#Sídhe is the Celtic word for ''fairy''

[timperi-fan]

"Are you alright?"

A calm voice broke through Timmy's panic, and he blinked. He always thought that if he ever found himself being mugged or attacked, he would stay calm and handle himself with dignity.

Instead, when his walk home from his shitty fast food job had been interrupted by a knife pointed at his face, Timmy had froze.

He still felt frozen now, sitting on the asphalt (when had he gotten on the ground?) with the night chill biting into his palms and leaking through his jeans. His heart was still slamming in his chest, even though the threat was gone.

The threat was gone?

The figure standing over him moved, and Timmy flinched. His wide eyes darted up, absorbing the stranger's concerned gaze and his mask and God, that was so much purple—

"Hey, hey, it's okay... You're in shock," the masked man said gently, like he was trying to settle a spooked animal.

Timmy worked his jaw a couple of times. He swallowed; squinted up at the man. "...Sídhe?"

It was. Sídhe — Dimmsdale's resident superhero — stood over Timmy, bending over to be closer to his height. The wings on his back cast scattered light over Timmy's prone form. The sound of his name made the hero grin in relief.

"You're okay. I'm so glad." He offered Timmy his hand. "Can you stand?"

Timmy nodded. He still felt shaky, but he was calming down some, now. He took Sídhe's hand on autopilot, letting himself be pulled to his feet.

He always thought that Sídhe would be taller in person, but the TV had a way of making things seem bigger than reality. He never thought he would be meeting Sídhe in person at all.

"It's a good thing that I was doing a late patrol today — I saw that man try to mug you," Sídhe explained, his voice tight with fury. Despite that, his grip on Timmy's hand remained gentle. "Are you injured at all?"

Somehow, Timmy found it within himself to shake his head. "No, I'm— I'm fine," he mumbled. "Just tired."

Sídhe leaned in. His other hand settled on Timmy's cheek, and he had the ludicrous thought that he was about to be kissed. Instead, Sídhe swiped his thumb over Timmy's cheek. His hand came away with blood on it.

It almost seemed like Sídhe's golden pupils flaired brighter still. "You're hurt."

Timmy reached out and caught Sídhe's hand. "It's just a cut. I..." He struggled to speak evenly. "I just want to go home. Really."

They stood still like that for a moment more. Sídhe's inhuman eyes scanned his face, like he was peeling away Timmy's skin to gaze at his soul. Could he do that? Maybe. He was magic, right?

Timmy was a little surprised to find that he wasn't bothered. He felt at ease around Sídhe.

Their hands were still entwined. He didn't feel any desire to change that.

Finally, Sídhe nodded. "I'll walk you home," he said. It wasn't a suggestion.

Timmy wouldn't have refuted even if it was.

He turned and started walking.

In his mind, Timmy always thought that if he did get to meet Sídhe, for whatever reason, he would ask a bunch of questions that he wanted to know the answer to. Like, where did he get his powers from? Why did he choose to be a hero? Were his wings as delicate as they looked? Was he born with them?

Was being a superhero lonely?

Instead, they walked in silence. Timmy stole glances at Sídhe as they walked, just to ensure that he wasn't dreaming. His wings were iridescent and looked as thin as air, like the details were spun from spider's silk and would fall apart at a touch. His clothing choice didn't seem to include any armor — Sídhe was dressed in flowing, loose fabric. The effect was that he looked ephemeral. Timmy kept thinking that he was going to blink and Sídhe would be gone.

For some reason, he stayed. He stayed all the way down the street, to Timmy's shitty little apartment just two blocks from his college campus.

"This is my stop," Timmy said.

Sídhe glanced appraisingly at the run-down brick building. "Are you safe here?" He asked.

"Uh." Timmy wasn't sure how to answer that. He wasn't sure why Sídhe cared. He shrugged one shoulder. "More or less."

Sídhe hummed. He set a hand on Timmy's shoulder, leaning in — so close that their breaths mingled and Timmy could count the flecks of gold burning in his irises.

This time, the last thing that Timmy expected was to be kissed. And that was exactly what Sídhe did.

His lips brushed the cut on Timmy's cheek, and it felt like time stopped. Timmy's fingers curled, clenching around nothing. He wanted time to freeze again; wanted this moment to last just a little bit longer.

Instead, Sídhe pulled back. The corner of his mouth was quirked up in a smile. "I have healing magic," he said by way of an explanation. Timmy could feel the place where he'd kissed tingling but, honestly, it would have felt that way even without magic.

"T-Thanks," Timmy managed. He cleared his throat. "I really, um, appreciate you, helping me out and walking me home... You didn't have to do all of that," he said awkwardly.

It was easier to make conversation when he'd been frozen. Now that he was thawed, all Timmy could focus on was the way that Sídhe's purple curls were hanging in front of his eyes, just begging to be brushed away from his face.

"Of course I didn't 'have to.' I wanted to," Sídhe said warmly. And he smiled, like there was no where in the world he'd rather be than on Timmy Turner's doorstep, with blood on his glove and fondness in his eyes. "Get some sleep, Timmy."

His wings fluttered as Sídhe became airborne. Timmy watched, amazed that something so pretty was actually functional. He wanted to memorize those swooping swirls and careful curves. He wanted to duck his head along Sídhe's bare back, lips brushing down his spine, while his fingers traced the patterns on his wings from memory.

Instead, Timmy stood there like an idiot, staring at the night sky until long after Sídhe was out of sight.

His cut had been healed, but his cheek still burned.

All Timmy could think was that he wanted Sídhe to stare at him like that again — like he was the most important thing in the universe.

(It didn't occur to him until the next morning that he had never told Sídhe his name.)

[legend-collection]

Leannán sídhe

The leannán sídhe (lit. 'fairy lover'; Scottish Gaelic: leannan sìth, Manx: lhiannan shee) is a figure from Irish Folklore. She is depicted as a beautiful woman of the Aos Sí ("people of the barrows") who takes a human lover. Lovers of the leannán sídhe are said to live brief, though highly inspired, lives. The name comes from the Gaelic words for a sweetheart, lover, or concubine and the term for inhabitants of fairy mounds (fairy). While the leannán sídhe is most often depicted as a female fairy, there is at least one reference to a male leannán sídhe troubling a mortal woman.

A version of the myth was popularized during the Celtic Revival in the late 19th-century. The leannán sídhe is mentioned by Jane Wilde, writing as "Speranza", in her 1887 Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland. W. B. Yeats popularized his own 'newly-ancient' version of the leannán sídhe, emphasizing the spirit's almost vampiric tendencies. As he imagined it, the leannán sídhe is depicted as a beautiful muse who offers inspiration to an artist in exchange for their love and devotion; although the supernatural affair leads to madness and eventual death for the artist:

The Leanhaun Shee (fairy mistress) seeks the love of mortals. If they refuse, she must be their slave; if they consent, they are hers, and can only escape by finding another to take their place. The fairy lives on their life, and they waste away. Death is no escape from her. She is the Gaelic muse, for she gives inspiration to those she persecutes. The Gaelic poets die young, for she is restless, and will not let them remain long on earth—this malignant phantom.

[bitchryver]

At the risk of sounding stupid... what is a sidhe?

no dw you’re not stupid!!!!!! the sídhe are a type of faerie in irish mythology that are sort of like the typical trickster fairy, like they’ll burn ur crops and take ur baby & stuff. basically the myth is that if u make a bargain with them, you have to word it precisely or you’ll get what u want…..with a twist. its probably celtic mythology too but idk anything outside of irish myths lmao

[xxxenoxxx]

The leannán sídhe ("Fairy-Lover";[1] Scottish Gaelic: leannan sìth, Manx: lhiannan shee; [lʲan̴̪-an ˈʃiː]) is a figure from Irish Folklore.[2] She is depicted as a beautiful woman of the Aos Sí ("people of the barrows") who takes a human lover. Lovers of the leannán sídhe are said to live brief, though highly inspired, lives. The name comes from the Gaelic words for a sweetheart, lover, or concubine and the term for inhabitants of fairy mounds (fairy).[3] While the leannán sídhe is most often depicted as a female fairy, there is at least one reference to a male leannán sídhe troubling a mortal woman.[4]

A version of the myth was popularized during the Celtic Revival in the late 19th-century. The leannán sídhe is mentioned by Jane Wilde, writing as "Speranza", in her 1887 Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland.[5] W. B. Yeats popularized his own 'newly-ancient' version of the leannán sídhe, emphasizing the spirit's almost vampiric tendencies.[6] As he imagined it, the leannán sídhe is depicted as a beautiful muse who offers inspiration to an artist in exchange for their love and devotion; although the supernatural affair leads to madness and eventual death for the artist:[7]

The Leanhaun Shee (fairy mistress) seeks the love of mortals. If they refuse, she must be their slave; if they consent, they are hers, and can only escape by finding another to take their place. The fairy lives on their life, and they waste away. Death is no escape from her. She is the Gaelic muse, for she gives inspiration to those she persecutes. The Gaelic poets die young, for she is restless, and will not let them remain long on earth—this malignant phantom.

via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leanan_s%C3%ADdhe

[ezra-iolite]

YAAASS!!! Gonna use reblog to give you all the juicy info! 🤣 But just a heads up, this isn't 100% based on fact... as myths go. All this is just from what I've learned growing up, from word of mouth teachings passed onto me from childhood, and my own basic research.... You have been warned~

So, the Fae are a lot more than just the pretty elf like creatures we all know and love, or even the classical winged fairy. In Irish mythology, the Fae had a whole plethora of famous monsters and creatures that were considered being their own species or just their own individual entity, but a lot of them are in fact a part of the Fae race.

The Dullahan and Banshee are the most famous two that I can recall from the stories of my childhood (I was THAT kind of weird kid who loved the dark fairytales and myths), for the Dullahan is also known as the Headless Horseman, but I believe the story originally came from my home here in Ireland, from tales of the Dullahan itself.

But with a quick Google search, you will also discover that the Leprechaun (I had to put it there, for the sake of my culture's most well known icons 😂), the Changeling, the Pooka/Púca, Boggart, Brownie, Mermaid, Will O' the Wisp, Selkie, Kelpie, Gean-Cánach and my favourite, the Leanan Sídhe, are all a part of the Fae.

Basically, if you've heard of a creature from any Celtic-European mythos that's humanoid or can take on the form of a human and mostly lives in a forest or the wetlands, it'll most likely be a type of Fae. Just google before you assume. ;)

In Irish myth, however, the earliest known kind of Fae in Ireland were the Tuatha dè Danann, when translated meant "Children of the Mother Goddess Danu", some of whom we know today as the Celtic Gods; Nuada Silver-Hand the First High King, Brigit the Goddess of Fire and Healing, Lugh the Craftsman Sun God, Cernunnos the Horned God of Nature, and many more. However, the key difference between the Celtic Gods and the Tuatha dè Danann is that the Tuatha Dé are the first race of Fae, their founding ancestors if you will, who battled and surrendered to the first mortal settlers of Ireland, the Milesians. When the Tuatha dè Danann fled to Tír na nÓg, into the realm hidden in the underground mounds that dot the land to this day, they became known as the Aos Sí/Sídhe or the Daoine Sídhe, literally meaning "the people of the mounds".

This is why it is said you can be lured into their realm through caves, mounds, journeying through mists, going underwater in a pond or body of water, or what the famous Niamh gave to her lover Oisín, upon the back of Manannán's Horse.

Also, if it helps, I found that the anime Ancient Magus Bride is a really good representation of Fae culture, including the use of the rulers of the Fae, King Oberon and Queen Titania, alongside the holidays associated with Celtic culture.

More faeformers au ideas, this time centered around human-faeformer interaction!

(First infodump here)

- Humans always identify themselves using either fake names, or wording that does not claim something. Names hold power in the fae world, as telling a faeformer your real name will give them ownership of it and hence control over you. Politely requesting to be called something, or using a name that’s not their own, are how humans introduce themselves to faeformers.

- Humans are not represented in fae politics, but there is a special division (equivalent to the EDC) of humans who visit the fae world for negotiations. It’s controversial though, as some believe that faeformers are dangerous and not to be trusted or interacted with.

- Some humans may actively hunt faeformers in fear of their power, though they are few and far between.

- Humans cannot use faeformer magic, but they can use magical objects, such as idols/talismans/runes. Some are to ward faeformers away while others are to discourage their mischief, etc.

- Weapons humans use to defend themselves from faeformers are primarily made of iron, as they burn a faeformer upon contact. Iron is a massive weakness for them.

- Another form of defense is for humans to carry a bag of sugar, which they’ll throw to the ground in front of a faeformer. The faeformer will automatically drop to their knees and count every single crystal, not stopping until they’re done, which gives a human plenty of time to run away depending on how large the bag is.

- Despite this, most humans do not end up witnessing any faeformers. The few who do are those who live near gateways to Primus, or their homes include something that attracts the faeformers to them. They were unaffected by the war between the seelie and unseelie courts.

- Time in the human world and faeformer world pass differently - what could be one day in the fae world could be one year in the human world. This is why watches and objects that tell time are valued by humans, as they believe that possessing one when in the fae world allows time to pass as it does in the human world. (Wearing a watch will make one day in primus = one day in unicron)

- Humans are seen as equals to some faeformers, and pets/dolls to others. Both types of faeformer are equally likely to try and trap a human in their world for their own amusement; it all depends on their personality and willingness.

(thank you @ezra-iolite for helping me with some of the lore ^v^)

[jaspers47]

Elle Hallows Eve # 18 - Leanan Sídhe

The Leanan Sídhe (also spelled leannán sí, because English speakers have no idea how to anglicize Irish words) is a spirit from Celtic folklore and mythology. She is often considered akin to a muse, granting the gift of inspiration in exchange for loving devotion. However, this typically results in madness for the artist in question, often culminating in an untimely death or suicide.

Translated, the name “Leanan Sídhe“ means “Fairy Lover” (as in a fairy who loves, not a lover of fairies). As mentioned in the previously published Banshee article, in an Irish context, “Fairy” is a term referring to any inhuman entity, and the Leanan Sídhe certainly fits that description. However, a more direct translation would be a lover or paramour (Leanan), and the word for a burial mound, particularly in the supernatural sense (Sídhe). 

Ireland is a nation rich in literary history and pride. Being one of the few places in Europe to maintain literacy amongst all classes, appreciation for the written word in English, Irish, Gaelic, Latin and translated foreign languages has existed throughout Irish history. With avid readers comes the need for writers, and there were no shortage of Irish writers to fulfill such a demand. There were also writers who tried and failed. Good writing makes the endeavor look easy. So easy, it seems the masters have help from the fairy folk.

Much like the Greek Muses, the Leanan Sídhe were said to bless Irish artists with the gift of inspiration. It was an oral contract, in which both participants had as much to gain as there was to lose. The artist in question was bestowed with great ideas (presumably already possessing the necessary skills and abilities to support those ideas), and in return, the Leanan Sídhe attached to him could feed on his love and devotion. But there is a price for fame and glory; many of these inspired men fell into depression, turned to drugs and alcohol, and died young with some even taking their own lives. It’s believed this is why so many brilliant minds tend to die at such a young age.

The astute readers amongst you have undoubtedly noticed something askew. Here we have an otherworldly female entity, entering into a relationship with a man, feeding off their life energy until there is nothing but a husk left. It’s true, the Leanan Sídhe have been compared to a succubus, most notably by William Butler Yeats in his 1888 work ‘Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.’ But then again, Yeats was a writer and a poet himself; his opinion would be inherently biased. But then again, again, who else but a writer would write such an opinion in the first place? Whatever way you slice it, this backhanded interpretation of the Leanan Sídhe, one of a parasite instead of a symbiont, has become the popular opinion.

But if this interpretation is incorrect, why do the artists die? Because the Leanan Sídhe, whether she knows or intends it, is both a blessing and a curse. Assuming the Leanan Sídhe is not poisoning her partner, extracting excess life force, or corrupting the artist from the inside out, there are a number of factors to be considered. The first is shame; the writer in question knows he is plagiarizing the ideas of another, and they could never come up with such well-regarded ideas on their own. They consider themselves failures who cheated their way to the top, which destroys them psychologically. The second is pride; the writer no longer has to contend with writer’s block or brainstorming, now having an unending supply of guaranteed brilliance at their disposal. They over-indulge on the rewards without earning them, destroying themselves physically. The third is inadequacy; the writer has been blessed with great ideas, feeling it is their duty and responsibility to share them. But being only human, they lack the ability to share them perfectly, passionately, and as quickly as they’d like. They either kill themselves being perfectionists, or work themselves to death, destroying themselves mentally.

It’s said that behind every great man, there’s a great woman. The Leanan Sídhe may not be a human woman, but she’s female nonetheless. Some of the greatest books, poems, songs and works of art came into fruition because of her. All she asks in return is a little appreciation and a little attention from the man she has bestowed with her gifts. And what does she receive in return? Disrespect and scorn.

[worldofcelts]

The Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann ("People of the Goddess Danu") were one of the mythical races who settled in Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians, the ancestors of modern Gaels. The Dananns were descendants of the goddess Danu. Her son Dagda was their most powerful leader of the Dananns.

The Tuatha Dé Dananns were a race of deities as well as race of heroes. They were skilled in art and science, poetry and magic.

They were said to come from four mythical cities: Falias, Gorias, Finias and Murias. When they came to live in Ireland, the Dananns received four magic treasures or talismans, one from each city. Before the Tuatha Dé Danann migrated to Ireland, they had learned all their skills from for four wizards/bards (druids) from these four cities. Morfesa from Falias, Esras from Gorias, Semias from Murias and Uiscias from Findias. (See the Druids of Danu)

After the Milesians defeated the Dananns, the Dananns either retreated to Tir na n-Og ("Land of Youth") or they continued to lived on the land with the Milesians, but their homes (subterranean palaces) were hidden by magic from the eyes of mortals. Their homes were commonly called Sidhe (síd or sídh) or the Otherworld. Another name for the Tuatha Dé Danann was the áes sídhe or the "People of the Sídhe".

In the Otherworld, the Danann remained young and seemingly immortal. Immortal in the sense, they can live a very long life and remain young, but they can be kill and destroy, just like any mortal.

There were frequent visits of the Dananns with the mortals. Sometimes they aided mortals, while other times they seek their destruction. Sometimes they sought marriage with mortals. Most of the times, the Dananns would come to the surface and meet their lovers, other times the mortals were allowed to live with them.

In the Ulster Cycle, the Tuatha Dé Danann was still seen as Celtic deities. However, in the Fenian Cycle, the Dananns had degenerated into nothing more then fey people; in another words, the Dananns became the "Fairy People". The Tuatha Dé Danann became frequently associated with fairies. Because of the Christian influences in the myths, some of them died in old age when they leave the Otherworld; that they were baptised before their death.

It should be noted that the fairies in Celtic myths (especially Irish, Welsh and Arthurian myths) had nothing to do with tiny pixie with wings that are found in folklore and children fairy tales, like Tinklebell in Peter Pan or the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. The fairies found here were human with supernatural power. Modern interpretations of fairies tend to prettify them, particularly during the Victorian period (19th century) in Britain. In early Irish and Welsh literature, they could be tall or short, beautiful or ugly. They can be benevolent beings, but at other times they can be frighteningly cruel or malign. Morrigan and Morgan le Fay would not be considered fairies in the modern sense.

(SOURCE)

[theoccultarchives]

TSO Class: Fae History and Folklore Part I

(Taken from Wikipedia)

A fairy (also fay, fae, fair folk; from faery, faerie, "realm of the fays") is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural.

Etymology

According to Thomas Keightley, the word "fairy" derives from the Latin fata, and is from the Old French form faerie, describing "enchantment". Other forms are the Italian fata, and the Provençal "fada". In old French romance, "fee" was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs.

Faie became Modern English fay. Faierie became fairy, but with that spelling now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people, with the same meaning as fay. The word "fairy" was used to represent an illusion, or enchantment; the land of the Faes; collectively the inhabitants thereof; or an individual such as a fairy knight.

Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by names such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk, the People of the Mounds, The Goodly Ones, the Good People (Welsh tylwyth teg) (Scottish, Sith) (Irish, Sidhe or Aos Si) etc.

Historical development

Sometimes the term fairy is used to describe any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term describes only a specific type of more ethereal creature or sprite. The concept of "fairy" in the narrow sense is unique to English folklore, conflating Germanic elves with influences from Celtic and Romance (French) folklores, and later made "diminutive" according to the tastes of Victorian era "fairy tales" for children. (Think little winged women, men, or children with flower dresses and acorn hats)

Fairies have their historical origin in the conflation of Celtic (Breton, Welsh) traditions in the Middle French medieval romances. Fairie was in origin used adjectivally, meaning "enchanted" (as in fairie knight, fairie queene), but was used as a name for "enchanted" creatures from as early as the Late Middle English period. In English literature of the Elizabethan era, elves became conflated with the fairies of Romance culture, so that the two terms began to be used interchangeably.

The Victorian and Edwardian eras saw an increase in interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival viewed them as part of Ireland's cultural heritage. Carole Silvers and others suggest that the fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization, and loss of folkways.

Description

Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Diminutive fairies of one kind or another have been recorded for centuries, but occur alongside the human-sized beings; these have been depicted as ranging in size from very tiny up to the size of a human child. Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant.Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans. On Orkney they were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour.

Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are very rare in the folklore; even very small fairies flew with magic, sometimes flying on ragwort stems or the backs of birds. Nowadays, fairies are often depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes. Some depictions of fairies either have them wearing some sort of footwear and other depictions of fairies are always barefoot.

Origin

The early modern fairies do not have any single origin, representing a conflation of disparate elements of folk belief, influenced by literature and speculation. Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously dead, or some form of demon, or a species completely independent of humans or angels. The folkloristic or mythological elements combine Celtic, Germanic and Greco-Roman elements. Folklorists have suggested that their actual origin lies in religious beliefs that lost currency with the advent of Christianity. These explanations are not necessarily incompatible, and they may be traceable to multiple sources.

Christian mythology

According to King James in his dissertation Daemonologie, the term "faries" was used to describe illusory spirits (demonic entities) that prophesy, consort, and transport individuals they served. In medieval times, it was believed that a witch or sorcerer who had a compact with a familiar spirit to serve them could receive these types of revelations or use them to perform various tasks.

One other Christian belief held that fairies were a class of "demoted" angels. One popular story described how, when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates of heaven shut: those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became demons, and those caught in between became fairies.Others suggested that the fairies, not being good enough, had been thrown out of heaven, but they were not evil enough for hell. This may explain the tradition that they had to pay a "teind" or tithe to hell: as fallen angels, though not quite devils, they could be seen as subjects of the devil. For a similar concept in Persian mythology, see Peri.

Demoted pagan deities

Another incorrect theory is that the fairies were originally worshiped as minor goddesses, such as nymphs or tree spirits, but with the coming of Christianity, they lived on, in a dwindled state of power, in folk belief. In this particular time, fairies were reputed by the church as being 'evil' beings. Many beings who are described as deities in older tales are described as "fairies" in invented Victorian writings. Victorian inventions of mythology, which accounted for all gods as metaphors for natural events that had come to be taken literally, explained them as metaphors for the night sky and stars. This entire Victorian view has been debunked and refuted and is now considered by scholars an antiquated and incorrect view.

Yet another belief was that the fairies were demons entirely. This belief became much more popular with the growth of Puritanism. The hobgoblin, once a friendly household spirit, became a wicked goblin. Dealing with fairies was in some cases considered a form of witchcraft and punished as such in this era.[24] Disassociating himself from such evils may be why Oberon, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, carefully observed that neither he nor his court feared the church bells.

Spirits of the dead

One popular belief was that they were the dead. This noted that many common points of belief, such as the same legends being told of ghosts and fairies, the sídhe in actuality being burial mounds, it being dangerous to eat food in both Fairyland and Hades, and both the dead and fairies living underground. Diane Purkiss observes an equating of fairies with the untimely dead who left "unfinished lives". One tale recounted a man caught by the fairies, who found that whenever he looked steadily at one, the fairy was a dead neighbor of his. This was among the most common beliefs expressed by those who believed in fairies, although many of the informants would express the belief with some doubts.

A hidden people

At one time it was a common belief that fairy folklore evolved from folk memories of a prehistoric race. It was suggested that newcomers drove out the original inhabitants, and the memories of this defeated, hidden people developed into the fairy beliefs we have today. Proponents of this theory claimed to find support in the tradition of cold iron as a charm against the fairies, which was viewed as a cultural memory of invaders with iron weapons displacing inhabitants who had only flint and were therefore easily defeated. Some 19th-century archaeologists thought they had found underground rooms in the Orkney islands resembling the Elfland in Childe Rowland. However the idea of a fallen vanquished race in hiding has fallen out of favour with scholars.

In popular folklore, flint arrowheads from the Stone Age were attributed to the fairies as "elf-shot". Their green clothing and underground homes were credited to their need to hide and camouflage themselves from hostile humans, and their use of magic a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry. In Victorian beliefs of evolution, cannibalism among "ogres" was attributed to memories of more savage races, still practicing it alongside "superior" races that had abandoned it.

Elementals

Another belief is that the fairies were an intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels. In alchemy in particular they were regarded as elementals, such as gnomes and sylphs, as described by Paracelsus. This is uncommon in folklore, but accounts describing the fairies as "spirits of the air" have been found. The belief in their angelic nature was common in Theosophist circles.

TYPES OF FAE

Deep Forest Sprites from Spiderwick Chronicles

Beansidhe - Also known as Banshee. She's an Irish death spirit whose keening (mourning wail) can be heard at night prior to a death. She's always female and always appears in a filmy, full-sized human form. Long stringy hair partially covered with a hood and a white gown is part of her attire, as is a wet and ghost-like appearance. She's also known to wear a grey, green, or black robe in different regions.

Boggarts – Malevolent household spirits that are said to cousins to the Brownie or actual Brownies that go bad if offended or ill- treated. The household form causes mischief and things to disappear, milk to sour, and dogs to go lame. The boggarts inhabiting marshes or holes in the ground are often attributed more serious evil doing, such as the abduction of children.

 Brownies - They are very small dwarf faeries who always appear as males with coal black eyes. They wear little suits of green, blue, or brown, and small caps made of felt. Their ears are slightly pointed and they have long, nimble fingers. They love to adopt homes and take care of them for the payment of a warm room and their favorite foods, which are milk, honey, ale, and cake. But don't feed them too much, or try giving them gifts, or else they will take offense and leave. Also, having a cat in your house will make them leave.

 Buttery Sprites - No one has ever seen a Buttery Sprite but their presence is known by missing food and by the havoc they wreak on those whom they believe cheat others or live the lives of hypocrites. They live in old abbeys and inns, and take any food not marked by a cross- especially fresh churned butter.

 Drakes - Drakes have never been seen by the human eye, but have been smelled. They're benevolent house spirits who will bless your hearth and multiply and keep your firewood dry in exchange for living in your home. If they are not welcomed, they will just leave, and not one of them has been known to react negatively to human mistreatment.

 Dryads - Tree-dwelling, playful, female creatures. They seem open to human contact, but are very capricious, and it would be hard to tell if one was in the mood to help, play, or just tease. Dryads prefer to live in willow trees, and are seen as not more than enchanting wisps of pure light, sometimes gently colored.

 Dwarfs - They are short, usually bearded and appear to be very old. Their aged appearance seems to be caused by the fact that they reach maturity at age three. They exist mainly in the mines in Germany , and in the mountains of Scandinavia . They are sensitive about showing their feet since they're usually deformed in some way. If you're curious about their feet, the only way to get an idea is to put flour, ash, or something of that sort in their path, and look at the footprints left. Dwarves can't be above ground during the day since sunlight turns them to stone. Some people say they exist as toads during the day and assume their usual dwarfish form at night.

 Elves - They are like faeries, and even have two classes, light and dark. As a general rule, trooping Elves are good, and solitary Elves are bad. They can sew and spin very well, and can even spin gold from grain if needed. They also spin cloth and make shoes and are known for aiding deserving humans in need. They have few enemies, the most noted being cats.

 Scandanavian Elves- An elf (plural: elves) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Reconstructing the early concept of an elf depends almost entirely on texts in Old English or relating to Norse mythology. Later evidence for elves appears in diverse sources such as medical texts, prayers, ballads, and folktales. Elves are prominently associated with sexual threats, seducing people and causing them harm. For example, a number of early modern ballads in the British Isles and Scandinavia, originating in the medieval period, describe human encounters with elves.

 Irish Elves - Elf in Ireland is a generic term for non-winged faeries. These trooping faeries are beings who live within he earth among the tangled roots of sacred trees. They go abroad during the night to aid woodland animals and occasionally reward a virtuous or unselfish human being by some act of kindness. Irish Elves do their rare good deeds to humans out of the joy of giving, and any act of overt thanks will drive them permanently away.

 Giants and Ogres - Giants look like humans but are much bigger. They have also been known to be both friendly and nasty. Ogres are about the same size as humans but have deformed faces, excessive body hair, and sometimes a hump in their backs. Ogres are usually unfriendly.

 Gnomes - Dwarf faeries who appear to be quite old because they mature very early, though their average life span is around a thousand years. They reach maturity in about a hundred years, at which time they stand about 12 inches tall and look well past middle age. They're kind-hearted and will always aid sick or frightened animals.

 Goblin - They are somewhat malicious little creatures. They can appear as animals. They are thieves and villains, and count the dead among their companions. They like to tempt people with faery fruits. They're not truly completely evil, however. Some of them can be rather nice.

 Leprechauns - Pronounced "Lep-rah-kahn". He's a solitary faery and a trickster who loves to play pranks on the humans he meets. They are always seen wearing green clothing of costly material and green tri-cornered hats. They're mischievous, but will be helpful to humans if approached with respect. They're quick-witted unless they are drunk. He guards a pot of gold, and if one can gain control of one of these wily creatures one can have the cauldron, and three wishes along with it. If he can trick you into making a fourth wish by sundown, you lose all you wishes and the crock of gold.

 Merpeople - Commonly called Mermen and Marmaids, depending upon their gender. They have the lower bodies of fish and the upper bodies and heads of humans. They appear as adult males and females of great beauty, but no children have ever been slighted. They are usually friendly and are slow to anger, but their ire can be aroused by persons who desecrate and pollute their home. Occasionally Mermaids wish to take human mates, but Mermen rarely take human brides. They seem to have trouble reproducing themselves and may need human males to further their race. Merpeople are excellent parents who cherish and protect their young.

 Nymphs - Nymph is a classification of faeries rather than a single type. There are wood nymphs, water nymphs, sea nymphs, tree nymphs, grove nymphs, etc. They have a reputation for excessive sexuality. They exist in every conceivable place in nature, and are all over Faeryland.

 Phookas - Pronounced "Pook-ahs". They're the Hobgoblins of Ireland. They have heads resembling human males, but the bodies of horses. They can fly for limited distances, though they have no wings. Phookas are trooping faeries who run in destructive packs. They are said to be extremely ugly and ill-tempered and to have frequent quarrels among themselves. Wreaking havoc is their favorite pastime, and they will go out of their way to harm children and crops. The Phookas lay claim to any crop which is not harvested by Samhain night, and to cut a plant after this time risks provoking these dangerous faeries and their malevolence. In spite, for taking what they believe to be theirs, they have been known to kill herd animals, particularly cattle. They especially love human babies and are always on the lookout for a newborn to steal. And because of their limited powers of flight they are jealous of airplanes and will do them harm whenever they can.

 Pixies - They're small, winged creatures with heads too large for their bodies. They have pointed ears and noses and arched eyebrows. Their wings are shiny and translucent, and they are usually seen wearing seasonal colors and flora. Pixies are generally friendly but are extremely capricious and given to non-malicious mischief. The little caps they wear are the tops of foxglove or toadstool, plants they hold sacred. No gender differentiation seems apparent. Excessive contact with iron can kill Pixies. These faeries are wildly attracted to flowering gardens and are often seen around Beltaine. Their queen is said to be a tiny woman of sublime beauty who has created a spring world in Faeryland which few humans can resist. They loathe human laziness and have been known to pinch a couch potato until he springs into action. Pixies are trooping faeries who love playing, dancing, and music above all else. They like to have large gatherings known in northern England as Pixie Fairs. A few humans have come upon these revels and have been allowed to watch briefly, but never asked to join in. While Pixies do not seem overanxious for human contact, they have been known to be very helpful to deserving people.

 Red Cap - The Red Cap, an emaciated man with a leathery body and little or no hair, carries a sharp wooden scythe to strike down all who invade the area he has decided to guard for the time being. Solitary and hateful in nature, we can all be grateful there is only one of him. He moves from place to place on a whim throughout the extreme lowlands of Scotland along the English border. He haunts the ruins of old castles and cairns which he guards with his life. The Red Cap he wears, and for which he was named, is said to be made of dried human blood. Some say he is a cannibal who will consume faeries and humans alike.

 Spriggans - They're small and round, but can inflate to enormous proportions by sucking in large amounts of air On the ground they're often mistaken for sharp rocks, and they live both in the mountains and in the sky. They're dangerously malevolent. In Cornwall , Spriggans are bodyguards of the Unseelie Court . In centuries past they were accused of leaving changelings, blighting crops, and being superb thieves, and they can command destructive winds at their will. Though they're immensely greedy, they don't like human misers and will save their worst for them.

 Trolls - Trolls vary in size, but they are larger than most faeries. They are hairy and bipedal, and some are quite grotesque. Trolls hate humans, animals, and other faeries. They've been best known as guardians of byways, though their help seems arbitrary and dubious. They're more like neighborhood bullies who decide upon a territory and then stake it out for the sheer meanness of doing so. Sometimes they do this all alone, but like all bullies they are really cowards who prefer to run in packs. They have little or no loyalty to these packs, and fighting among themselves is a frequent occurrence. One of their favorite pastimes is throwing rocks at other creatures, and they love to laugh for long periods of time for no reason at all. Other faeries and wild animals tend to avoid them if possible. Trolls are said to find humans ugly and are often more afraid of us and of our power than we are of them. But they are the "macho men" of the faery world and will not back away from a showdown.

 Undines - They appear like small seahorses with human faces. They are stern and yet playful, depending upon what they feel is their appropriate role at the time. They are also thought to have a somewhat seductive nature, though their very small size in relation to humans makes them little threat in that regard.

 Will-O'-the-Wisp - The Will-O'-the-Wisp appears as a collection of flickering, wavering, glowing lights low to the ground near marshes, meadows, and grassy hillocks. They are most easily seen an hour or so after sundown. These golden lights which are seen glittering enticingly in the distance have never been explained by science.

Seelie and Unseelie Courts

Art by Brian Froud

The categorization of fairies based on court is whether or not a fairy is light or dark. The Seelie court are known to seek help from humans, to warn those who have accidentally offended them, and to return human kindness with favors of their own. Still, a fairy belonging to this court will avenge insults and could be prone to mischief.The most common time of day to see them is twilight.Other names for the Seelie court are 'The Shining Throne' or 'The Golden Ones' and 'The Summer Court'. Seelies are known for playing pranks on humans and having a light hearted attitude, forgetting their sorrows quickly and not realizing how they might be affecting the humans they play pranks on.

The Unseelie Court consists of the darkly-inclined fairies. Unlike the Seelie Court, no offense is necessary to bring down their assaults. As a group (or "host"), they appear at night and assault travelers, often carrying them through the air, beating them, and forcing them to commit such acts as shooting at cattle. Like the beings of the Seelie Court who are not always benevolent, neither are the fairies of the Unseelie Court always malevolent. Most Unseelies can become fond of a particular human if they are viewed as respectful, and would choose to make them something of a pet. Some of the most common characters in the Unseelie Court are Bogies, Bogles, Boggarts, Abbey Lubbers and Buttery Spirits.The division into "Seelie" and "Unseelie" spirits was roughly equivalent to the division of Elves in Norse mythology, into "light" and "dark" distinctions.

In the French fairy tales as told by the précieuses, fairies are likewise divided into good and evil, but the effect is clearly literary. Many of these literary fairies seem preoccupied with the character of the humans they encounter.

The Welsh fairies, Tylwyth Teg, and the Irish Aos Sí are usually not classified as wholly good or wholly evil.

 Trooping Fae Vs. Solitary Fae

Art by Brian Froud

Trooping and Solitary Fairies

Yeats divided fairies into the solitary and trooping fairies, as did James Macdougall in Folk Tales and Fairy Lore. Katharine Mary Briggs noted that a third distinction might be needed for "domesticated fairies" who live in human households, but such fairies might join with other fairies for merry-making and fairs.

The trooping fairies contain the aristocracy of the fairy world, including the Irish Aos Sí. They are known as trooping faeries because they travel in long processions, such as the one from which Tam Lin was rescued. But the trooping fairies also include other fairies of lesser importance; a trooping fairy can be large or small, friendly or sinister.

Unlike the trooping fairies, solitary fairies live alone and are inclined to be wicked and malicious creatures, except for beings such as the brownie who is said to help with household chores.

Where Do Fae Live?

The Fae live all around, but most will be found in hiding and can be difficult to see unless someone has the sight or uses specific tools to see them.

The term Otherworld is used a lot in relation to where the Fae reside.

In Celtic mythology, the Otherworld is the realm of the deities and possibly also of the dead.

In Gaelic and Brittonic mythology it is usually described as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. The Otherworld is usually elusive, but various mythical heroes visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. They often reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, or by going under water or across the western sea.Sometimes, the Otherworld is said to exist alongside our own and intrudes into this one; signaled by phenomena such as magic mist, sudden changes in the weather, or the appearance of divine beings or unusual animals. An otherworldly woman may invite the hero into the Otherworld by offering an apple or a silver apple branch, or a ball of thread to follow as it unwinds.

The Otherworld is usually called Annwn in Welsh mythology and Avalon in Arthurian legend. In Irish mythology it has several names, including Tír na nÓg, Mag Mell and Emain Ablach. In Irish myth there is also Tech Duinn, where the souls of the dead gather.

The Mounds seem to be the most common place and were seen as entryways or doorways in to the Faery realm. The Fae were driven underground and out of sight from the mortals where they still reside.

Tradition claimed that ringforts were "fairy forts" imbued with Druids' magic and believers in the fairies did not alter them. The early pre-Celtic inhabitants of Ireland (known as the Tuatha Dé Danann and Fir Bolg) came to be seen as mythical and were associated with stories of fairies, also known as the "Good People". Fairy forts and prehistoric Tumuli were seen as entrances to their world.Even cutting brush, especially the sceach or whitethorn, on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act.

There are many folk tales about supernatural events happening at fairy forts. Real accidents which happened at ringforts could be given supernatural explanations. For example, a man who tried to blast a dolmen suffered a septic hand. The wrecked dolmen was subsequently left untouched.

Other traditions hold that a leprechaun may allegedly know of hidden gold in a fairy fort.

In literature, British author Rudyard Kipling made allusions to the process by which such legends grow in his 1906 novel, Puck of Pook's Hill.

What Are Fae Adverse To?

Iron

Knotted cord (usually red)

Red Berries (Rowan berries)

Inside out clothing

 REPELLING FAIRIES

 St. John's Wort

Garlands were often made of marsh marigolds and hung over the barn doors to protect the horses from being ridden to exhaustion by fairies. Flowers, especially primroses, were spread over windowsills and hung above the door-posts of the house for safety. Your best bet, however, was a plant called St. John's Wort. Wearing it was said to provide strong protection from fairy magic and mischief.

Fairies could vanish at will and remain invisible to mortal eyes as long as they pleased. Carrying a four-leafed clover would allow you to see the fairies – but only once. A Celtic tradition was to sew several of the clovers into a tiny bag to be worn around the neck. You could then discern the fairies once for each clover in the bag. In some legends, the clover was said to allow you to see through fairy glamors and magical disguises.

Iron in any form has always been the best protection against fairies – it was like kryptonite to Superman. If you kept an iron nail in your pocket, you couldn’t be carried away by them. A pair of iron shears hung on the wall near a baby’s bed was said to prevent the child from being swapped for an ugly fairy baby. Horseshoes could be nailed over doorposts.

Red berries kept fairies at bay, especially if they were from rowan trees, mountain ash or holly.

Even humble oatmeal was said to be a fairy repellent, if you carried it in your pocket or sprinkled it on your clothes. As long as you didn’t mind looking flaky, you’d be safe.

APPEASING FAIRIES

 In many cultures, protection from fairies was achieved by cooperation and respect.

 If you were Welsh, for instance, you might leave bread and milk on the back porch at night as an offering for the fairies. This was said to prevent them from playing pranks on the family and might even gain their favor. (Note – they liked butter, cream, and ale too. Especially ale.)

 If you spilled salt in Ireland, you might throw some over your shoulder in order to give the fairies their share. If you passed a body of water, or even a well, you could drop in a piece of silver for the fairy that lives there. If you were milking a cow or goat by hand, you would probably let the first few squirts fall to the ground to appease any unseen fairies that were thirsty.

 Many of the kindlier fairies were said to be offended when they saw a lack of hospitality and courtesy among human mortals, and would punish such offenses severely. On the other hand, if you were fair and honest with your fellow mortals, and practiced generosity, the fairies were likely to treat you in kind. Or, at the very least, leave you safely alone!

 Steer clear of the Mounds and Faery Rings (rings of mushrooms) lest you be pulled in to the Otherworld and disappear forever. If you happen to enter the faery realm, DO NOT eat any food that is offered to you, for if you find your way back to the mortal realm, you may never be the same. Their food was said to be delightfully satisfying that you would never feel satiated again and would wither away and die.

December 7th 2016 Fae History and Folklore Part I

Part II COMING SOON...

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Leanan sídhe

In Celtic folklore, the leannán sí (“Fairy-Lover”; Scottish Gaelic: leannan sìth, Manx: lhiannan shee; [lʲan̴̪-an ˈʃiː]) is a beautiful woman of the Aos Sí (“people of the barrows”) who takes a human lover. Lovers of the leannán sídhe are said to live brief, though highly inspired, lives. The name comes from the Gaelic words for a sweetheart, lover, or concubine and the term for inhabitants of…

[recentanimenews]

10 Magical Creatures from "The Ancient Magus' Bride" Anime

The Ancient Magus’ Bride is a world of magic. It’s a world of magical creatures inspired by English, Irish, Scottish, Celtic, Welsh, and European literature, myth, and folktale of yore. The creatures come in all shapes and sizes. They may look more like animals. They may resemble human beings. They can look like a cross of both while looking quite alien. They may be absolutely adorable to see, or a little hard to stare at. Many of these creatures are quite intelligent, with the intelligent ones sporting strong personalities. They’re autonomous beings, and they often act out of their own interests -- helping those that do favors for them and tricking others that intrigue or annoy them.

In no particular order, here is a list highlighting 10 magical creatures from The Ancient Magus’ Bride. Most of these creatures are faeries, but it would definitely be a shame to not cover other notable folk that the audience encounters alongside Chise throughout the show. This list would definitely start getting unruly if I attempted to cover every magic folk. My apologies if I didn’t include your favorites.

Titania and Oberon

Titania and Oberon are introduced in The Ancient Magus’ Bride the king and queen of the fairies (or at least the monarchs of a fairy realm). Based on characters of the same name from William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania and Oberon are foils to each other, to the extent that you might wonder how the two of them agreed to become husband and wife (outside of being powerful magical beings). Titania is motherly and magnanimous. Oberon is mischievous and free-spirited. Based on their limited appearances together in the show, Titania seems to get annoyed at Oberon antics. Titania also seems to bear a grudge against Christians, likely for the roles they played at persecuting their following and displacing belief in their existences.

Banshees and Silkies

Banshees are faeries that haunt collective families and announce the death of individual members by an ethereal shrieking or wailing. In The Ancient Magus’ Bride, banshees are supposed to move on after their lamentations to haunt another family. One particular banshee, however, refused to move on after losing the host family she cherished, long after all its members have passed away -- long after their house had become a shambling wreck. Feeling pity for this poor banshee, another fairy passing by, a Spriggan, turns her into a Silky. The Spriggan encourages the new Silky to haunt a house instead of a family. No longer bound to a family for its survival, but to a house as its caretaker, a Silky is never lonely for long, so long as there’s a family in a house to live in it and call it home.

Church Grim

The Church Grim is a fairy that takes the form of a black dog, great and overgrown. The Church Grim can behave in the following ways: (1) a beast whose visage and claws are an omen and bringer of death and malice, or(2) a guardian who protects graveyards from graverobbers. Church Grims arise as fairies from the souls of once-living dogs. A dog name refused to believe his loved one was dead. He wasted away at the foot of her grave, refusing to move on, believing she was only sleeping. The dog transformed into a Church Grim in the process -- in his conviction that she would awaken if he waited long enough. This Church Grim can take the appearance of a human at will, believing at one point that he was this girl’s human brother.

It’s unclear as what the personalities of other Church Grims are like, but Ruth in particular is an especially loyal and protective boy.

The Winter and Spring Goddess

The world of The Ancient Magus’ Bride features deities of fertility. The dark haired, black attired, and visibly pregnant Winter Goddess strides the forest during the winter yule, bringing death to all who encounter her without leaving her gifts. The child-like, snow-melt robed, and softly illuminating Spring Goddess grants favors to those who left her mother offerings. The Winter Goddess and Spring Goddess are aspects of one entity. The former in winter gives birth to the latter in spring, who then matures in summer and becomes heavy with child in winter.

The archetype of the fertility goddess is the personification of the seasonal life cycle, the cyclical destitution and fertility of the earth. Her appearance and qualities are understood as feminine due to an association of life and death with the childbearing and menopausal stages of women. In doing homage to the goddess at winter with offerings, farmers who believe in her hope that the ensuing favor they generate from the goddess allows spring to return in time for them to plant crops and keep their communities fed.

Archetypes of the fertility goddess permeate through many myths, though the direct inspiration for the show’s fertility deities hails from neopagan belief.

Leánnan Sídhe

So named because of striking color of her eye pupils, Redcurrant is a Leánnan Sídhe. In The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Leánnan Sídhe are fairies that act effectively as both succubus and muse. They haunt men, embracing them with their form of love. They gift them with creative energy and talent, and in return, they siphon and consume their life energy. Their prey tends to be men who are young, and they pass away young as a result. It’s Faustian Bargain for the Romantic poet, many of whom fell victim to love sickness -- also known as tuberculosis, also known as consumption. Unlike a Faustian Bargain, their victims don’t have much say in about accepting their affection when they come knocking.

Oddly enough though, Redcurrant seems to be hovering around an old man.She insists to Chise that she isn’t in love with him though.

Cats

The cats in The Ancient Magus’ Bride can talk. They can also walk (a less surprising fact), and they have nine lives. Every successive life that cats live after they die increases the level of their intellect. The later-lived cats are intelligent they’ve developed countries and have kings like Mollie. The cats of the show and the subplot surrounding their introduction were inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Cats of Ulthar.” In that tale, a narrator recalls a couple in his village of Ulthar. They were malicious butcherers of cats, and it was implied they met their end by the remaining cats butchering them in turn. The cats recount a similar version of their tale, sealing away the corruption of a old cat butcherer with the lives of their kings.

Dragons

Once inhabitants everywhere that there was sky, the last of the dragons of The Ancient Magus’ Bride are now confined to spend their days in a verdant valley within remote Iceland, far from most humans’ sights. Magical creatures whose sizes can shift between small and enormous based on their desires, dragons, like cats on their later lives, can talk, are intelligent, and can live for ages at a time. From sprite curious younglings to physically infirm seniors, dragons hold a clear and anxiety-free knowledge of their mortality, striving to enjoy their long lives without any regret. In the words of Nevin, the last of the old dragons, they give thanks for the time they were able to experience life. They expire and bring about new life from their corpses, mosses, grasses, and trees.

Will o’ the Wisp

Will o’ the Wisps are fairies in The Ancient Magus’ Bride that are characterized by both their mischief and their sense of duty. They leave or magick travelers astray from the paths they patrol, and lead those spirits long lost on the terrestrial plane to a destination where they can peacefully pass on. One particular Will o’ the Wisp teleports Elias and Chise out of danger, berates a Church Grim for not performing his duties, and shepherds the souls once artificially bound to a chimera into the afterlife. They brandish lanterns powered by an otherworldly coal as their tool for leading travelers or guiding spirits on. The lantern is iconic enough in popular culture that Will o’ the Wisps are well known, albeit by another name: Jack o’ Lanterns.

Ashen Eye

This mother----er Little known is about this entity in The Ancient Magus’ Bride so far except that he is incredibly old, is exceptionally powerful, and is a consummate trickster. He issues high-stakes challenges to those he unluckily encounters or purposely picks on, and delights in watching his victims struggle through, fail to, or overcome his machinations. In one instance, Ashen Eye uses a magical pelt to turn Chise into a werefox and releases her into the wilds. In another, Ashen Eye abducts a boy and erases people’s memories of that boy’s existence after he overhears the boy’s sister screaming that she doesn’t want him as a brother.

lizardboi

LOOK AT HIM

LOOK AT THIS LIZARDBOI

He makes recurring appearances in the show and basically does nothing but follow Chise around and look cute. He apparently has an official name or something but ---- that this name is lizardboi look at him.

***

A social scientist and history buff who dabbles in creative writing and anime analysis every now and again. If you’d like to get in touch with him or are interested in reading more of his works, ZeroReq011 has a Twitter you can follow and runs a Blog called Therefore It Is.

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     Watch The Ancient Magus’ Bride now on Crunchyroll!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

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Meet the Magical Residents of The Ancient Magus' Bride (Part 3)

Welcome back to The Wonderful Worlds of Fantasy! This week, we’ll be exploring some of the more recent items and creatures seen in The Ancient Magus’ Bride. Whether it be large dogs, tiny faeries, or wandering evils, everything has a root that can be traced back to real life myths, so let’s get started!

Wands

As we discussed last time, both magicians and magi come with a large and diverse history of magic, astronomy, and the unexplained. One of their most critical tools, the wand, is so deeply ingrained in this history that it has a unique history of its own. Wands can come in all sorts of sizes and shapes – from a thin rod to a largely decorated sceptre – and have a variety of purposes. Wands can vaguely be traced to the Stone Age in the form of "sticks" – long rods wielded by figures of power as a status symbol. It then became a part of many cultures, ranging from the Egyptians, who used a wand to send the departed souls to the next life, to the Romans, who used it in their mythological stories (called a caduceus, which is now a common symbol for medical practices), to the shaman in Central and East Asia, who used it as a drumming stick for ceremonies.

The true mystical power of the wand seems to originate most from Paganistic and Renaissance movements, where believers of the practice used wands to cast spells and perform rituals. Though the wand (called an athame in these rituals) was used in a more direct, aggressive fashion, many of the concepts can be linked to modern fantastical uses of wand. For example, athames were carved from a branch of a tree and often decorated for the person’s specific nature or characteristics. At other times, they were commonly associated with a particular element, like air or fire. Shamans in East Asia also may have contributed to the magical nature of the wand – they used it for religious ceremonies as well as medical purposes.

In The Ancient Magus’ Bride, wands are used as a way to better utilize and access a magi’s magic. Elias possesses more of a cane-like wand, whereas Chise makes her own wand using her magic, hair, and a tree born from the corpse of Nevus, a very old dragon. Chise can perform magic with or without the wand, but it’s seen to help her out in sticky situations, like when she wants to return home or needs to transform into a particular creature.

Chimeras

Chimeras, unlike wands or magi, come from a single source: Greek mythology. The word comes from khimaira, meaning "she-goat" or the original "chimera." Originally a fire-breathing beast that was a combination of many creatures, the term now refers to any horrid creation that features multiple animal parts. In The Ancient Magus’ Bride, one such example is Cartaphilius’ projects, and Ruth’s beloved owner, Isabel. Cartaphilius originally makes chimeras for the sole purpose of experimenting with life and death and finding a way to live without constantly suffering.

In Greek mythology, however, the chimera is often imagined as a lion-like creature, possessing a goat and lion head, a lion body, and a dragon-like tail with a snake head attached. Anyone who saw the chimera was doomed to die a terrible death; it was one of the worst omens to have. It was also a representation of an unspeakable, yet nearly immortal evil: only true heroes could defeat it in battle. The story of Heracles is one such example, as he fought off and killed the Nemean Lion, an offspring of the original Chimera. It is only Bellerophon, a mortal son of Poseidon, and the assistance of Pegasus, who slays the Chimera in one of the most striking tales about heroism in Greek mythology. There are traces of Chimera possibly originating from the Middle East and in Egyptian history, but without further proof, the Chimera is wholly a Greek creation, now a fantastical reminder of the horrors of manipulation.

Leanan sídhe

The leanan sídhe is also a direct reference, this time to Celtic culture and mythology. Stemming from the Gaelic word leannan (concubine, sweetheart) and sídhe (of the fairy mound), the leanan sídhe is a woman from the fairy folk who comes to steal mortal men’s hearts away while also becoming their muse. Her power was often a double-edged sword, giving artists and writers the greatest imagination, but also inevitable suffering and madness. In return, she gains the truest emotion that she craves for all eternity. While not originally portrayed as evil or insidious, myths about the leanan sídhe appearing as a type of vampire no doubt stemmed from many fictional tales about artists losing themselves to madness out of creativity and unhealthy inspirations. This was especially popularized by the famous W.B. Yeats, who called the leanan sídhe a "bloodsucking vampire." From there on, this myth was passed on by other famous artists until it became a common belief.

In The Ancient Magus’ Bride, the leanan sídhe is a resident of Joel Garland's garden, taking on the form of a faerie vampire that can slowly suck the lives out of lovers in return for giving them great talent. She intentionally kept herself distant from Joel so he would not die an early death. Unbeknownst to her and Joel however, she still had an effect of making his garden bloom while also slowly draining him of life. After Joel passes away, she decides to remain in his garden, refusing to find any more lovers to ruin.

Next time: Cats? Banshees? Werewolves? In Part 4, we’ll be looking at more mystical creatures of The Ancient Magus' Bride and where they come from!

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When not finding ways to doom all her ships, Natasha can often be found on her twitter as @illegenes, or writing more about anime on the blog Isn’t It Electrifying! Feel free to swing by and say hi.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com