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Mythology & Folklore
Gods, Heroes & Monsters
The pantheons and legends still hiding in everyday language.
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In Greek mythology, who is the king of the gods?
Tricksters and Shape-Shifters
Nearly every folklore has one: the figure who is neither hero nor villain and who wins by being cleverer than everyone else.
About this topic
The trickster is one of the most widely distributed figures in world folklore, and one of the least tidy. He is rarely a straightforward villain and almost never a hero. He breaks rules, changes shape, tells lies that turn out to be useful, and frequently suffers for it. Loki helps the Norse gods as often as he harms them. Coyote can create the world in one story and be humiliated by a rock in the next. What these figures share is a function rather than a personality. They test boundaries that everyone else takes for granted, and stories about them are usually funny, which is part of how they travel. Br'er Rabbit descends from West and Central African hare and spider tales carried across the Atlantic. Reynard the fox mocked medieval courts so effectively that the French word for fox changed to match his name.
Questions & answers
Tricksters and Shape-Shifters: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1Which Norse figure is a trickster, sometimes helping the gods and sometimes working against them?
- A Freyr
- B Loki Correct
- C Heimdall
- D Tyr
Answer: B. Loki
Why: He changes shape repeatedly in the stories, including into a mare and a salmon. Modern retellings make him far more consistently villainous than the medieval sources do.
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2In many Native American traditions of the western United States, which animal is the classic trickster?
- A Coyote Correct
- B Bison
- C Elk
- D Beaver
Answer: A. Coyote
Why: Stories about him range from creation accounts to broad comedy at his own expense. Raven fills a comparable role along the north-west coast and in the Arctic.
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3Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a central figure of which Chinese novel?
- A Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- B Dream of the Red Chamber
- C Water Margin
- D Journey to the West Correct
Answer: D. Journey to the West
Why: The novel dates from the sixteenth century and is loosely based on a real pilgrimage to India. Sun Wukong is credited with seventy-two transformations.
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4Maui, said to have fished up islands and slowed the sun, belongs to the traditions of which region?
- A The Andes
- B Siberia
- C Polynesia Correct
- D West Africa
Answer: C. Polynesia
Why: Versions of his story are told in Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti and Tonga, each with different details. He is usually described as a demigod rather than a god.
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5Which Greek god was associated with messages, boundaries, travellers and thieves?
- A Hephaestus
- B Hermes Correct
- C Apollo
- D Ares
Answer: B. Hermes
Why: One story has him stealing Apollo's cattle on the day he was born. He also had the job of guiding the dead to the underworld.
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6In European folklore, what is a werewolf?
- A A person who changes into a wolf Correct
- B A person raised from infancy by wolves
- C A wolf that can speak human language
- D A hunter cursed never to sleep
Answer: A. A person who changes into a wolf
Why: The link to the full moon is largely a modern addition from film and fiction. Trials for supposed werewolves ran alongside witch trials in parts of early modern Europe.
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7In the Br'er Rabbit stories, how does the rabbit usually win?
- A By fighting them directly
- B By calling on a god for help
- C By outrunning every pursuer
- D By outwitting larger and stronger animals Correct
Answer: D. By outwitting larger and stronger animals
Why: The tales descend from West and Central African hare and spider stories carried across the Atlantic. The tar-baby episode is the best known of them.
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8In Yoruba tradition, which figure is a messenger and trickster associated with crossroads?
- A Ogun
- B Oshun
- C Eshu Correct
- D Shango
Answer: C. Eshu
Why: Offerings are often made to him first so that other messages get through. Related figures appear in Cuban and Brazilian traditions descended from Yoruba religion.
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9Reynard, the cunning central figure of a cycle of medieval European tales, is which animal?
- A A hare
- B A fox Correct
- C A wolf
- D A crow
Answer: B. A fox
Why: The stories satirised medieval courts and clergy. The tales were popular enough that the French word for fox, renard, displaced the older goupil.
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10In Slavic folklore, which figure lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs?
- A Baba Yaga Correct
- B Rusalka
- C Domovoi
- D Vodyanoy
Answer: A. Baba Yaga
Why: She helps some visitors and destroys others, depending largely on how they behave towards her. The hut is often described as turning to face the forest.
Read alongside this quiz
Why the same stories keep appearing
Floods, tricksters and dying gods turn up across unconnected cultures. Three explanations, and how to tell which applies.
6 min readFrequently Asked Questions
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