Fairies and spirits from myths and folktales around the world, such as elves, sylphs and banshees, explained from the legends that inspired modern fantasy.
Entries: 41
"Photos with fairies" taken by two girls in the English village of Cottingley in 1917. Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, presented them as genuine, sparking great controversy, but in 1983 the two confessed they had used cut-out drawings.
Little people of Ainu folklore, whose name is said to mean "people under the butterbur leaves" in the Ainu language. They once traded with the Ainu but are said to have left after being seen. It is one of the best-known legends of Hokkaido.
The king of the fairies in European folklore. He appears as a dwarf king in a medieval French romance and became widely known as the fairy king in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
A water spirit in the form of a horse said to live in the sea and lochs of Scotland. Even more dangerous than the kelpie, it was feared for dragging riders into the water and eating everything but the liver.
The queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Through a trick played by her husband, the fairy king Oberon, she falls in love with a craftsman whose head has been turned into a donkey's. A moon of Uranus is named after her.
A fairy people rooted in Norse mythology, said to include light elves and dark elves. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings created the standard fantasy image of a long-lived, beautiful race.
A female fairy of Irish folklore who announces death by wailing. Attached to old families, she is said to cry around the house before a family member dies. In English she has also become a byword for wailing.
An ugly, mischievous little creature of European folklore. There are also friendly hobgoblins that live in houses. Through Tolkien's works, goblins became standard enemy characters in games.
An old word for the fairies of Europe. It comes from the Latin for "fate" and is the origin of the English "fairy." Sometimes, as with Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend, it refers to a woman with magical powers.
An air spirit in Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Serving the magician Prospero, Ariel raises a storm and is finally granted freedom. A moon of Uranus is named after this spirit.
The general name for nature spirits in Greek mythology. They dwell in springs, rivers, the sea, mountains and trees in the form of young, beautiful women. There are many kinds, including naiads, nereids and dryads.
A tree spirit (nymph) of Greek mythology, said to live especially in oak trees. The hamadryad, who shares her life with a tree, is said to die when the tree dies.
The elemental spirit of earth among the four elemental spirits. Gnomes are little people said to move freely underground and guard minerals and treasure. They are also known from the ceramic "garden gnome" figures that originated in 19th-century Germany.
The elemental spirit of fire among the four elemental spirits, depicted as a lizard living in fire. Since ancient times it has been believed to be "a creature that can live even in fire," and its name is also the English name of real amphibians.
The elemental spirit of water among the four elemental spirits. Undines were said to gain a soul by marrying a human, and the idea spread as a tragic love story through Fouque's novel Undine. It also gave its name to the medical term "Ondine's curse."
The elemental spirit of wind (air) among the four elemental spirits, described by the 16th-century physician Paracelsus. Sylphs are said to be slender and beautiful, and the feminine form "sylphide" also became the subject of a ballet.
A small, mischievous fairy of Cornwall and Devon in southwestern England. Pixies are known for leading travelers astray, and it is said that wearing your coat inside out breaks the spell.
A fairy in the form of a large black cat with a white spot on its chest, from the folklore of Scotland and Ireland. It is said to steal the souls of the dead, but also to bring good luck to houses that leave out milk.
A water spirit in the form of a horse said to live in the rivers and lochs of Scotland. Feared for luring people in the form of a beautiful horse and dragging anyone who mounted it into the water, it can also take human form.
A rock towering over the banks of the Rhine in Germany, and the legend of a beautiful maiden who sings there and lures boatmen to their doom. The song "Die Lorelei," Silcher's setting of Heine's poem, was also loved in Japan as a school song.
