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120px Shrek, an ogre from the popular movie of the same name

According to the folklore and mythology of the peoples of Northern Europe, the ogres (related to the Latin Orcus) are a race of humanoid beings, fierce and cruel monsters, that eat human flesh; they are also shy and cowardly, and have little or no intelligence and cleverness, which makes it easy for men to defeat them. A female of this race is called ogress. Ogres are said to be able to change their shape at will into animals or objects, and they often dwell in marvellous palaces or castles, sometimes underground. In art, ogres are depicted with a big head, abundant and hirsute hair and beard, a huge belly, and a strong body.

In Scandinavian countries, there is no concept for "ogre", they are translated into trolls. They are trolls that are considered to be masters of castles built in the mountains, keeping fabulous treasures (compare with the Irish leprechaunIn Irish mythology, a leprechaun is a type of elf said to inhabit the island of Ireland. A few Irish people and some tourists to Ireland believe in the reality of leprechauns, but most people treat them as a charming piece of folklore that adds to the mag); this creature is considered to be either a giant (most commonly) or a dwarfWarhammer Fantasy Battle Dwarf minatures Mythology and Fantasy In Norse mythology, fairy tales, and sword and sorcery fiction and role-playing games, a dwarf is a member of a humanoid race, much like humans, but generally living underground or in mountain.

Literature for children has plenty of tales mentioning ogres and kidnapped princesses who were rescued by valiant knights and, sometimes, peasants. Ogres are also popular in fantasyFor other definitions of fantasy see Fantasy (psychology). In literature, fantasy is a form of fiction, usually novels or short stories, though fantasy role-playing games comic books and movies are also popular. In its broadest sense, "Fantasy Fiction" co games. In recent times the most famous ogre is the CGComputer graphics (CG) is the field of visual computing, where one utilizes computers both to generate visual images synthetically and to integrate or alter visual and spatial information sampled from the real world. The first major advance in computer gr character Shrek who breaks several of the stereotypes.

By extension, the term ogre applies to disgusting persons with a violent temper.

The word 'ogre' comes from 'Hungar' or 'Uigur'. These were the Hun/ Turk invaders of Europe. Ogre legends may have come from their raids, originally.

Blue, red, & black ogres with horns and iron clubs, appear in Momotaro (Peach boy), a Japanese fairy tale. A large community of these ogres lived on Giant Island, near Japan, according to the tale.

Other fairy tales with ogres in them: Motiratika, Tritill Litill And The Birds, and Don Firriulieddu. In the tale Puss in Boots, a cat outwits a shape-changing ogre. Negoogunogumbar is an ogre of Pygmy myth who devours children.

See also: orc; giant; oni Ogre Kingdoms