Egbere

Template:Short description In Yoruba mythology, Egbere are a type of malevolent spirit or goblin believed to reside in the woods and active only at night.<ref>Template:Cite book </ref><ref name="t805">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Oxford's A Dictionary of the Yoruba language defines Egbere as a Yoruba word for fairy or goblin.<ref name="u528">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="l783">Template:Cite book</ref> According to William Taylor's 1898 account, written in a colonial and often condescending tone, Egbere inhabit graves. They emerge at midnight and return at dawn, similar to vampires. They delight in riding sheep, and also bring disease to sheep.<ref>Template:Cite book </ref>

Egbere are described as being short in stature<ref name="q198">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and are associated with a small mat. There is a belief that anyone who manages to take the mat of wealth from an Egbere will attain unimaginable riches.<ref name="h990">Template:Cite journal</ref> They are said to constantly cry, though the sincerity of these tears is questionable.<ref>Dopamu, Ade. "The Yoruba Religious System". Africa Update 6.3 (1999): 2-17, p. 7.</ref><ref>Jimoh, Shaykh Luqman. "The Yoruba concept of spirit husband and the Islamic belief in intermarriage between jinn and man: A comparative discourse". International Conference on Humanities, Literature and Management (ICHLM'15), Jan. 9-10, 2015, Dubai (UAE). 2015, p. 1.</ref><ref name="t010">Template:Cite book</ref>