Imuldam: Korean Folklore with Supernatural Creatures
A cackling dokkaebi races across a green field with a furious farmer on his heels. A bewildered man stares in horror as a gumiho greets him with a blood-stained grin, her nine tails waving in the wind. A cheonyeo gwishin floats around a shrine, her white hanbok and black hair swirling. These types of Korean folktales, called imuldam (이물담), feature supernatural beings whose interactions with humans reflect life’s arbitrary moments of joy and misery.
Dokkaebi (도깨비), or goblins, are the most prolific imuldam creatures and first appeared in the folktale Lady Dohwa and Bachelor Bihyeong. Described as mischievous nature spirits, dokkaebi are formed by the possession of an inanimate object such as a broom, or objects tainted with human blood. They also frequently interact with humans, using their powers to both deceive and help characters. Emerging in a shower of rain and blue flames, dokkaebi are portrayed as awe-inspiring and ferocious with horns and one or two legs.
Another renowned imuldam creature is the gumiho (구미호), similar to the Chinese huli jing and the Japanese kitsune. This nine-tailed fox can shapeshift into a human form, generally that of a beautiful woman, in the hopes of eating people’s hearts or livers. Often painted as bloodthirsty and evil creatures in Korean folklore, gumiho are said to live for a thousand years, and their longevity provides their shapeshifting abilities. One element that separates the gumiho from its Chinese and Japanese counterparts is the yeowoo guseul (여우구슬), or a fox marble or bead containing great knowledge. The yeowoo guseul brings the gumiho immense power, and, if a human steals and swallows one, they gain knowledge of the earth or heavens, depending on which they look at first.
Throughout Korea’s vast history, folktales have grown to represent the hopes and dreams of common people who thought their lives unjust and arduous. In the imuldam tales, the Korean people found solace in connecting their spiritual and material worlds, explaining life’s pleasures and hardships through the power of stories.
