Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
You are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Called Robin Goodfellow.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1. We are first introduced to the mischievous fairy Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, in this scene. Here an unnamed fairy believes that he has recognized the prankster and asks if it is really him. Puck was not Shakespeare’s invention, but was a character in English and Celtic mythologies (púca is the Irish language word for spirit). However, the trickster has been immortalized in Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece and is one of the most important characters in the magical fantasy about love.