Will-o’-the-Wisp

Will-o’-the-wisp is an English name for a wandering light reported over marshes, bogs, and other dark landscapes. Folklore often personifies it as a trickster or restless soul that lures travelers from a path. Similar unexplained-light traditions exist around the world, but their names and meanings are not interchangeable.

Natural explanations have included combustion or oxidation of gases produced by decaying organic matter, as well as bioluminescence, distant lights, and visual effects. Laboratory chemistry can produce brief cool flames, but no single mechanism explains every historical report.

Fantasy art often depicts a stable blue orb that consciously guides or deceives. Traditional accounts may describe flickering, receding, or unreachable lights interpreted through local landscape and belief.

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Will-o’-the-wisp,” reference entry.
• Oxford English Dictionary, “will-o’-the-wisp” and “ignis fatuus,” historical usage.