorily to refer to a person who delights inthe macabre.

Contents

1 Early etymology2 In Arabian folklore3 Other influences4 In popular culture5 References

Early etymology

Ghoul is from the Arabic ghul, from ghala 'to seize'.[2]

Marc Cramer and othersbelieve the term to be etymologically related to Gallu, a Mesopotamian demon.[3][4]

In Arabian folklore

In ancient Arabian folklore, the ghl (Arabic: , literally demon)[5]

dwells in

burial grounds and other uninhabited places. The ghul is a devilish type of jinnbelieved to be sired by Iblis.

[6]

The Arabian ghoul is a desert-dwelling, shape shifting demon that can assumethe guise of an animal, especially a hyena. It lures unwary travellers into thedesert wastes to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young

children, robs graves, drinks blood, steals coins and eats the dead,[5] taking on

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the form of the one they previously ate.

In the Arabic language, the female form is given as ghouleh[7] and the plural isghilan. In colloquial Arabic, the term is sometimes used to describe a greedyand/or gluttonous individual.

Other influences

The star Algol takes its name from the definite Arabic term , "al-ghl", "the

ghoul".[8]

In popular culture

Main article: Ghouls in popular culture

References^ "Ghoul Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Ghoul"

(http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ghoul.html) . Encyclopedia.com.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ghoul.html. Retrieved 2011-03-23.

1.

^ "Online Etymology Dictionary" (http://www.etymonline.com

/index.php?search=ghala&searchmode=none) . Etymonline.com.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=ghala&searchmode=none. Retrieved

2011-03-23.

2.

^ Marc Cramer. The devil within (http://books.google.com/books?id=fdB-AAAAMAAJ&

q=ghoul+galla+sumerian&dq=ghoul+galla+sumerian&hl=en&

ei=8erITIzSMIG8lQfnmpXoAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw) . W. H. Allen, 1979. ISBN 0491023669, 9780491023665

3.

^ "Cultural Analysis, Volume 8, 2009: The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture / Ahmed

Al-Rawi" (http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~caforum/volume8/vol8_article3.html) .

Socrates.berkeley.edu. http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~caforum/volume8

/vol8_article3.html. Retrieved 2011-03-23.

4.

^ ab ""ghoul"" (http://webster.com/dictionary/ghoul) . Merriam-Webster Online

Dictionary. http://webster.com/dictionary/ghoul. Retrieved January 22, 2006.

5.

^ ""ghoul"" (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9036705?query=Ghoul&ct=eb) .

Encyclopdia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-

9036705?query=Ghoul&ct=eb. Retrieved January 22, 2006.

6.

^ *Muhawi, Ibrahim, and Sharif Kanaana. Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab

Folktales. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1988

7.

^ Jim Kaler (Prof. Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois). "Algol"

(http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/algol.html) . STARS. http://www.astro.uiuc.edu

/~kaler/sow/algol.html. Retrieved February 18, 2006.

8.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul"Categories: Arabic words and phrases | Corporeal undead | Arabian legendary

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creatures | Persian legendary creatures

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