Editing Jack-o'-lantern (section)

===Folklore===

The story of the jack-o'-lantern comes in many forms and is similar to the story of [[Will-o'-the-wisp]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Santino, Jack |title=All Around the Year: Holidays and Celebrations in American Life|page=157 |publisher=University of Illinois Press|date= 1995}}</ref> retold in different forms across [[Western Europe]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Allies|first=Jabez|title=The British, Roman, and Saxon antiquities and folklore of Worcestershire|year=1856|publisher=J.R. Smith|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/britishromansaxo00alli/page/430 430]|url=https://archive.org/details/britishromansaxo00alli}}</ref> including, [[Italy]], [[Norway]], [[Spain]] and [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Newell|first=William Wells|title=The Ignis Fatuus, Its Character and Legendary Origin|journal=Journal of American Folk-Lore|date=1 January 1904|volume=17|issue=64|pages=39–60|doi=10.2307/533988|jstor=533988}}</ref> In [[Switzerland]], children will leave bowls of [[milk]] or [[cream]] out for mythical [[house spirit]]s called [[Jack o' the bowl]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/81/9071.html|title=Brewer, e. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Jack o' the Bowl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010218134113/http://www.bartleby.com/81/9071.html |archive-date=2001-02-18 }}</ref>
An old [[Irish folklore|Irish folk tale]] from the mid-18th century tells of [[Stingy Jack]], a lazy yet shrewd blacksmith who uses a cross to trap [[Satan]].
One story says that Jack tricked Satan into climbing an [[apple tree]], and once he was up there, Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that Satan could not get down.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Jack-O-Lantern|author=Mark Hoerrner|url=http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-jacko-lantern-irish-tale-halloween.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114193117/http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-jacko-lantern-irish-tale-halloween.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=November 14, 2006 |work=buzzle.com|year=2006|access-date=2007-05-09}}</ref>

Another version{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} of the story says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen. He then met Satan, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting Satan with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told Satan to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (Satan could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin (Satan) disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped.

In both folktales, Jack lets Satan go only after he agrees to never take his soul. Many years later, the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, Jack's life had been too sinful for him to go to Heaven; however, Satan had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from Hell as well.<ref name="History of the Jack O' Lantern">{{Cite news|url=https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/jack-olantern-history|title=History of the Jack O' Lantern|work=HISTORY|access-date=2018-10-20|language=en}}</ref> Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and Satan mockingly tossed him a burning coal, to light his way. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which were his favorite food), put the coal inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place.<ref name="History of the Jack O' Lantern"/> He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or jack o'lantern.

[[Cornish people|Cornish]] folklorist Dr. [[Thomas Quiller Couch]] (d. 1884) recorded the use of the term in a rhyme used in [[Polperro]], [[Cornwall]], in conjunction with [[Joan the Wad]], the Cornish version of Will-o'-the-wisp. The people of Polperro regarded them both as [[pixie]]s. The rhyme goes:<ref>{{cite book|author1=Simpson, Jacqueline  |author2=Roud, Steve |title= A Dictionary of English Folklore|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 2000}}</ref>

<blockquote><poem>Jack o' the lantern! Joan the wad,
Who tickled the maid and made her mad
Light me home, the weather's bad.</poem></blockquote>

Jack-o-lanterns were also a way of protecting one's home against the [[undead]]. Superstitious people<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fiveminutehistory.com/the-tale-o-jack-o-lantern/|title=The Tale o' Jack-o'-Lantern|last=James|first=David|date=2016-10-31|website=5-Minute History|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-11}}</ref> used them specifically to ward off [[vampire]]s. They thought this because it was said that the jack-o-lantern's light was a way of identifying vampires who, once their identity was known, would give up their hunt for you.