My interest in this creature was piqued the second I saw Brian Froud’s drawing of a spriggan. This small, dour-looking creature may not appear all too dangerous at first glance. However, spriggans can inflate themselves into monstrous forms, and even in their smaller form, they should not be underestimated.
In his illustrated book Faeries Brian Froud further describes the spriggans: “Apart from their useful function as guardians of hill treasure, Spriggans are an infamous band of villains, skilled thieves, thoroughly destructive and often dangerous. They are quite capable of robbing human houses, kidnapping children (and leaving a repulsive baby Spriggan in exchange), causing whirlwinds to destroy fields of corn, blighting crops and all manner of other unpleasant mischief.”
The spriggans who inhabit my books
So far, spriggans have only appeared in their smaller forms. In Unseelie Queen, a horde of spriggans attack Fay and her friends.
As Fay drew her blade, something small and fuzzy landed on her shoulder. With a shriek, she spun around, and the shadow latched onto the wall instead. Once her sight had adjusted, she was staring at a creature the size of a cat. It had four spindly, long legs, brown fur that covered its entire body, and a nasty grin that revealed sharp teeth.
Fay shuddered and grabbed her sword more tightly. “W-What is that?”
“A spriggan,” Maeve said with a startling note of awe to her voice. “They’re protectors of hill treasures, so they must be hiding something valuable in here.”
[…]
A cry escaped Fay’s own throat as the spriggan crawled up her arm, its sharp claws piercing her skin. She thrashed about, knocking her shoulder into the stone wall, hoping to shake off the creature. A second spriggan wound around her left leg just as the first one closed its spindly yet somehow strong arms around her throat. Fay abandoned her sword and tried to pry the spriggan off her neck with her bare hands instead.
The creature bit and scratched until warm blood covered Fay’s fingers. The other spriggan gnawed at her knee, and when she reached down to remove it, a third caught her wrist, biting her finger with its knife-like teeth.
In my upcoming spin-off to the Crown of Tír na nÓg series, one of my main character also has the pleasure of encountering a horde of spriggans.
Jade hesitated. A shiver raced down his spine, and he tasted magic in the air. Something bright flashed from underneath the container. Jade put his backpack aside and lowered to his knees to peer into the void. Several pairs of eyes blinked back at him, and before he could make out anything else about the creatures, they leaped from the shadows.
With a yelp, Jade scrambled back, landing on his butt. He felt small paws all over his face and body, tearing at his skin, but they moved so fast, he couldn’t get a good look at the creatures. They appeared to be cat-sized. And there were a lot of them.
There was no time to worry about his clothes. Jade shifted and ripped what was left of his shirt, sweater, and jeans off his wolf body. That seemed to scare the creatures, who scattered in every direction. One remained right in front of him, and if a human saw it, they might mistake it as a malnourished, feral cat, with its four spindly legs and fuzzy ears.
Jade knew better. That creature was a spriggan, a mean little critter with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. Bearing those sharp teeth in a snarl, it launched itself at Jade.
As you can see, spriggans should not be underestimated. Don’t be fooled by their small size!
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Sarah Tanzmann 
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