The Spiderwick Chronicles
Encyclopedia
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's books by Tony DiTerlizzi
and Holly Black
. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies
that they never knew existed.
The Field Guide was first published in 2003 and followed by four more novels, along with several companion books. A second series, entitled Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, has also been written, with The Nixie's Song published in September 2007, A Giant Problem published in September 2008, and The Wyrm King published in September 2009.
A feature film adaptation, also titled The Spiderwick Chronicles
, was produced by Nickelodeon Movies
and premiered on February 14, 2008; an accompanying video game
was released in early February.
where nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon and their thirteen-year-old sister Mallory move to the decrepit Spiderwick Estate with their mother, Helen. They discover a secret library hidden in the house, and later discover Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You in a chest in the attic, providing them with information on Faeries. A brownie
named Thimbletack is introduced and Jared is blamed for some mischief that occurs because of the Faerie's actions
by a group of invisible
goblins. Thimbletack guides Jared to a "seeing stone
" created by his great-uncle which gives him the ability to see faeries, called the Sight. Mallory and Jared go searching for Simon, narrowly escaping capture, and find the goblin camp. While rescuing Simon, they meet a hobgoblin
named Hogsqueal who convinces them to help him escape in exchange for his help in rescuing Simon. Hogsqueal then spits in their eyes, giving them the Sight permanently. After rescuing Simon, they flee and lead the goblins to a troll
, where the goblins meet their deaths. They rescue the rest of the goblin's victims and take an injured griffin
back to their house.
. When they speak to her, they learn more about the world of faerie creatures, the Field Guide, and its author, Arthur Spiderwick, who was Aunt Lucinda's father. Arthur had disappeared when Lucinda was still a little girl and the Grace children later find out where he disappeared to when they stumble upon a forest of elves
. On their journey they meet Stray-Sods, grass that can move, and a Phooka
, a strange creature that talks only in riddles. Jared is captured by the elves, but tricks them by saying he is "Simon" and they promise to keep "Simon" there until they bring the Guide. Jared says he isn't "Simon" but Jared, and they let him out but only by promising them that they will bring the Field Guide to them when it is found.
contest at school. During the contest, Jared finds a boy identical to him going through Mallory's bag. He transforms into a smaller kid when Jared attempts to scare him with his knife. When Jared and Simon discover that Mallory has disappeared, they search for her in an abandoned quarry
, but wind up being kept prisoner by dwarves. Mallory is revealed to be sleeping in a glass-coffin dressed in medieval garb (similarly to Snow White
), with the dwarves saying she is now immortal, so long as she stays in the coffin. Escaping their cage, the twins free Mallory and meet a strange creature, called a Knocker
, who tells them the way out by listening to the stones. They next see a huge metal tree, made by the dwarves, the Ironwood Tree. After a narrow escape from the dwarves' mechanical dogs, they make their way out of the tunnel but have to hide before leaving. They secretly watch Mulgarath, a hideous ogre
who wants to rule the world
, callously order the death of the dwarves for having been tricked into not getting the Field Guide from Jared. The dwarves are mauled to death by the goblins and Mulgarath reveals that he had the Guide the whole time. The siblings escape just after Mulgarath leaves with his goblins and the weapons made by the dwarves
being. Nevertheless she and her brothers defeat the goblins and discover Mulgarath's plan. The ogre has learned from the Field Guide that fresh cows' milk makes young dragon
s rapidly mature. He has stolen a number of cows and is using them to breed an army of dragons with which he plans to conquer the world. Byron, the griffin, successfully vanquishes the mother dragon and Simon kills the young ones. Infiltrating the palace, they find their mother and father tied up. They release their father, but discover that he is actually Mulgarath in disguise. Jared has Thimbletack wrap chains around Simon and Mallory. The ogre brags of his plan and reveals that the Field Guide is underneath his throne, and Jared mockingly tells Mulgarath that he and his siblings have killed all the dragons. In a rage
, Mulgarath flings Simon and Mallory out of the window but Thimbletack's chains hold, and they don't fall far. Jared stabs Mulgarath in the foot with Mallory's sword, then knocks him out of the window. Mulgarath falls, transforms into a swallow
and is eaten by Hogsqueal.
The children return home, where they meet Arthur Spiderwick, who had been living with the elves and so had not aged. He and his daughter Lucinda, now an old woman, share a poignant goodbye, and he turns to dust. With Mulgarath defeated, the Grace family is presumably now free to live happily ever after.
, where 11-year-old Nick Vargas lives with his brother, Jules, his weird stepsister, Laurie, his father, Paul, and his stepmother, Charlene, in his father's housing development. Laurie has read the Spiderwick Chronicles and believes in faeries. Nick thinks she is "lame" and wishes she would leave him alone. After finding a four-leafed clover (which allows people to see faeries) he sees a nix
ie unconscious in his yard, which he and Laurie carry into a nearby artificial pond.
In the following day, the Nixie, named Talya, gives Nick and Laurie the Sight and sends them to find her six sisters, who were separated when their pond was destroyed. They leave after a faerie named bobby fills Nick's father's car with sand to look for Talya's sisters at her old pond. They find the pond dried, the surrounding forest burnt and the bodies of three of the nixies, accidentally waking up a giant
, which they mistook for a hill. They flee from the giant, who becomes hypnotized and calm when it hears Talya's singing.
The children decide to ask the authors of The Spiderwick Chronicles themselves for advice at a book signing, convincing Jules to drive them. Once there, they are disappointed when Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black don't believe them, but they then run into Jared and Simon Grace, who offer to help them gather useful information. Jared tells them about a giant expert who lived nearby and they plan to meet at his address. The place appears to be deserted, and after a quick incident with will-o'-the-wisps
, the kids take several papers including a diagram of a giant trap. While the giant is hypnotized by the nixie's song, the three kids use a rope to tie the giant's foot to its neck. It thrashes around, strangling itself with the cords, leaving the kids horrified at what they've done. When the giant stops moving, an old man called Noseeum Jack ("Noseeum" due to his poor eyesight, and "Jack" being a reference to the story of Jack the Giant-Killer
) approaches, revealing to be the son of the giant expert who met Arthur Spiderwick, and a giant slayer himself, killing the giant definitely. He explains that the giants sleep for 500 years at a time and all wake up at once, bringing panic and destruction to anywhere they go, and that soon all of Florida's giants would be waking up.
The next day they find a small faerie (who Nick has seen days before) playing with a message that Taloa had left for them, saying she had gone look for her surviving sisters alone. They catch the little faerie, whom Laurie names Sandspur and assumes to be a hobgoblin
, based on the Field Guide. Later that day, two giants start fighting near their house. They escape with Jules, who can see the giants, but most of the development is destroyed. They go to Jack's house for help, but instead meet Jack's son (simply called Jack Junior), who tells them that he's taking his father to live with him and his wife. Noseeum Jack apologizes to Nick for not helping them and tells him he kept something for them in his backyard, which Nick doesn't even bother to investigate.
That night, the family stays at a hotel where they try to come up with a plan and Jules shows Sandspur to his girlfriend, Cindy. Based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Nick thinks about the possibility of asking the merfolk
to lure the giants to the sea, since they seem to be hypnotized by a nixie's singing. The kids sneak out to the beach, where they find that the mermaids hate land-dwellers and kidnap Jules, promising to let him go and sing the giants to the sea if the kids bring them a fish that has never been in their sea. They steal a tropical fish from Cindy's father's aquarium and race back to the beach. The mermaids are amazed that they completed the task and return Jules. Keeping their promise but intending to trick the humans, the mermaids sing for only a little while and to no effect before disappearing. However, Nick manages to tape their song in a tape recorder, which they intend to use to lure the giants themselves.
After getting Nick's model Viking ship from the hotel, they drive around a route provided by Sandspur of where the giants are, playing the mermaids' song. The giants follow the sound to the sea
, where Nick drops the little boat (with the tape recorder) into the ocean. The giants follow it out to sea and the kids go back to the hotel where they find the Grace kids waiting for them with the news that the giants woke up all at the same time because they were there to kill something even worse.
, shown as a group of intertwined wyrm dragons, to the legend
of the Rat King.
Finally going to Jack's backyard, Nick and Laurie find what Jack had meant to give them: a small pool filled with lime and muck with Taloa and two of her sisters, Ooki and Ibi, whom Jack had captured some days earlier. Meanwhile, Mallory goes into the sinkhole to investigate, but finds herself unable to breathe and surrounded by the small snake-like dragons. They manage to get her out and put three of the creatures in a jar. They figure that the creatures produce methane
, which makes the air around them unbreathable, and realize that these were the creatures that the giants ate in order to breathe fire
(which they originally believed to be salamanders
).
Seeing how fast the dragons can grow after feeding them a chunk of pizza, the children all drive to the beach in order to get the giants back to land so they can kill the dragons. Although reluctant at first, the three nixies agree to use their singing to lure the giants, and one of them is taken to the water with Nick and Jared in a surfboard (because since nixies are used to freshwater, salt water hurts their skin). Before they can accomplish this, however, Nick is taken underwater by the merfolk, who tell him how they're glad that the land-dwellers are doomed and give him a magical
cap in the process that allows him to breathe underwater. The nixies manage to get some of the giants to follow them to land, where they immediately start eating the small reptiles and fighting each other again. As the children drive away from the giants, their car falls into a sinkhole and only after some time do they manage to get out. A giant then attacks them, being saved by the showing up of Jack Junior, who suddenly decided to listen to his father and come help the children kill the giants (being surprised when they reveal him that killing giants is no longer their plan).
After dropping the nixies in a nearby pond (their reward for having sang to the giants), Jules, Laurie and Nick pass by Cindy's house and notice a large sinkhole close to it. When they go to warn Cindy and her parents, Laurie and Sandspur fall into the growing sinkhole and a tree falls on Jules's legs when attempting to rescue her. When Nick tries to help Laurie get out of the sinkhole, he finds that she still hadn't died from the methane exhaled by the dragons because Sandspur (who had grown to a huge size, revealing himself to be a spriggan
) had been eating them, proceeding to eat Nick whole and only regurgitating
him when Laurie drops rocks into the creature's mouth to make him sick. Nick and Laurie get out of the sinkhole and go back to meet Jack Jr. and the Grace kids, leaving Jules at Cindy's house waiting for an ambulance (being followed back by Sandspur, back in his small size, like nothing had happened).
Noticing that all sinkholes are connected, they come to the conclusion that the biggest hydra must be in the center, laying the eggs that hatch into the smaller hydras who wander through the tunnels. They notice that the giants are all going to meet that alpha hydra, and Jack Junior leaves to go kill it, followed by the children. There, they meet the giant multi-headed dragon, who had already started to kill the giants that had gathered to fight it. After hurting Jack Junior and the Grace kids, Nick has an idea and realizes it's up to him to save the day. Using the cap given to him by the merfolk so he could safely breathe, he goes into one of the tunnels with Jack's machete
so to meet the hydra from below. When he gets there, instead of trying to kill the beast, he cuts the substance that keeps all the dragons together, thus making them separate from each other and easier for the giants to kill.
At the hospital, all the children get their injuries treated, Jules gets back with Cindy, Jack calls his father to tell him what happened, the Grace kids meet their father there and the Vargas family decides to all stay together. The Spiderwick Saga ends with the Vargas going home, being watched by a silent giant in the distance.
Note: The authors are hoping to continue the first five and stop the ending three.
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles:
Hogsqueal spits in their eyes, and the Vargas kids receive it when they are held under the water that a nixie had been soaking in.
They are portrayed as living many years, so many of the faeries encountered by the main characters also met Arthur Spiderwick and other long-dead humans in the past, without having aged. The species of faries in the series are mainly taken from European mythology
and folklore
and Medieval bestiaries
, including brownies, goblin
s, dragon
s, sprites
, and elves
, among many others.
The Spiderwick Chronicles:
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles:
and Nickelodeon Movies
on February 14, 2008 . Directed by Mark Waters, it starred Freddie Highmore
, Sarah Bolger
, Martin Short
, Nick Nolte
, and Seth Rogen
. It followed the basic overall plot of the five novels in the Spiderwick Chronicles series, but left out the majority of the plot from the fourth book and contained several major differences.
The Spiderwick Chronicles was cast by veteran Hollywood casting director Marci Liroff
.
Tony DiTerlizzi
Tony M. DiTerlizzi is an American fantasy artist, children's book creator, and motion picture producer.DiTerlizzi created The Spiderwick Chronicles series with Holly Black, and was an executive producer on the 2008 film adaptation of the series. He won a Caldecott Honor Medal for his adaptation of...
and Holly Black
Holly Black
Holly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
that they never knew existed.
The Field Guide was first published in 2003 and followed by four more novels, along with several companion books. A second series, entitled Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, has also been written, with The Nixie's Song published in September 2007, A Giant Problem published in September 2008, and The Wyrm King published in September 2009.
A feature film adaptation, also titled The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles (film)
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 fantasy film adaptation of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's bestselling series of the same name. Set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, United States, it follows the adventures of Jared Grace and his family as they discover a field guide to faeries, battle...
, was produced by Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies is the motion picture production arm of children's cable channel Nickelodeon, originally launched in 1995. Its first film was Harriet the Spy. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects...
and premiered on February 14, 2008; an accompanying video game
The Spiderwick Chronicles (video game)
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a video game adaptation of the film of the same name. It was released in February 2008 for PC, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2.-Plot:...
was released in early February.
The Field Guide
The Field Guide, the first book in the series, was published in May 2003. It opens in MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
where nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon and their thirteen-year-old sister Mallory move to the decrepit Spiderwick Estate with their mother, Helen. They discover a secret library hidden in the house, and later discover Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You in a chest in the attic, providing them with information on Faeries. A brownie
Brownie (folklore)
A brownie/brounie or urisk or brùnaidh, ùruisg, or gruagach is a legendary creature popular in folklore around Scotland and England...
named Thimbletack is introduced and Jared is blamed for some mischief that occurs because of the Faerie's actions
The Seeing Stone
The Seeing Stone was also published in May 2003. After ignoring Thimbletack's warning, Simon is abductedKidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
by a group of invisible
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
goblins. Thimbletack guides Jared to a "seeing stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
" created by his great-uncle which gives him the ability to see faeries, called the Sight. Mallory and Jared go searching for Simon, narrowly escaping capture, and find the goblin camp. While rescuing Simon, they meet a hobgoblin
Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
named Hogsqueal who convinces them to help him escape in exchange for his help in rescuing Simon. Hogsqueal then spits in their eyes, giving them the Sight permanently. After rescuing Simon, they flee and lead the goblins to a troll
Troll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
, where the goblins meet their deaths. They rescue the rest of the goblin's victims and take an injured griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
back to their house.
Lucinda's Secret
Lucinda's Secret was published on October 1, 2003. The Grace children visit their Great-Aunt Lucinda, who is now in a psychiatric hospitalPsychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
. When they speak to her, they learn more about the world of faerie creatures, the Field Guide, and its author, Arthur Spiderwick, who was Aunt Lucinda's father. Arthur had disappeared when Lucinda was still a little girl and the Grace children later find out where he disappeared to when they stumble upon a forest of elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
. On their journey they meet Stray-Sods, grass that can move, and a Phooka
Púca
The Púca is a creature of Celtic folklore, notably in Ireland, the West of Scotland, and Wales. It is one of the myriad fairy folk, and, like many fairy folk, is both respected and feared by those who believe in it....
, a strange creature that talks only in riddles. Jared is captured by the elves, but tricks them by saying he is "Simon" and they promise to keep "Simon" there until they bring the Guide. Jared says he isn't "Simon" but Jared, and they let him out but only by promising them that they will bring the Field Guide to them when it is found.
The Ironwood Tree
The Ironwood Tree was published on April 6, 2004. The family attends Mallory's fencingFencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
contest at school. During the contest, Jared finds a boy identical to him going through Mallory's bag. He transforms into a smaller kid when Jared attempts to scare him with his knife. When Jared and Simon discover that Mallory has disappeared, they search for her in an abandoned quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
, but wind up being kept prisoner by dwarves. Mallory is revealed to be sleeping in a glass-coffin dressed in medieval garb (similarly to Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
), with the dwarves saying she is now immortal, so long as she stays in the coffin. Escaping their cage, the twins free Mallory and meet a strange creature, called a Knocker
Kobold
The kobold is a sprite stemming from Germanic mythology and surviving into modern times in German folklore. Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialise in the form of an animal, fire, a human being, and a candle. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size...
, who tells them the way out by listening to the stones. They next see a huge metal tree, made by the dwarves, the Ironwood Tree. After a narrow escape from the dwarves' mechanical dogs, they make their way out of the tunnel but have to hide before leaving. They secretly watch Mulgarath, a hideous ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
who wants to rule the world
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
, callously order the death of the dwarves for having been tricked into not getting the Field Guide from Jared. The dwarves are mauled to death by the goblins and Mulgarath reveals that he had the Guide the whole time. The siblings escape just after Mulgarath leaves with his goblins and the weapons made by the dwarves
The Wrath of Mulgarath
The Wrath of Mulgarath was published on September 7, 2004. The Grace children return from the quarry to the Spiderwick estate, only to find the house in ruins and their mother gone. Hogsqueal the hobgoblin informs them that the house was destroyed by the goblins who have kidnapped their mother and taken her to the palace of their fearsome master, Mulgarath the ogre. Accompanied by Hogsqueal, the siblings journey to Mulgarath's palace, an immense citadel made of garbage where they battle a legion of goblins. Mallory runs the leader through with her sword and is greatly traumatized by having actually killed a living sentientSentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
being. Nevertheless she and her brothers defeat the goblins and discover Mulgarath's plan. The ogre has learned from the Field Guide that fresh cows' milk makes young dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s rapidly mature. He has stolen a number of cows and is using them to breed an army of dragons with which he plans to conquer the world. Byron, the griffin, successfully vanquishes the mother dragon and Simon kills the young ones. Infiltrating the palace, they find their mother and father tied up. They release their father, but discover that he is actually Mulgarath in disguise. Jared has Thimbletack wrap chains around Simon and Mallory. The ogre brags of his plan and reveals that the Field Guide is underneath his throne, and Jared mockingly tells Mulgarath that he and his siblings have killed all the dragons. In a rage
Narcissistic rage
Narcissistic rage is a reaction to narcissistic injury, a perceived threat to a narcissist’s self-esteem or self-worth. Narcissistic rage is a term first coined by Heinz Kohut in 1972...
, Mulgarath flings Simon and Mallory out of the window but Thimbletack's chains hold, and they don't fall far. Jared stabs Mulgarath in the foot with Mallory's sword, then knocks him out of the window. Mulgarath falls, transforms into a swallow
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
and is eaten by Hogsqueal.
The children return home, where they meet Arthur Spiderwick, who had been living with the elves and so had not aged. He and his daughter Lucinda, now an old woman, share a poignant goodbye, and he turns to dust. With Mulgarath defeated, the Grace family is presumably now free to live happily ever after.
The Nixie's Song
This story takes place in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where 11-year-old Nick Vargas lives with his brother, Jules, his weird stepsister, Laurie, his father, Paul, and his stepmother, Charlene, in his father's housing development. Laurie has read the Spiderwick Chronicles and believes in faeries. Nick thinks she is "lame" and wishes she would leave him alone. After finding a four-leafed clover (which allows people to see faeries) he sees a nix
Nix
The Neck/Nixie are shapeshifting water spirits who usually appear in human form. The spirit has appeared in the myths and legends of all Germanic peoples in Europe....
ie unconscious in his yard, which he and Laurie carry into a nearby artificial pond.
In the following day, the Nixie, named Talya, gives Nick and Laurie the Sight and sends them to find her six sisters, who were separated when their pond was destroyed. They leave after a faerie named bobby fills Nick's father's car with sand to look for Talya's sisters at her old pond. They find the pond dried, the surrounding forest burnt and the bodies of three of the nixies, accidentally waking up a giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
, which they mistook for a hill. They flee from the giant, who becomes hypnotized and calm when it hears Talya's singing.
The children decide to ask the authors of The Spiderwick Chronicles themselves for advice at a book signing, convincing Jules to drive them. Once there, they are disappointed when Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black don't believe them, but they then run into Jared and Simon Grace, who offer to help them gather useful information. Jared tells them about a giant expert who lived nearby and they plan to meet at his address. The place appears to be deserted, and after a quick incident with will-o'-the-wisps
Will-o'-the-wisp
A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...
, the kids take several papers including a diagram of a giant trap. While the giant is hypnotized by the nixie's song, the three kids use a rope to tie the giant's foot to its neck. It thrashes around, strangling itself with the cords, leaving the kids horrified at what they've done. When the giant stops moving, an old man called Noseeum Jack ("Noseeum" due to his poor eyesight, and "Jack" being a reference to the story of Jack the Giant-Killer
Jack the Giant-killer
"Jack the Giant Killer" is a British fairy tale about a plucky lad who slays a number of giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterized by violence, gore, and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore and Welsh Bardic lore, but the source of "Jack the Giant Killer" is...
) approaches, revealing to be the son of the giant expert who met Arthur Spiderwick, and a giant slayer himself, killing the giant definitely. He explains that the giants sleep for 500 years at a time and all wake up at once, bringing panic and destruction to anywhere they go, and that soon all of Florida's giants would be waking up.
A Giant Problem
Nick and Laurie start taking giant hunting lessons from Noseeum Jack, which Nick finds pointless. One night, Jack shows up at their house when their parents are fighting and takes them to see a fight between two giants who had woken up too close to each other. He approaches one of them when it gets injured and is swatted away, hurting his leg. The kids help him to his house and, once home, Laurie gives Jules a keychain containing the four-leafed clover (which they no longer need, having been given permanent Sight by Taloa).The next day they find a small faerie (who Nick has seen days before) playing with a message that Taloa had left for them, saying she had gone look for her surviving sisters alone. They catch the little faerie, whom Laurie names Sandspur and assumes to be a hobgoblin
Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
, based on the Field Guide. Later that day, two giants start fighting near their house. They escape with Jules, who can see the giants, but most of the development is destroyed. They go to Jack's house for help, but instead meet Jack's son (simply called Jack Junior), who tells them that he's taking his father to live with him and his wife. Noseeum Jack apologizes to Nick for not helping them and tells him he kept something for them in his backyard, which Nick doesn't even bother to investigate.
That night, the family stays at a hotel where they try to come up with a plan and Jules shows Sandspur to his girlfriend, Cindy. Based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Nick thinks about the possibility of asking the merfolk
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
to lure the giants to the sea, since they seem to be hypnotized by a nixie's singing. The kids sneak out to the beach, where they find that the mermaids hate land-dwellers and kidnap Jules, promising to let him go and sing the giants to the sea if the kids bring them a fish that has never been in their sea. They steal a tropical fish from Cindy's father's aquarium and race back to the beach. The mermaids are amazed that they completed the task and return Jules. Keeping their promise but intending to trick the humans, the mermaids sing for only a little while and to no effect before disappearing. However, Nick manages to tape their song in a tape recorder, which they intend to use to lure the giants themselves.
After getting Nick's model Viking ship from the hotel, they drive around a route provided by Sandspur of where the giants are, playing the mermaids' song. The giants follow the sound to the sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
, where Nick drops the little boat (with the tape recorder) into the ocean. The giants follow it out to sea and the kids go back to the hotel where they find the Grace kids waiting for them with the news that the giants woke up all at the same time because they were there to kill something even worse.
The Wyrm King
The last book of the Spiderwick Saga, the story starts with the Vargas family going to a family therapist because of the children's latest strange behaviour, which Nick's father thinks is caused by his re-marrying. Meanwhile, sinkholes have been appearing everywhere throughout Florida, where small black serpent-like creatures are vaguely seen by Nick. Under the assumption that these sinkholes are caused by the creatures that the giants were supposed to destroy, the Vargas kids (plus Sandspur) meet up with Jared, Simon and Mallory at Noseeum Jack's house, which is now deserted and has a massive sinkhole in the front yard. After breaking into the house, they find more of Jack's annotations, which compare the hydraLernaean Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...
, shown as a group of intertwined wyrm dragons, to the legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
of the Rat King.
Finally going to Jack's backyard, Nick and Laurie find what Jack had meant to give them: a small pool filled with lime and muck with Taloa and two of her sisters, Ooki and Ibi, whom Jack had captured some days earlier. Meanwhile, Mallory goes into the sinkhole to investigate, but finds herself unable to breathe and surrounded by the small snake-like dragons. They manage to get her out and put three of the creatures in a jar. They figure that the creatures produce methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, which makes the air around them unbreathable, and realize that these were the creatures that the giants ate in order to breathe fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
(which they originally believed to be salamanders
Salamander (legendary creature)
The salamander is an amphibian of the order Urodela. As with many real creatures, pre-modern authors often ascribed fantastic qualities to it , and in recent times some have come to identify a legendary salamander as a distinct concept from the real organism. This idea is most highly developed in...
).
Seeing how fast the dragons can grow after feeding them a chunk of pizza, the children all drive to the beach in order to get the giants back to land so they can kill the dragons. Although reluctant at first, the three nixies agree to use their singing to lure the giants, and one of them is taken to the water with Nick and Jared in a surfboard (because since nixies are used to freshwater, salt water hurts their skin). Before they can accomplish this, however, Nick is taken underwater by the merfolk, who tell him how they're glad that the land-dwellers are doomed and give him a magical
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
cap in the process that allows him to breathe underwater. The nixies manage to get some of the giants to follow them to land, where they immediately start eating the small reptiles and fighting each other again. As the children drive away from the giants, their car falls into a sinkhole and only after some time do they manage to get out. A giant then attacks them, being saved by the showing up of Jack Junior, who suddenly decided to listen to his father and come help the children kill the giants (being surprised when they reveal him that killing giants is no longer their plan).
After dropping the nixies in a nearby pond (their reward for having sang to the giants), Jules, Laurie and Nick pass by Cindy's house and notice a large sinkhole close to it. When they go to warn Cindy and her parents, Laurie and Sandspur fall into the growing sinkhole and a tree falls on Jules's legs when attempting to rescue her. When Nick tries to help Laurie get out of the sinkhole, he finds that she still hadn't died from the methane exhaled by the dragons because Sandspur (who had grown to a huge size, revealing himself to be a spriggan
Spriggan
Spriggans are legendary creatures known from Cornish faery lore. They are particular to West Penwith in Cornwall.-Spriggans in folklore:Spriggans were depicted as grotesquely ugly, and were said to be found at old ruins and barrows guarding buried treasure and generally acting as fairy bodyguards....
) had been eating them, proceeding to eat Nick whole and only regurgitating
Regurgitation (digestion)
Regurgitation is the expulsion of material from the mouth, pharynx, or esophagus, usually characterized by the presence of undigested food or blood.Regurgitation is used by a number of species to feed their young...
him when Laurie drops rocks into the creature's mouth to make him sick. Nick and Laurie get out of the sinkhole and go back to meet Jack Jr. and the Grace kids, leaving Jules at Cindy's house waiting for an ambulance (being followed back by Sandspur, back in his small size, like nothing had happened).
Noticing that all sinkholes are connected, they come to the conclusion that the biggest hydra must be in the center, laying the eggs that hatch into the smaller hydras who wander through the tunnels. They notice that the giants are all going to meet that alpha hydra, and Jack Junior leaves to go kill it, followed by the children. There, they meet the giant multi-headed dragon, who had already started to kill the giants that had gathered to fight it. After hurting Jack Junior and the Grace kids, Nick has an idea and realizes it's up to him to save the day. Using the cap given to him by the merfolk so he could safely breathe, he goes into one of the tunnels with Jack's machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
so to meet the hydra from below. When he gets there, instead of trying to kill the beast, he cuts the substance that keeps all the dragons together, thus making them separate from each other and easier for the giants to kill.
At the hospital, all the children get their injuries treated, Jules gets back with Cindy, Jack calls his father to tell him what happened, the Grace kids meet their father there and the Vargas family decides to all stay together. The Spiderwick Saga ends with the Vargas going home, being watched by a silent giant in the distance.
Note: The authors are hoping to continue the first five and stop the ending three.
Accompanying books
- Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook for Fantastical Observations, June 2005
- Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, November 2005
- The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites, December 26, 2006
- The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack, November 13, 2007
Humans
The Spiderwick Chronicles:- Jared Evan Grace – The main character, a 9-year-old boy, from whose point of viewPoint of view (literature)The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...
the books are written. Jared is a brave and resourceful natural leader, shown to be good at creating plans. Jared also has some anger management issues (which reflect on Thimbletack's change between brownie and boggart form). While at the beginning of the story he shows no hobbies or love subjects (like Simon's love for animals and Mallory's fencing), towards the ends he is often said to be going to fill Arthur Spiderwick's steps, showing skills at drawing and revealing to know a great deal about faerie lore in Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles. - Simon Evan Grace – Jared's identical twin brother. He is calm and caring and apparently a pacifist; he particularly loves animals, having many pets such as miceMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, cats, goldfishGoldfishThe goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
and eventually a griffinGriffinThe griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
. - Mallory Evan Grace – Jared and Simon's 13-year-old sister. She is an avid fencerFencingFencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
who takes part in many fencing competitions. This skill comes in handy when defending herself against goblins. She enters her brothers' adventures in the faerie world very reluctantly at first, but is shown in the second installment to have grown to be more adventurous and risk-taking. - Arthur Spiderwick – The author of Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. He worked as a publicity artist and spent many years researching faeries by doing field work and by contacting other researchers (for example, for his entries on dragons and giants). His Field Guide eventually made him be seen as a threat by the elves, who ordered him to destroy it and imprisoned him for 80 years when he refused. Much like the Irish heroIrish mythologyThe mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
OisínOisínOisín , also spelt in English Ossian or Osheen, was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, and is a warrior of the fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology...
, who spent hundreds of years in the faerie world, Spiderwick also dies when he steps on the ground after being kept alive for more years than he was supposed to live. - Lucinda Spiderwick – The daughter of Arthur Spiderwick and the cousin of Helen Grace's mother, making her the Grace children's great aunt. She was abandoned by her father after he was kidnapped by the elves, never knowing where he'd gone and being raised by the Grace children's grandmother. In adulthood, she was attacked by Mulgarath's army and subsequently put in a clinic for the insane. Because she tasted the food of the faeries, she can no longer eat regular food, only being kept alive by the fruits given to her by the sprites she played with as a child.
- Helen Grace – The mother of Jared, Simon, and Mallory.
- Richard Grace – Helen Grace's ex-husband and the father of the Grace children.
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles:
- Nicholas Vargas - The main character, who has "stopped bothering" since his mother died and doesn't get along well with anyone. Like Jared, he also shows skills in outwitting the faeries and tricking them just as they trick humans. He's said not to be good at sports, but is able to kill a giant and the Wyrm King almost by himself.
- Laurie Vargas - Nick's step sister, who truly believes in faeries, and first introduced Nick to the idea through a published copy of the Field Guide. She is disappointed when she finds that the faerie world is actually more dangerous and more real than she thought.
- Noseeum Jack - An old giant hunter (named after Jack the Giant KillerJack the Giant Killer"Jack the Giant Killer" is a British fairy tale about a plucky lad who slays a number of giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterized by violence, gore, and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore and Welsh Bardic lore, but the source of "Jack the Giant Killer" is...
) and the son of a giant-expert friend of Arthur Spiderwick's. He had the Sight, but is now almost blind, going to live with his son and daughter-in-law after getting hurt by a fighting giant. He lived in an old house protected by will-o'-the-wisps, having captured Taloa and two of her sisters and keeping them in a swimming pool. - Julian(Jules) Vargas - Nick's older "annoying brother", who spends all day surfing, stays out of his dad's way, and treats Nick like a kid. He eventually gets the Sight as well and helps the younger kids whenever driving is needed.
- Paul Vargas - Nick and Jules' dad, owns a housing development and doesn't understand his kids, having re-married probably too soon, in Nick's opinion.
- Charlene Vargas - Laurie's mom and stepmother of Nick and Jules, an "okay" person to Nick, although he wishes she wasn't around all the time. She suggests a break-up when the children start to act strange, but agrees to go back to Nick's dad in the end.
- Cindy - Jules' girlfriend who also likes surfing. She is friendly and helps the kids after Jules is kidnapped by the mermaids. She gets grounded after she helps Nick and Laurie steal a fish from her father's aquarium.
Faeries
In the Spiderwick universe, faries usually remain invisible or disguised to human eyes, who are generally not aware of their presence. However, a small percentage of humans have the ability to see faries, commonly called the 'Sight', acquired naturally( for example, by being the seventh son of a seventh son or having red hair) or artificially (by looking through a holed stone or possessing a four-leafed clover). In the series, the Grace children receive the Sight when the hobgoblinHobgoblin
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
Hogsqueal spits in their eyes, and the Vargas kids receive it when they are held under the water that a nixie had been soaking in.
They are portrayed as living many years, so many of the faeries encountered by the main characters also met Arthur Spiderwick and other long-dead humans in the past, without having aged. The species of faries in the series are mainly taken from European mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and Medieval bestiaries
Bestiary
A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson...
, including brownies, goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s, dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, sprites
Sprite (creature)
The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of preternatural legendary creatures. The term is generally used in reference to elf-like creatures, including fairies, and similar beings , but can also signify various spiritual beings, including ghosts. In Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books,...
, and elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
, among many others.
The Spiderwick Chronicles:
- Thimbletack - The Spiderwick Estate's BrownieBrownieBrownie may refer to:* Chocolate brownie, a baked good* Brownie , a legendary creature* Brownie * Brownie , a level in several guiding/scouting organizations* Brownies, a term used to describe fans of Chris Brown...
, a faerie who guards the Spiderwick mansion but, if angered, can become a vengeful and nasty boggartBoggartIn Englishfolklore, a boggart is a household fairy which causes things to disappear, milk to sour, and dogs to go lame. Always malevolent, the boggart will follow its family wherever they flee...
. Later in the series he ends up stealing the Field Guide and hiding it, believing this will be for the better. However, at the end of the books he is ultimately friendly and apparently becomes friends with Hogsqueal. He is able to make himself visible and invisible to humans at will, though only when he has to; saying, "Now you don't see us, now you do, but only when we want you to." - Hogsqueal – One of Mulgarath's goblinGoblinA goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s who is actually a hobgoblinHobgoblinHobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
, the anti-heroAnti-heroIn fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
of the story, changing sides depending on what fits his necessities at the moment. When Jared fails to kill Mulgarath, Hogsqueal saves the day by eating him while on swallow form, ending up staying with the children. Hogsqueal uses children's teeth as his own, claiming that he is the Tooth FaerieTooth fairyThe tooth fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood. The folklore states that when a child loses a baby tooth, if he or she places it beneath the bed pillow, the tooth fairy will visit while the child sleeps, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment....
. He uses odd insults when addressing the children, Thimbletack and his own group of goblins, never calling anyone by their name. Tony DiTerlizzi reveals in his blog that Hogsqueal's first name was Horace in an early draft of Spiderwick, and that Hogsqueal is his favourite character in the series. - Mulgarath – An evil, shapeshiftingShapeshiftingShapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
ogreOgreAn ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
who wants to take over the world by using the information in the Guide to find out the weaknesses of humans and the many faerie species. He lives in a palace made of garbage, keeping an army of goblins (lead by a redcapRedcapA Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie or dunter, is a type of malevolent murderous dwarf, goblin, elf or fairy found in Border Folklore. They are said to inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland...
and temporarily featuring Hogsqueal as a soldier), dragons and dwarves (before having the latter ones killed). Mulgarath dies in Book 5, eaten by Hogsqueal after being tricked in to taking the form of a swallow, making his army spread away and his spells broken. - Byron - A griffinGriffinThe griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
saved by the children from Hogsqueal's gang of goblins, who were going to eat it. Simon took care of him and made him his pet. Resembling a hawks head with a lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
's body, Byron often behaves like a cat, attempting to eat Hogsqueal and Mulgarath's dragons, and serving as a ride for the children and for Spiderwick. - River Troll – A trollTrollA troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
who appears in The Seeing Stone. He lives in a nearby river, underneath local bridges. A reference to the many dumb trolls of faery tales, Jared tricks him into letting him and his siblings live and to eat the goblins chasing them. He is probably the same troll who ate Arthur Spiderwick's infant brother. - The Korting – The ruler of the dwarves. In The Ironwood Tree, he tricks Jared and Simon into being held prisoners, but keeps Mallory in a coffin to preserve her in time. He works for Mulgarath because the ogre had promised him they could rebuilt the world entirely in metal, making weapons for his army. After he gets the weapons, however, Mulgarath has his goblins kill all the dwarves.
- Dragons - Their shape is similar to that of a snakeSnakeSnakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, and they are as fast as a whip. Their species is named by Spiderwick as the "EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an wyrm". Despite being poisonous, all of Mulgarath's dragons are eaten by Byron, who was badly injured during the process. - GoblinGoblinA goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s - mischievous and grubby, goblins love smoke, fire, metal, a good bloodshed and a few tasty cats or dogs. Most species are born without teeth, so they make their own from such materials as glass shards, pieces of metal (except iron) and wood. Sometimes they use the teeth of other animals. They are unorganized and savage, only gathering themselves to an army (under the leadership of a RedcapRedcapA Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie or dunter, is a type of malevolent murderous dwarf, goblin, elf or fairy found in Border Folklore. They are said to inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland...
bullBullfrogThe American bullfrog , often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or “true frogs”, native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes, where it is usually found...
goblin) when Mulgarath takes power. After his death, the surviving goblins flee the area and go back to their small violent gangs. - ElvesElfAn elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
- Elves act as the authority in the faerie territory of Spiderwick's Estate. They are shown as humanoid, a group of them living in the forest, making their clothes out of leaves. They have enough knowledge of magic to keep Spiderwick alive for nearly 100 years, they keep Stray Sods around their forest so humans cannot reach it, and they somehow employ Byron to take Spiderwick to his family. - Phooka - On their way to the elves, the Grace kids find a phooka, a shapeshifter resembling a cross between a monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
and a black catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
. It sits in a tree branch, talks in riddles and plays with its body shape in a way resembling the Cheshire CatCheshire CatThe Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
from Alice in Wonderland. Although he doesn't seem to be related to the elves nor to Mulgarath and his army, he seems to be aware of the destiny of Arthur Spiderwick and his nephews, giving them advice in riddles. - KnockerKoboldThe kobold is a sprite stemming from Germanic mythology and surviving into modern times in German folklore. Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialise in the form of an animal, fire, a human being, and a candle. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size...
- A strange creature who helps the children to find their way through the caves of the dwarves, in which it appears to live. It has batlike ears and a long finger similar to an aye-ayeAye-ayeThe aye-aye is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker...
's, which it uses to tap stones, claiming that it can hear the stones speak.
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles:
- Taloa - A nixie rescued by Nick and Laurie after her pond was destroyed by a fire-breathing giant. She gives them the Sight and demands that they find her lost sisters, eventually doing it herself and getting caught by Noseeum Jack. At the end, the Vargas kids keep their promise and deliver her and her two surviving sisters to a nearby pond.
- Sandspur - A small trash-eating faerie with a fondness for sand and a constant hunger, Sandspur is caught by Laurie and Nick and kept as a pet. Despite his first attempts to escape, he accepts Nick and Laurie and follows them around even after they try to get rid of him. Although Taloa calls him a "hob" in The Nixie's Song and Laurie calls him a hobgoblin in A Giant Problem, he is later identified by Laurie as a sprigganSprigganSpriggans are legendary creatures known from Cornish faery lore. They are particular to West Penwith in Cornwall.-Spriggans in folklore:Spriggans were depicted as grotesquely ugly, and were said to be found at old ruins and barrows guarding buried treasure and generally acting as fairy bodyguards....
in The Wyrm King when his hunger makes him swell up. He is therefore the only creature in the books (other than the Wyrm King and the humanoid insects from The Nixie's Song) whose species is not mentioned in Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide. Despite this under Goblins in the Field Guide there is a Goblin with a bottle on it`s back just like Sandspur. In the end of the book, he apparently is also able to use glamourShapeshiftingShapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
to make himself look like a cat. - GiantsGiant (mythology)The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
- Hill giants are large humanoid creatures that can disguise themselves as small hills and mountains. They wake up all at the same time to control the hydra population by eating them in order to breathe fire, which they use to fight other giants. They are commonly attracted by the singing of nixies or mermaids. - MermaidMermaidA mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
s - Stubborn, yet loyal and true to their word, mermaids have amazing voices that can hypnotize giants and humans. They are not easy to strike a deal with, as they frequently want something in return and usually take people as hostages to ensure the deal is kept. They seem to be able to do some magic as well, as they owned a cap able to make humans breathe underwater (similarly to the caps worn by merfolk in faery tales to walk on the shore). - The Wyrm King - Like the Rat King, the Wyrm King is a group of many wyrm dragons stuck together that devastate the land, creating sinkholes and millions of offspring. It is also compared to the Lernaean HydraLernaean HydraIn Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...
, the multi-headed snake from Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
(ironically, the Wyrm King was killed by fire-breathing giants while the Lernaean Hydra was also killed with fire by HeraclesHeraclesHeracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
and his nephew IolausIolausIn Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with some of his Labors, and also for being one of the Argonauts...
). - Ooki and Ibi - Two nixies, the only surviving sisters of Taloa, who get captured by Noseeum Jack with her and eventually make their home in a new pond. They both accept to help Nick after he swears his life to get them a home, convincing Taloa to help him as well.
- ManticoreManticoreThe manticore is a legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. It has the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth , and a trumpet-like voice. Other aspects of the creature vary from story to story. It may be horned, winged, or both...
s - Briefly seen by Nick in The Nixie's Song, a cougarlike creature with a barbed tail eating roadkill by the side of a road. - Dragonfly-faeries - After receiving the sight from Taloa, Nick saw these small dragonfly-like creatures while riding on his bike. Like spriggans and hydras, these faeries are not mentioned in the Field Guide, probably not being known by Arthur Spiderwick. However they may just be a subspiecies of the fairy.
Writing
DiTerlizzi stated that, due to the collaborative effort he and Black put into the books, there is no individual credit as to who did the writing and who did the illustrations. But three kids left a note for Holly and Tony and let them both see the original field guide in which Tony redid and published. However, Tony was responsible for the illustrations and helped with plot forming, and wrote some sections, but ultimately Holly was the writer and he the illustrator.Film adaptation
A feature film adaptation of the series was released by Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies is the motion picture production arm of children's cable channel Nickelodeon, originally launched in 1995. Its first film was Harriet the Spy. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects...
on February 14, 2008 . Directed by Mark Waters, it starred Freddie Highmore
Freddie Highmore
Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmore is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Toast.-Early life:Highmore was...
, Sarah Bolger
Sarah Bolger
Sarah Lee Bolger is an Irish actress. She is known for her role as Princess / Lady Mary Tudor on The Tudors and for her role as Mallory Grace in The Spiderwick Chronicles.-Early life:...
, Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
, Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, and Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
. It followed the basic overall plot of the five novels in the Spiderwick Chronicles series, but left out the majority of the plot from the fourth book and contained several major differences.
The Spiderwick Chronicles was cast by veteran Hollywood casting director Marci Liroff
Marci Liroff
Marci Liroff is a casting director, based in Los Angeles, California, known for her work in film and television. Liroff has worked with some of the most successful directors in the world such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Mark Waters, Christopher Nolan, Brad Bird, and Herbert Ross.-Early...
.