fairy animals

(Extract from the Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Fairies)

ADDER - in Scottish lore the adder, a poisonous SNAKE, often represents the power of the CAILLEACH or fairy HAG of winter. At IMBOLC [2^nd February], it is defeated by the lamb of the maiden BRIGHID.

AHUIZOTL is an Aztec WATER FAIRY who resembles a cross between a DOG and a monkey, but with a human hand at the end of its tail. It lures people into water, where it devours their eyes, teeth and nails.

ANTHROPOPHAGI  [‘Man Eating’] are strange fairies are mentioned in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor and in Othello. They have no heads, their brains are near their sexual organs, their eyes appear on their shoulders and their mouths in the centres of their chests. They have no noses at all. They are cannibals and eat human beings, afterwards using the bones for tools and the skulls for cups.

ARIMASPEANS [‘One-eyed’] are strange beings who lived near the route along which votive offerings were sent to the Greek god Apollo’s shrine. Their name means ‘one-eyed’ and it may be a code for MUSHROOMS, perhaps FLY AGARIC mushrooms, used shamanically. There are many one-eyed spirits and fairies.

ATUA or Nuku Mai Tore [‘People of the Otherworld’] are Polynesian fairies who fly and live in the trees. They are nature fairies, or NYMPHS, manifest in animals, plants, and the weather though they sometimes marry humans and act like HOUSE FAIRIES. The atua are highly honoured and it is not permitted to speak their names.

AUGHISKY or Augh-Iska is a ghoulish Irish WATER HORSE that inhabits streams and lochs and lures human victims into the water where it tears them to pieces and devours them, leaving only their livers. It comes ashore in November, and if you can catch one, saddle and bridle it, then it will make a fine horse, but never ride it near the water or it will return to its origins and unpleasant habits.

BADBH or Badb or Bahbh ['Raven' or ‘Scald-crow’] is a generic term in Ireland for a bad fairy, a WITCH or type of BANSHEE that appears as a CROW or RAVEN to presage death. The term is probably derived from the name of the Celtic war goddess Badbh who appears in triad with NEMAIN and MACHA under the collective name of MORRIGAN. She sometimes appears as a lovely maiden, at other times as an ugly HAG or bird. She presides over the battlefield and is seen before a battle washing the armour of those about to die. She manifested as a WASHER AT THE FORD to the hero Cuchulain. She may be one of the origins of the BANSHEE, since a common form of a banshee is a crow, perching on the house of one about to die.

BAKU, the Eater of Dreams, causes NIGHTMARES in Japan. It has the head of a lion, the body of a HORSE, the tail of a COW, and the feet of a tiger.

BLACK DOGS or phantom hounds are found all over Britain and Europe. They appear in lonely places; CROSSROADS, bridges, old roads, deserted country lanes, churchyards, burial MOUNDS, wells and bridges. They linger near field stiles and gates. They seem to guard man made structures, particularly borders of various kinds, some speculate on a connection between black dogs and LEY LINES. They are usually slightly larger than mortal dogs, have red, green or burning eyes or just a single eye. Some are headless and have their saucer eyes floating before them. East Anglia, Essex and Buckinghamshire all have instances of spectral dogs that vanished in sensational flashes, in one case burning to death a farmer, his horse and wagon.[1]

The black dog is an object of fear and terror. Its appearance is usually an ill omen, portending death for the one that sees it or a member of their family. Charles Walton met a black dog on his way home to Alveston, on NINE successive evenings. On the ninth night a headless dog charged past him and the succeeding day, he heard of his sister's death. [2]In East Anglia, when a man is dying, it is said that ‘the Black Dog is at his heels’. Some black dogs will commit murder and mutilation themselves. The inspiration for the death-hound of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles was the tale of a Dartmoor black dog.

                There are hundreds of black dogs all over England [forty in the county of Wiltshire alone], and they often have local names. In East Anglia, the dog is BLACK SHUCK or Old Shuck; in Suffolk Old Shock; in Somerset the Gurt Dog. In the North of England, we find the BARGUEST, Black Shag, Padfoot and Hooter, Gytrash and Trash or Skriker. On the Isle of Man is the MODDEY DHOO. In addition to single black dogs, there are packs of spectral hounds, some of which are accompanied by WILD HUNTSMEN. These are seen all over Europe and include the British GABRIEL HOUNDS, Gabble Retchets, Dandy Dogs, Yeff Hounds, Wisht Hounds, and the Cwm Annwn, the WILD HUNT and Woden's Hunt in Scandinavia. All are a warning of death or disaster.

BLACK SHAG is a fearful BLACK DOG whose appearance is an OMEN OF DEATH.

BLACK SHUCK or Old Shuck is a phantom dog that haunts the mud flats of East Anglia, particularly the area around Devil’s Ditch. The name is derived from the Saxon word for an evil spirit scucca. Grendel, the monster of the Old English epic poem Beowulf,  was described as a scucca and ‘from his eyes shone a fire-like, baleful light’. Black Shuck is variously described as having a single eye set in the centre of his head, or having glowing red eyes, or even as being headless, yet having glowing red or green fiery eyes suspended in front of him. He emerges from his lair at dusk and haunts riverbanks and lonely roads, sometimes vanishing in churchyards. When a Black Shuck appears it is generally an OMEN OF DEATH, and in Norfolk it is said that no one can see a Black Shuck and live. People in lonely places have sometimes felt its icy breath on their necks, and in East Anglia, when people are dying, it is said that ‘the BLACK DOG is at his heels’. The Essex Shuck is kindlier and protects travellers in lonely places. In Suffolk the Black Shuck is believed to be harmless if left alone, but if challenged will strike and kill the aggressor. The Norfolk Shuck is terrifying, an ebony creature whose fiendish howls can be heard above the wildest gales. The Cambridgeshire Shuck is sinister and may be seen between Wicken and the marshes of Spinney Abbey. His appearance warns of a death in the family.

BLACKBIRD - in Welsh lore these are birds which enchant the hearer and lead them into the fairy OTHERWORLD. They are called the Birds of RHIANNON.

BUTTERFLIES are the symbol of the SIDHE in Irish lore. Fairies are often pictured as riding on the backs of butterflies. ANGELS and fairies were sometimes depicted with butterfly wings by mediaeval artists. In Celtic cultures, the butterfly is an emblem of the human soul, or perhaps a soul in actuality. The ancient Celts wore butterfly badges as a mark of respect for the ancestral spirits of the DEAD.

CAIT SITH [‘Fairy Cat’] is a black CAT of the Scottish Highlands, with one white spot on its breast. It belongs to the fairies. However, it may be that the cat is really a transformed WITCH.

CAT - fairies often transform themselves into cats, usually WHITE ones, and it is difficult to know whether a supernatural cat is really a fairy or its pet. In Ireland, ordinary cats are thought to be practically fairies themselves and on the ISLE OF MAN the cat is the only creature tolerated by fairies when they enter a house at night. Indeed, the tailless Manx cats were bred by fairies. The Celts believed that looking into a cat's eyes would enable you to see the fairies, or see into the OTHERWORLD.

There are many legends of fairies taking the forms of cats. Fairy cats come in a variety of forms. One wild breed, as large as dogs, are black with a white spot on their breasts, arched backs and erect bristles. In Scotland the Cait Sith [‘fairy cats’] have dark green eyes and very long ears, though many believe these are really WITCHES in disguise. Fairy cats still keep appearing in Britain; there are regular newspaper reports of unearthly cats, usually black. Sometimes they are the size of ordinary cats but are often much larger.

CATH PULUG  [‘Clawing Cat’] is a monstrous fairy CAT which was slain by King ARTHUR or some say Sir Kay.

CENTAURS [‘Those Who Round Up Bulls’] have the upper bodies of men and the lower bodies of other beasts, usually horses [hippocentaur] but sometimes donkeys [onocentaur] or even fish [ichthyocentaur], as do many modern fairies who are half animal in appearance. In Greek myth Centaurs were the children of Ixion, a mortal man who tried to seduce the goddess Hera. Outraged at his impudence, Zeus formed a cloud in the shape of Hera and Ixion was deceived into mating with it. From this union the monster Centaurus was produced, who later mated with the horses on Mount Pelion who gave birth to centaurs. They are usually wild and unruly but one called Chiron was wise and skilled. He taught many of the Greek heroes including Herakles, and at his death was placed in the stars as the constellation Sagittarius.

                It has been suggested that at some point in the early days of horse riding, a man mistook horse and rider for a single beast and this gave rise to a myth of centaurs. Alternatively, it may have been a term applied to the Scythians, who spent most of their time on horseback, rounding up their cattle, and who were reputed to have appalling manners and customs.

CHEVAL BAYARD is a mischievous Normandy fairy who appears in the form of a HORSE but when humans get astride him he throws them into the bushes. He is the horse form of the LUTIN.

CHÈVRES DANSANTES ['Dancing GOATS'] are dancing French fairies which appear as the Northern Lights.

COBS are Warwickshire HOBGOBLINS and much feared. They were originally evil fairies who took the shape of HORSES [cob is another word for a saddle horse]. From them came the now defunct HALLOWEEN custom of going out with a mock horse head covered in a sheet to frighten the timid. [3]

COWS are a subject of great interest to fairies. European fairies frequently manifest as cows, usually WHITE in colour, while Egyptian fairies are associated with the cow-headed goddess HATHOR. Many fairies steal MILK from unattended cattle or attack them as they stand in the byre, only deterred by special charms such as ROWAN and RED THREAD, or PRIMROSE bouquets.

 Fairies keep herds of cattle themselves, customarily under a lake or beneath the sea where the animals graze on seaweed. Occasionally one of these cro sith or ‘fairy cattle’ appears on the shore as a gift for a human farmer. He is fortunate, as it will provide endless supplies of milk. There are several Scots legends of fairy cattle left as gifts, identified by their round ears. In Ireland a sacred white heifer would appear every MAY DAY to bring luck to a certain farmer. Sometimes though, the fairies send an enchanted cow into a mortal herd in order to steal cattle. If the farmer is not vigilant it will lure his herd into a fairy MOUND and they will never be seen again. Sometimes when fairies steal away a cow the appearance of the cow is left but the substance is gone. The cow will pine away and die within a short space of time.

Otherworldly cattle are common in British and Irish lore, recognised by their red or round ears. A herd of cattle descended from fairy cows have grazed the parkland around Chillingham Castle in Northumberland since the thirteenth century. They have the red ears and white coats of fairy cattle, and it is said that they will kill anyone who touches them. A white fairy calf haunts the countryside around Liphook in Hampshire.

According to an old belief if a man should give a cow to the poor, at his death the spirit of the animal will return to guide him to the OTHERWORLD. See also DUN COW.

CROW [Corvus corone corone]- fairies are often accompanied by, or change into crows, though crows, RAVENS and other black carrion birds are interchangeable in many mythologies. The Greek for crow corone also yields corax or 'raven', while in Latin corus or 'raven' has the same root as cornix which means 'crow'. Whether natural or supernatural, crows were considered to be OMENS, particularly of death; a crow in a churchyard is a portent of death. The crow is a carrion bird that feeds on corpses,  known as birds of the scaffold, since they were often found perching and feeding on the old gibbets. It was very much associated with WITCHES and witchcraft and was said to have the gift of PROPHECY, and therefore became an ingredient in many potions used in fortune telling. The crow is a form taken by several ancient HAG goddesses and fairies, such as the Greek Coronis, the Irish BADB, and the MORRIGAN.

CUCKOO is the eun sith or ‘fairy bird’ of TIR-NAN-OG. In the winter it disappears from the land and enters the fairy MOUNDS, not to be seen again in Britain and Ireland until the spring.

CURUPIRA or Curupuri or Caypór or Cururipur is a kind of forest HOBGOBLIN or WILD MAN of Brazil who is ugly and deformed with RED skin, red eyes, back to front cloven FEET and long shaggy, RED HAIR. A piercing cry of ‘te wo yi’ sometimes resounds through the forests and this is attributed to him, though he is not generally considered very threatening. However, he does protect tortoises from hunters.

CWN ANNWN  [‘Hounds of ANNWN’or 'Hounds of Hell'] are Welsh Hounds of the UNDERWORLD, red eared, white fairy dogs of the WILD HUNT. The Hunt  is lead by ARAWN, or sometimes by GWYN AP NUDD who is both the King of the Fairies and the King of the Dead.  It rides out on wild and stormy nights to pursue the souls of the newly dead. To hear it is an OMEN OF DEATH. The call of the dogs grows quieter the nearer they come, sounding 'like that of small beetles', but in the distance their cry is full of lamentation 'like that of a bloodhound'. [4] They are called Cwn-wybir ['Sky-dogs'] since their eerie cries are heard from the air, and Cwn bendith eu Mammau ['Dogs of the Fairies'].

DANDO AND HIS DOGS or Dandy Dogs is a Cornish version of the WILD HUNT, said to be lead by the DEVIL himself or by Dando. The BLACK DOGs breathe fire and utter terrible cries. Dando was the name of a parson of St Germans who was given to all forms of disreputable behaviour and was passionately fond of hunting. One Sunday he and his friends were out hunting over St. Earth way and were joined by a strange huntsman on a splendid fiery horse. At the close of the hunt, Dando called for a drink, but he had already emptied all the flasks and horns his servants had with them.

                ‘Well, if you can’t find any on earth, go to hell for it!’ he cried. The stranger bowed and handed him a drinking horn. Dando drained it and declared it the best he had ever tasted. Then he fell to quarrelling with the stranger about whose bag the game belonged to and Dando declared he would go to hell rather than let the stranger have it.

‘So you shall!’ exclaimed the stranger, and seizing Dando plunged with him and his dogs into the deepest pool, going down in a cloud of steam and fire. Dando and dogs are still heard early on Sunday mornings, pelting past in full cry.[5]

DARTMOOR HOUNDS is a Devonshire version of the WILD HUNT, a pack of ghostly dogs that fly through the night sky to pursue their quarry.

DEER and red deer [Cervus elaphus] in particular are associated with fairies. Fairy women often assume the form of red deer. On the Isle of Mull deer are said to be the only cattle of fairies. During the winter they are protected by the CAILLEACH or HAG and her women, who herd and milk them. Tradition has it that no deer is ever found dead with age, and the shed horns are never found because the fairies hide them. Fairies dislike deer hunters and throw ELF-BOLTS at them. When a slain deer is carried home at night the fairies press down on the bearer’s back until he feels as though he is carrying a house. Should he stick an IRON or steel knife in the carcass it will frighten off the fairies and the body will become light again.

DOGS hate fairies and chase them, but when they return all the hair is scraped off their bodies and they die soon after. However, fairies keep special hounds themselves. These cu sith ['fairy dogs'] act as guides to the fairy realms and lead people into the UNDERWORLD. They are usually green or white with RED ears, though in Wales pure WHITE dogs are considered to be fairy dogs. In Eastern Europe fairy dogs have white rings around their necks and carry fairies around at night on their backs. The Irish hero Finn Mac Cumhal’s dog Bran was of the fairy breed and was described as having yellow feet, black sides, a white belly, a green back, and red ears. Bran’s venomous bite killed whatever it struck. The fairy dog makes its lair in the clefts of rocks and travels in a straight line. It barks only THREE times and by the time the third bark is heard the victim is overtaken unless he has reached a place of safety.

Dogs are associated with death and the underworld. Even ordinary dogs are thought to be able to see GHOSTS and to be able to foretell disaster and the death of their owners - a dog howling at night is an OMEN OF DEATH. There are many tales of ghostly and phantom hounds, usually BLACK DOGS that haunt lonely places. Ghostly dogs haunt the northern and eastern coasts of Britain. This may be a folk memory of the Viking invaders who brought with them the stories of the Hounds of Odin. The mud flats of East Anglia are haunted by a phantom dog known as BLACK SHUCK or Old Shuck, a name derived from the Saxon word for the Devil, succa. He is variously described as having a single eye set in the centre of his head, or having glowing red eyes, or even as being headless, yet having glowing eyes suspended in front of him. A black dog is often associated with magic and witchcraft, demonic powers and death, and often appears as a warning of death.

Many legends of Britain and Europe tell of the WILD HUNT, a pack of ghostly dogs who fly through the night sky to pursue their quarry. The hunt was known to the Saxons as Einherier or Herlathing, the hunt is also called WISHT HOUNDS or DARTMOOR HOUNDS. The leadership of the hunt has been ascribed to HERNE THE HUNTER, King ARTHUR, the DEVIL, Charlemagne, GWYN AP NUDD, Odin and Woden. The prey is variously a white stag, a white boar, white-breasted maidens, or the souls of the damned. Some say the hounds are the souls of UNBAPTISED CHILDREN. One Cornish tale concerned a small black dog accidentally left behind by the hunt, which had to be looked after well and fed for a year before being claimed by the hunt or bad luck would follow. Perhaps one of the reasons dogs are associated with death and the underworld is because they are used to hunt down and kill prey.

Dogs have a long history as companions to humankind. There is evidence that in Palaeolithic times they shared humankind’s homes and work, guarding houses, flocks and possessions. They have become the symbol of watchfulness and loyalty. As well as being a mundane guardian, dogs were also guardian of the THRESHOLD, Underworld TREASURE and the boundaries between the worlds. In Neolithic and Bronze Age burial sites ritually killed dogs have been found, buried to serve as spirit guardians. [6] Dogs feature in ritual sacrifice and early burial rituals; as recently as mediaeval times they were buried in doorways or the walls of buildings to protect the house. Dog gall was made into a perfume and anointed onto walls to prevent evil spirits and witchcraft from entering a house. It was once a superstition that the first person to be buried in a churchyard would have to guard any subsequent buried souls, so it was the custom to sacrifice a dog to serve as a substitute- specifically a completely black one without a single white hair - and bury it in the foundation of the church. This is perhaps the origin of the English CHURCH GRIM and the Scandinavian KIRKOGRIM where a similar practice was current.

The dog was often seen as conveying the soul to the OTHERWORLD and hounds accompanied messenger gods and psychopomps such as Hermes and Mercury. In Greek myth Cerberus the THREE-headed dog guarded the entrance to the Underworld. The dog also was connected to the chthonic goddess Hecate. The Greek god of healing Asculapius is usually pictured with a dog companion. He bears in his hand a staff with two twining SNAKES symbolising resurrection from the UNDERWORLD. The jackal headed Egyptian god Anubis is usually pictured as accompanying Thoth, god of secret knowledge, and a dog accompanies the Phoenician hero Malkarth. It is a symbol of the Underworld, its guardian; it guards the secret knowledge of death and resurrection. The Welsh god of the Underworld had a pack of dogs with white bodies and red ears called the CWN ANNWN, or hellhounds. In Norse myth the dog Garm guarded the road to the Underworld. In some legends of the Underworld the entrance is through water and in folktales ghostly dogs lead travellers into pools and drown them. The Celtic sea god MANANNAN had such a pack. According to the Mabinogion two greyhounds were presented to Arawn, Lord of the Underworld. It is likely that the Celts ate dog meat as part of some underworld ritual.[7]

DOG OF BOULEY or Le Tchan de Bouole is a Jersey phantom hound or BLACK DOG, which appears when storms are brewing.

DRAGONS appear all over the world. They are associated with the elements, the seasons, the weather, and various natural forces. In the Balkans, dragons are associated with WEATHER FAIRIES and demons of the storm. In Celtic myth, dragons are creatures of the OTHERWORLD. For the ancient Chinese the dragon represented the energy of the earth, stretching across countries in dragon lines. Some equate these with LEY LINES, since straight lines often link places with names relating to the dragon or worm, such as Dragon Hill, or with names dedicated to dragon slaying saints, such as St. George or St. Michael. These places are associated with fairies. Like fairies, dragons often guard a TREASURE in a deep CAVE.

DRAKES or Grak or Krat or Drachen are English, German and Scandinavian fire fairies who are said to smell like rotten eggs, and their presence is usually only betrayed by the stench, though they are sometimes glimpsed as a flaming ball. They only take on the character of fire when they fly, when they look like streaks of flame or fiery balls with long tails. Otherwise they look like small boys with RED CAPS and coats. They are HOUSE FAIRIES who move into a house and keep the firewood dry and bring gifts of gold and grain to the master of the house. The bond is between the male head of the house and the male drake, and is a serious pact, often written in blood. [Originally the spirits of the drakes were kept imprisoned in carved mandrake roots.] The drake takes care of the house, barn and stables, making sure that the pantry and money chest are well stocked. They can travel the world in a split second, and bring their masters a present back from far away places. In return, the master keeps the drake fed and treated with respect. Should the drake be insulted the house will not be there long. If you see a drake on its travels, take shelter, for they leave behind a poisonous sulfurous fug. If you quickly shout "half and half" or throw a knife at the creature, then the drake may drop some of its booty in your lap. If two people together see a drake, they should cross their legs in silence, take the fourth wheel off the wagon and take shelter. The drake will then be compelled to leave them some of his haul. See also FIRE DRAKE.

DUN COW - there are several Dun Cows in Scottish and English fairy lore, such as the Dun Cow of McBrandy's Thicket, and the Dun Cow of Kirkham. They are fairy COWS who are either mischievous, or which give copious amounts of MILK. A DUN is a fairy hill.

EACH-UISGE [‘Water Horse’] is a race of Scottish fairy WATER HORSES that live in lochs and the sea. They sometimes trick people into riding them, carry them off into the water, and devour them, except for the livers. They may appear as human men in order to court women, but can be recognised by the fact they have water weed in their hair.

EAGER is a fairy of the River Trent in England. Bargees used to say that when the river was flooding, 'Eager was coming'. The name may be derived from the Gaelic for horse each, or possibly from Aegir, the Norse sea god.[8] The fairy may be a type of WATER HORSE.

FAET FIADA [‘The Look of an Animal’] is the power of SHAPESHIFTING bestowed upon the TUATHA DÉ DANAAN by the god MANANNAN after the Milesian Celts invaded Ireland and forced them into hiding.  It enables them to assume the appearance of animals in order to avoid detection.

FAIRY ANIMALS - a number of animals are particularly associated with the fairies. In Celtic cultures, the BUTTERFLY is an emblem of both the human soul and the SIDHE. In Irish, British and European lore fairies appear as cats and also keep pet cats. The tailless Manx cats from the ISLE OF MAN were bred by the fairies. The fairy King of the Cats dwells as an ordinary cat by day living on the Isle of Man, and travels the country at night as a royal cat to avenge any slights given to him during the day.

Fairies are very interested in cows. WITCHES and fairies were often blamed for stealing MILK from cows, either by making milking motions from a distance, or by taking the form of a hare or hedgehog to suckle from the cow. Strange cows found on the seashore are called cro sith or ‘fairy cows’, because they are of no mortal breed but live under the water on seaweed. Otherworldly cattle are common in British lore, recognised by their red or round ears, and are generous creatures that gave an unending supply of milk to their human owners.

The stag was one of the four sacred animals of the Celts. Red deer in particular are associated with fairies and in Mull, they are said to be their only cattle. Fairy women often assume the form of red deer. Fairies dislike deer hunters and throw ELF-BOLTS at them. During the winter, the stag herds are protected by the CAILLEACH.

 Fairy dogs act as guides to the fairy realms and lead people into the UNDERWORLD. They are usually green or white with red ears, but Black Dogs appear in many areas of Britain as evil omens. Several legends of Britain tell of the Wild Hunt, a pack of ghostly dogs who fly through the night sky to pursue the souls of the damned.

A large number of fairies are associated with goats, either because they have goats’ legs, or because they shapeshift into complete goats. English country people said that it was not possible to see a goat for twenty-four hours continually, as at some point he must go and visit either the fairies or his master the devil to pay homage and have his beard combed.

Fairies love horses. When horses neigh at night, they are being ridden hard by fairies or witches. The TUATHA DÉ DANAAN kept magical fairy horses in the hollow hills. These were made of fire and flame and were as swift as the wind. There are also many stories of water horses called each sith, ‘the unearthly horse’ or ‘fairy horse’.

According to Welsh lore pigs originated in fairyland and the first seen by humans were a gift to Pryderi from the King of the UNDERWORLD. The sea god Manannan kept a magical herd of pigs in his underworld kingdom. There are tales of fairy pigs in the Isle of Man and at Andover in Hampshire, a spectral pig is seen on New Year's Eve.

The cuckoo is eun sith or ‘fairy bird’ of TIR-NAN-OG, coming from the words of the god/fairy ANGUS OG. It goes to the mysterious realm of the Land of the Dead in winter, entering the fairy mounds. In additions several other birds are associated with fairies, including the OWL, the CROW, the RAVEN, the wren, and the SWAN, while fairy WELL GUARDIANS appear in the form of FROGS, TOADS, and salmon.

FAIRY HART or Fairy Hind - in many stories a fairy hart, usually WHITE, appears to mark the beginning of a quest. The hart often symbolises the pursuer’s own soul, and the chase his quest for spiritual knowledge. A hart led King ARTHUR through a CAVE to MORGAN LE FAY’S palace, where he was shown the heavens and the earth. In another old tale from Somerset the Lord of Kilmersdon was distressed when a plague troubled his subjects. Riding homewards one MAY EVE he chanced to see the white fairy hart that dwelled in the forest among the other DEER. He followed it for a mile until it vanished. With it went all his care and dismay and he suddenly felt a great joy. In gratitude, he built the Lady Chapel at Kilmersdon Church.

FAIRY LAMB is a lucky fairy beast that occasionally appeared among flocks on the ISLE OF MAN. Its fleece was partially or completely RED. However, it had to be treated with caution. One lady saw a strange little lamb with a red saddle and a red bridle. She reached out to touch it but it sprang up and disappeared, which was as well, for if she had touched it she would have developed a paralysed or withered arm.[9]

FAMILIAR - a guardian spirit which accompanies a person through life. It may manifest as a person or an animal. During the witch trials in Britain fairies were believed to be the familiars of WITCHES or it was thought that they worked together. James Walsh, a Dorset witch convicted in Exeter in 1566, admitted he learned how to bewitch people from fairies. Some fairies are said to be personal familiars such as the FYLGIAR, HALTIA, LEANAN SIDHE, OBERYCOM, LARS FAMILIARIS, PUCK-HAIRY, BAJANG and BAKRU. See also CO-WALKER. 

FAULA or Fauna is the Roman spirit of the wildwood, the female counterpart of FAUNUS.

FAUN pl. Fauni are the gentler classical Roman equivalent of SATYRS, Fauns are mischievous woodland fairies with the heads and torsos of handsome young men, the legs of GOATS [or some say DEER] and small horns on their foreheads. They may be seen dancing with NYMPHS in woodland glades, playing a type of flute called a shawn. Fauns are the companions of the god of nature FAUNUS and are the guardians of the fields and forests. The Italian fairies the FOLETTI are said to be descended from fauns. Compare with PUCK, ROBIN GOODFELLOW, PAN, SATYRS.

FAUNAE or Fatuae are the female FAUNI. The mating of a male and female faun produces an INCUBUS.

FAUNUS is the Roman nature spirit and patron of the fields and shepherds. He prophesies through the whispering of the wind in the trees. He is the leader of the FAUNI, and may be compared with the Greek PAN. Like many nature spirits he is half man, half GOAT in appearance. His female counterpart is called Fauna or Faula. Some say that there was originally a race of fauns who coalesced into one being called Faunus, others that the god came first and was multiplied into a race of fauns. Compare with PUCK, ROBIN GOODFELLOW, PAN and SATYRS.

FIERY DRAKE is a ball of flame that leads Peak District miners to the richest ores. See also DRAKES, FIREDRAKE.

FIRE DRAKES are DRAGON-like creatures with sinuous necks, bat wings, and massive jaws in Celtic and Germanic lore. They cannot see well but have a good sense of smell. They are cunning and malicious, breathe fire from their mouths and guard TREASURE.

FROGS are featured in many folk and fairy tales. Sometimes a human being is turned into a frog for offending a fairy or WITCH, or sometimes fairies themselves appear as frogs or TOADS. The frog was a sacred creature for the Celts who associated it with healing. There is an ancient healing spring at Acton Barnett, in Shropshire  , where the guardian fairies of the well appear as frogs. The largest of the THREE is addressed as the Dark God.

FROG STONES are yellowish stones have the shape of a frog and are said to be lucky. They are fairy gifts reputedly found near large ponds and lakes.

FUWCH GYFEILIORN was a fairy COW belonging to a band of fairies from the region of Llyn Barfog, a lake near Aberdovey in Wales. At dusk the fairies appear, clad all in GREEN, accompanied by their milk white hounds and milk WHITE cattle.

Once a farmer caught one of these cows and his fortune was made: it produced such butter, milk and cheese as was never seen. He called the cow Fuwch Gyfeiliorn and its fame spread. The farmer became rich beyond his dreams until one day he stupidly got it into his head that the fairy cow was getting old and he ought to fatten her for slaughter. They fatal day arrived and despite the pleading eyes of the cow the butcher raised his arm and struck her a dreadful blow. Suddenly there was an almighty shriek and the bludgeon went right through the head of the cow and felled NINE men standing close by. To everyone’s astonishment a GREEN LADY arose from the lake and softly called to the cow. Together they disappeared back beneath the waters, never to be seen again.[10]

GABRIEL’S HOUNDS or Gabriel Hounds or Gabriel Ratchets or Gabble Retchets or Ratchets are a version of the WILD HUNT found in Northern England, primarily in Durham and Yorkshire. Their leader is Gabriel, who is cursed to lead the hounds until doomsday as punishment for hunting on the Sabbath day. The hounds fly through the air to chase the damned, baying all the while. Some say that they are the souls of UNBAPTISED CHILDREN. To hear them is an OMEN OF DEATH.

GALLEY TROT is a BLACK DOG that haunts the headland north of Dunwich in Suffolk, England. He is also known in the North Country and some describe him as a white dog the size of a bullock that pursues anyone who flees from him.[11]

GANDREID is the Norwegian WILD HUNT.

GENIUS, pl. GENII is a spirit which rules over a person, place or nation. Originally, the genius was a sort of male Roman HOUSE FAIRY who protected the household and the fertility of the family in it. In this he was helped by his female counterpart the Iuno or Juno. Its Greek equivalent was the DÆMON and Christian counterpart the guardian angel. Later the genius came to represent the personification of an individual’s personality, or the spirit of a place or group of people such as a nation. These latter genii were depicted as SNAKES. The word genius is often used to denote the spirit of the forest, who exists in various forms worldwide. His voice is heard in the breeze or in the rustle of leaves. In some European countries, he is depicted carrying an uprooted pine tree.

GLAS GHAIBHNEACH  [‘The Grey Cow with White Loins’] was a fairy COW that belonged to an Irish master SMITH. She gave inexhaustible supplies of MILK, which fed everyone around. However, she objected to having her generosity abused and when a woman milked her to have extra to sell she took herself off across the sea to Scotland.

GLASHTIN or GLASTYN are Manx WATER HORSES; they look like ordinary horses except their hooves are back to front, or some say they are WATER BULLs, half horse and half bull. They can SHAPESHIFT and appear in human form, when they are very attractive to human females. A special ARROW is needed to overcome a glashtin called a baodhag ['fury of the quiver'].

GOATS are associated with fairies, especially in connection with fertility or corn. Goats were sacred to various Celtic deities and to fairies like Bucca and Puck. Some fairies shapeshift into goats, while others have goat’s hooves, horns or legs. These include Fauns, Brollachans, Catez, Robin Goodfellow, Sileni, many VEGETATION SPIRITS, Bockmann, Dialen, Glaistig, Goat Heads, Gryphons, Haferbock, Goatman, Gwyllion, Hibla-Bashi, Kirin, Ki-Lin, Nereids, Silvani, Silvanus, Urisk, Kornböcke, Leshie, Purzinigele, Phooka, Pilosi, and Puck. Russian  wood fairies are said to appear as part human but have the ears, horns and legs of goats

 Fairies have a particular love of goats. They visit goats to comb their beards every FRIDAY [or perhaps Wednesday], their Sabbath day. English country folk said that it was not possible to see a goat for twenty-four hours continuously as, at some point, he must go and visit either the fairies or the DEVIL to have his beard combed.

For the ancient Greeks and Romans, the goat represented virility: goats are fertile and reputedly lusty. PAN, the Greek god of the wild, was the son of Amalthea ['goat']. Both he and his SATYRS had the legs, horns and beards of goats.

GOAT HEADS are evil Irish fairies associated with LEPRECHAUNS and FORMORIANS.

GOATMAN is a creature that appears in the folklore of Virginia [USA]. It has the upper parts of a human, and the lower parts of a GOAT. In this respect it resembles NATURE FAIRIES and spirits.

GRAK see DRAKES.

GRAMPUS is a dolphin-like fairy creature that lives in the sea. However, a certain land-bound one dwelt in a yew tree by Highclere Church in Hampshire, England and chased the villagers until it was banished to the Red Sea.

GRANT - there are several grants, each of which adopts an English village. A grant appears as a small, strange HORSE, walking erect. He warns when there is trouble approaching by walking through the village at sunset, setting the dogs to barking and the horses to whinnying. During World War II, several villages claimed that their grant had warned them of approaching air raids. However, Gervase of Tilbury [1211] described the grant as a DEMON, and said that its appearance was an OMEN OF DEATH.

GRENDEL is a legendary creature who appears in the famous eighth century Old English poem Beowulf. He was man shaped, had the strength of thirty men and lived in a watery lair with his mother. He regularly raided the hall of the Danish king until killed by the hero Beowulf. He was possibly a TROLL, OGRE or a GIANT, though some think he may have been a DRAUGAR. See also BLACK SHUCK.

GURT DOG is a Somerset BLACK DOG.

GWYLLGI, HOUND OF DARKNESS is a phantom Black Dog that haunts Pant-y-Madog in Pembrokeshire. It has blazing red eyes and baleful breath; it runs from the castle to the town.

GYTRASH or Guytrash are evil northern English fairies that appear at night as large HORSES, donkeys or shaggy BLACK DOGS with webbed feet, lurking silently by the side of the road to waylay travellers. A gytrash has drooping saucer-shaped eyes and walks with a splashing sound- the trash-trash-trash sound of old fashioned boots. [12] Occasionally a friendly gytrash will help a lost person and show them the way home.

HARES are often associated with fairies and WITCHES. The hare is connected with lusty fertility and with madness, especially during the mating season when they may be seen boxing or leaping in the air, allegedly resembling a coven of dancing witches. Like many animals sacred to the older religions, the Mediaeval Christians changed the hare into an animal of ill omen, saying that witches and fairies shapeshift into hare forms to suck cows dry. There are many stories of wounds inflicted on hares being found the next day on women.

Hares were sacred to the ancient Celts who associated them with MOON and hunting deities. Killing and eating the hare was taboo, but this restriction was lifted at BELTANE, when a ritual hunt and consumption was made. Folk survivals of this observance still persist. Until the end of the 18th century a hare hunt took place in the Dane Hills, near Leicester   led by the mayor and corporation. This hare was associated with Black Annis, a fearful HAG fairy said to live in a CAVE in the hills known as Black Annis's Bower, which she had gouged out of the hillside with her own claws.

In Europe, the hare is also associated with the corn spirit. Hares hide in cornfields until the last reaping, the last sheaf is often called 'the hare', and its cutting called 'killing the hare', 'cutting the hare' or 'cutting the hare's tail off’.

HAUSBÖCKE ['House Goats'] are German HOUSE FAIRIES that have something of the GOAT about them, like their field dwelling cousins the KORNBÖCKE, or 'Corn Goats'.

HIPPOCENTAUR is a type of CENTAUR, half man, half horse.

HORSES are of great interest to the fairies. They take great delight in horsemanship and are excellent riders. They sometimes entice young human men to ride out with them, and will dash along like the wind. Afterwards, those young men are the most fearless riders in the country and people know that they have hunted with the fairies. When horses neigh at night, they are being ridden hard by fairies or WITCHES.

The horses of the TUATHA DÉ DANAAN are stabled in the Hollow Hills. They are made of fire and flame and are as swift as the wind. They are shod with silver and have golden bridles. A cavalcade of SIDHE knights has SEVEN score steeds, each with a star-like jewel on its forehead, and seven score horsemen, all king’s sons, clad in GREEN mantles fringed with gold, wearing golden helmets and carrying golden spears.[13] These fairy horses live for one hundred years. However, it is possible that they have died out completely, as there is a legend that the last of them was owned by a lord of Connaught, and was sold at his death. Refusing to be mounted by its base born buyer, it threw him to the ground and bolted, never to be seen again.

Some fairies occasionally turn themselves into horses, including Lazy Lawrence, Lutin, Phooka, Puck, Robin Goodfellow, Adh Sidhe, Boggart, Boobrie, Brags, and Gytrash. Other fairies appear exclusively in horse form, such as Knops, Linchetti, Painajainen, Pickatree-Brag, Tatterfoal, Cheval Bayard, Cobs, Dunnie, and the Grant. Some of these are known to bring Nightmares. There are many stories of fairy WATER HORSES that live beneath lakes or under the sea. These include the Kelpie, Muirdris, Näkh, Neagle, Neugle, Nickur, Noggles, Nuckalavee, Shopiltees, Tangie, Wihwin, Aughisky, Cabbyl Ushty, Each-Uisge, and the Glashtin.  See also SHAMAN.

HORSESHOE - hung over the house or stable door, a horseshoe will keep evil fairies and other spirits out; it is usual to hang the horseshoe points up to keep the luck in, though in Dorset it is traditional to hang it the other way. See also IRON.

HYTER SPRITES are East Anglian SHAPESHIFTING fairies. They appear as various birds, including green-eyed sand martins and carrion birds. They usually try to avoid humans, but have been known to band together to mob individuals to scare them or admonish irresponsible parents who neglect their children. They sometimes return lost children.

ICHTHYOCENTAUR is a type of CENTAUR that is half man and half fish.

IELES [‘They’] or DINSELE  [‘They Themselves’] are strange VAMPIRE fairies who come from Rumania and look like large CATS that walk on two legs. They lie at CROSSROADS awaiting human victims to suck their blood, but they cannot go into the middle of the crossroads. If a human steps into their circle they will steal a piece of his leg bone and replace it with a wooden wheel spoke. However, if the man returns to the same place one year later, they will restore the bone.

Sometimes they are seen with a plough and are connected with fertility, dancing in the garden on the green grass, or feasting in the cornfields. Sometimes they appear in carts and are able to travel the whole world in a single night, sailing over the nine seas and through the nine countries.

Once a year they revisit the spot they visited the year before, dancing in the same ring they danced in the previous year. They may force humans to join them in their DANCE, and a piper who does so will become a master of his instrument, or they may enchant a musician, carrying him away with the power of their music while he is sleeping. In return for the gift of song, he will have to give them part of his body, usually his little finger.

If you want to please the fairy, leave an offering near his spring consisting of WHITE foods such as MILK, eggs, cheese, or a white hen, laid on a clean, white cloth. This should be offered to all passers by. If someone is ill, a similar offering should be made at his house by NINE women, walking nine times round the house and casting a spell nine times over the sick person. The colour of the sacrificial foods suggests an offering to the DEAD, or perhaps an offering to upperworld powers in contrasts to the all black sacrifices to Hecate and the powers of the UNDERWORLD.

JĚZĚ or Jězěnky or Jezinky [‘Lamias’] are unpleasant ancient Western Slavonic spirits that have the faces of women, the bodies of PIGS and the legs of horses. They live in CAVES and KIDNAP children, feeding them on dainty morsels. They lull people to sleep and put out their eyes.

KAPPA are strange Japanese WATER FAIRIES which have webbed and clawed hands, trunk-like noses, GREEN skin, round eyes and tortoiseshells on their backs. On the tops of their heads are small depressions filled with water, the source of their power. Their heads must always be wet and they cannot survive out of water for very long. They travel around on cucumbers. Despite their ludicrous appearance, they are highly dangerous, lurking at the edge of water to lure in humans and animals to eat. To escape, you should trick the kappa into spilling the water from its head, or toss it a cucumber, which it loves even more than human flesh. Sometimes kappas can be helpful, and teach human beings medical skills like bone setting.

KELPIES s.KELPIE are Scottish WATER FAIRIES who appear as grey horses that encourage people to ride them. Once a person is astride, the Kelpie will run off into the water, drown its passenger and devour him, leaving only the entrails on the shore. They are known to eat animals, humans and other fairies that venture too close to their lairs. To see a kelpie is an OMEN OF DEATH or great misfortune.

If you want to catch one and make it work for you, have the sign of the CROSS made on a bridle and slip it over the kelpie’s head; it will then serve you and do your bidding.

Kelpies sometimes appear as men to seduce young women, but their HAIR always looks like seaweed or watercress. A handsome young man courted one young girl, but when she discovered the seaweed and shells in his hair she realized he was a kelpie. He instantly turned into a horse to chase her in order to kill and eat her and would have done so if she had not been saved by a fairy bull.[14] One kelpie also appeared as an old woman and was put to bed by a bevy of girls. During the night, he sucked the blood of all but one, who escaped over running water. In this respect, the Kelpie is a VAMPIRE.

A kelpie lives at Loch Coruisk on Skye, while another at Corgarff in Aberdeen tricked a man who was trying to cross the swollen River Don. The beast offered to take him across, but halfway, it submerged itself, dragging the man with him. However, the man managed to escape and the kelpie threw a boulder after him, which can still be seen and is known as ‘The Kelpie’s Stone’.

KI-LIN ['Male-Female'] is the Chinese version of the UNICORN. It has one horn, but is a GOAT-like creature, rather than a HORSE. The legend originates in Tibet, where the beast is depicted in the ancient temples. The circle containing the body of the Lama was drawn with a ki-lin horn. From Tibet, the legend was introduced into China. The creature is so gentle it will not even step on a blade of grass for fear of damaging it. The backward sweeping horn is tipped with flesh, indicating that it is not for violent purposes. The name 'Male-Female' indicates that it is a symbol of the harmony of opposites, like the yin-yang symbol- a male horn on a female body. The creature appears to signal the birth of a very holy person, or to herald the reign of a great ruler. One appeared at the birth and death of Confucius. See also KIRIN.

KING OF THE CATS is often referred to in Celtic lore. He dwells as an ordinary CAT by day and travels the country at night as a royal fairy cat to avenge any slights given to him during the day. A young Scottish man had dealings with the King of the Cats. He had been walking home across the mountains when a mist descended and he could not find his way. A strange light had appeared and he had followed it until it came to rest beside a large OAK tree. As he looked into its hollow trunk, it seemed that he gazed into a church where a funeral was taking place. Later, as he related his adventures to his friends, the cat that sat on the hearth seemed to be paying great attention. When the young man recounted that the coffin and torches had been borne by cats, and that a sceptre and crown lay on the coffin the cat sat up and exclaimed “By Jove! Old Peter’s dead and I’m the King of the Cats”. He rushed up the chimney and was seen no more.

KIRIN is a similar creature to the UNICORN. It appears in Japan as a GOAT-like beast with cloven hooves, a single horn and a beard. It is a gentle fairy that brings good luck.

KNOPS are Warwickshire   HOBGOBLINS and much feared. They were originally demon HORSES and may be the origin of the 2^nd November [All Souls] custom of going out with a mock horse head covered in a sheet to frighten the timid.

KOPUWAI [‘Water Stomach’] was a man-eating OGRE of Moari lore. It had a dog’s head and hunted his prey with a pack of two-headed DOGS. He was known to drink vast quantities of water. The Maoris eventually trapped him in his CAVE and smoked him out of a hole in the roof. When he tried to make his escape, they battered him to death.

KORNBÖCKE ['Corn-Goat'] is a German fairy who guards the grain and causes it to ripen, riding on the breezes which ripple the cornfields. Like other GOAT spirits, he is associated with corn and fertility. When the grain is harvested he retreats into the last sheaf, and when it is cut he dies or, if it is left, he hibernates within it until spring. He sometimes found in amongst the stalks in the guise of a cornflower or appears as an ill-tempered goat, though he can appear as a bird, CAT, wolf or insect. He was originally a vegetation god.

KRAKEN is a sea creature big enough to swallow a whole boat. It is round, flat and submerges itself to create a whirlpool. The Vikings had many tales of Krakens, and one entered Scalloway Bay in Shetland in the nineteenth century.

KUL-JUNGK is an evil Eskimo fish spirit that lives in deep water and has a human shape. In past times when the ice broke in spring BIRCH fish images were taken to the fishing place and left as offerings to him.

KULSHEDRA is a creature of Albanian lore. Every year a DRAGON-like creature called a Bolla wakes up every St George’s Day [23^rd April]. After twelve years it transforms into a huge HAG called Kulshedra with pendulous breasts and a hairy body.

LAMAS are spirits of ancient Chaldea who took an interest in the welfare of humans. They appeared as female hybrid creatures with wings.

LAMIA pl. LAMIÆ are fairies who appear as beautiful women or SNAKES, or perhaps a combination of the two. The original Lamia was a lover of the god Zeus and bore him two children, but the god’s jealous wife Hera stole the children. In revenge, Lamia vowed to steal any human children that she came across and her bitterness caused her to turn into a flesh-devouring monster. The term lamia generally came to mean a seductive supernatural female, such as a SUCCUBUS, VAMPIRE or LEANNAN SIDHE who sucks the life force from a human partner, or be used as a poetical allegory for beautiful harlots who destroy their lovers. Sometimes WITCHES are referred to as lamiæ. They were a type of noon demon [like the Balkan POLUDNICA], as noon was seen as a time for ghosts in the Mediterranean.

 One early Greek tale relates how a young man called Lycius fell in love with an exquisite woman and married her. At the wedding feast, she trembled under the gaze of a philosopher who had guessed what she was. She hissed, turned into a serpent and disappeared. Lycius died of a broken heart

LAZY LAWRENCE is a Somerset and Hampshire fairy is associated with HORSES and sometimes takes the form of a pony himself. He guards orchards and gives cramps to APPLE scrumpers.

LISUNKA ['Fox' or perhaps 'Sly Spirit'] is a female LESHY or forest fairy of Russia.

MANITOU are fairies and also the spirit that is contained within manifest Nature, according to Native Americans of the Algonquin group: everything contains spirit or manitou. People have guardian manitous, which may manifest in dreams in the forms of animals. Sometimes manitous are described as fairies that live in tribes and have small horns or antlers on their heads. They play tricks on humans and possess strong magical powers. Compare with PUCK.

MAUTHE DOOG is a local name for the Manx MODDEY DHOO, a BLACK DOG.

MODDEY DHOO  [‘Black Dog’] was an Isle of Man BLACK DOG that roamed Peel Castle. Every night it warmed itself before the guard room fire, and at first the soldiers were afraid, but eventually they got used to it. Then one night, during the reign of Charles II, a drunken soldier boasted that he would patrol the castle alone, and dared the dog to accompany him on his rounds- he would find out whether it was a real animal or a demon. The ghastly dog arose from his place by the fire and followed the man. Fearful cries and screams issued from the corridor, but not a man dared venture from the room. The foolish soldier returned white and gibbering. He died three days later, never speaking of what he had seen. The black dog has not been seen since, but some say it still haunts the castle, unseen.[15]

MURYANS or Meryons [from the Cornish murrian meaning ‘ant’] are tiny Cornish fairies. Some believe that fairies end their days as ants since every SHAPESHIFTING operation reduces them in size. Those who take the forms of animals grow smaller and smaller with every change until they are lost in the earth, as ants. [16] Some say they are the spirits of DEAD druids. In Cornwall, it is thought to be very unlucky to kill ants, as they might be the final forms of tiny fairies. If you place a piece of tin in a bank of ants at the waxing of the MOON it will be turned to silver.[17]

NEAGLE or Noggle or Nuggle or Nyaggle is a Shetland WATER HORSE.

NEMAIN [‘Frenzy’] or Neman or Neamhan or Nemainn is one of the THREE aspects of the MORRIGAN, she is the ‘counfounder of enemies’ and causes members of the same band to fight each other in mistake for the enemy.[18] She appears in the shape of a CROW.

NENNIR is a WATER HORSE.

NESSIE is a famous monster of Loch Ness and is only one of many fairy SNAKES, monsters, WATER HORSES or WATER BULLS said to inhabit the lochs and waterways of Scotland. The first recorded sighting of Nessie was by St Columba fourteen centuries ago. He told one of his monks to swim across the loch to fetch a boat. When the poor man was half way across, the monster appeared and was about to attack the swimmer when the saint commanded it to go back and leave the man alone. The monster had no power to resist the saint, and disappeared beneath the water. From that day to this, Nessie has never harmed any one. She is described as having two humps, flippers, a sinuous neck and small head. See also WATER FAIRIES, KELPIES, NEUGLE, and WATER HORSES.

NEUGLE lives in Njugals Water in Shetland. He is a WATER HORSE akin to a KELPIE. Anyone foolish enough to mount the horse will be carried beneath the water never to be seen again.

ODMIENCE ['Changed One'] is a Polish fairy CHANGELING.

OWLS are associated with fairies such as GWYN AP NUDD, the Lord of Death, HAGS and the WILD HUNTSMAN. Like most night flying birds, the owl is a bad omen in many parts of the world, a herald of death. The owl was associated with Adam's first wife, LILLITH. She fell from grace to become one of the four wives of Satan. From this association with Lillith the name of the screech owl, strix, came to mean a VAMPIRE.

The owl may have been associated with the Greek SIRENS, winged sisters who sang to lure sailors to their deaths. There were THREE of them [or possibly NINE in earlier myths] and had titles like 'Persuader', 'Bright Face', 'Bewticher', 'Virgin Face', 'Shrill Voice', and 'The Whitened One', which might be descriptions of owls.

Owls are very vocal in November [the death time of the year] and then fall silent until February. As such they are the servants of the crone goddess, and in Scotland the owl is known as Cailleach which means 'HAG' and is the Cailleach Oidhche ['the Hag of the Night'] and Cailleach Oidhche Gheal ['Hag of the Night Moon'] and is linked to the CAILLEACH BHEUR, the blue faced hag of winter and death. It is also the death bird,  ' the Bird of the Corpse'. One tale says that the owl is the servant of one of the ten UNDERWORLD kings. In most of Europe owls were associated with WITCHES, who were thought to be able to turn themselves into them. The SKOGSRÅ appear as owls.

PADFOOT is a fairy BLACK DOG that haunts the north of England. He has fiery eyes and drags a chain behind him. His name comes from the padding sound of his feet. Occasionally he appears as a white dog. His appearance is an OMEN OF DEATH or ill fortune.

PAN is most powerful nature spirit of all, the Greek god of the wild, son of the god Hermes by a NYMPH of Arcadia. The ancient writer Servius described him as being  “Formed in the likeness of nature with horns to resemble the rays of the sun and the horns of the moon; his face is ruddy in the imitation of ether; he wears a spotted fawn skin resembling the stars in the sky; his lower limbs are hairy because of the trees and wild beasts; he has the feet of a GOAT to resemble the stability of the earth; his pipe has seven reeds in accordance with the harmony of heaven; his pastoral staff bears a crook in reference to the year which curves back on itself, and finally, he is the god of all Nature.“ He roams the mountains, pursuing game in the valleys, playing his pipe in the groves and travellers in the woods often hear his music. His call is said to give rise to ‘panic’, an overwhelming fear in all that hear it.

There are a variety of nature and woodland fairies who have a similar appearance to Pan, for example, ROBIN GOODFELLOW, PUCK, SATYRS and FAUNS.

PANS or PANES are a race of male nature fairies with GOAT attributes. They  may have been the precursors of PAN.

PAVARÓ is an Italian fairy with a DOG’s head, long arms and IRON teeth and nails. He protects bean fields by slashing the legs of anyone who damages the crops. His arms are so long that he can reap several acres at once.

PAYSHTHA or Pastha or Piast-Bestia is an Irish water DRAGON who guards hidden TREASURE.

PEALLAIDH [‘The Shaggy One’] is a Perthshire URISK.

PETITCRIEU was a fairy DOG given to Tristan by Duke Gilan. It came from AVALON and was a tiny, wondrously coloured beast with a tinkling bell around its neck.

PHOOKA or Phouka or Pooka or Púca is an Irish goblin who can appear as a GOAT, a HORSE, a DOG, a bull or an eagle. He is always black with blazing eyes and usually has something of the goat about him. His name may be derived from poc, which means ‘he-goat’. [19]  The term pooka appears in Middle English and stands for the devil. He may take the form of a shaggy colt with chains, a goat, ass, dog, eagle, bull and even, like the Kilkenny Phooka, a fleece of wool that rolls around the fields near the Dun of Coch-na-Phuca, making a buzzing noise to frighten the cattle. The term phooka is often used to refer to the DEVIL and ‘playing the phooka’ means playing the devil [20] i.e. being wicked. The Irish call HALLOWEEN ‘Phooka Night’. After this time the Phooka blights any crops remaining in the fields and makes the BLACKBERRIES unfit to eat ,[21] a service performed by the devil in France.

 The Brothers Grimm thought that the Phooka was comparable with the German MAHR in that it sits among the REEDS and ALDER bushes and leaps onto the back of a passing traveller and rides them until they are exhausted. The Phooka especially delights in haunting the dreams of drunkards. Phookas are horse dealers, and one might appear as a swarthy man mounted on a good horse, or might visit a racecourse in an invisible form.

In horse form the Phooka offers rides to weary travellers, then takes off at a mad pace, before dumping them in a ditch and galloping away laughing. When he is not bruising and battering travellers with wild rides, the Phooka can be friendly and if he is well treated he will help farmers and millers. One day Phadrig fell asleep in an old mill, and when he woke he was astounded to witness six little fairies and an old man in tattered clothing who directed them to mill the corn. He felt sorry for the old Phooka in his tattered clothes, so one day he bought a fine silk suit and laid it out on the floor of the mill. The delighted Phooka put it on and declared that he was now a fine gentleman and would grind the corn no more. [22] See also PUCK

PHOOKA NIGHT is an Irish name for HALLOWEEN. See also PHOOKA.

PHOOKA SPIT is an Irish term for a snail. See also PHOOKA.

PIGS are a matter of great interest to fairies and a number of fairy pigs also appear in various locales. There are tales of fairy pigs in the ISLE OF MAN. At Andover in Hampshire, a fairy pig is seen on New Year's Eve. Pigs are allied to gods and goddesses of the UNDERWORLD, which may account for their association with fairies, also associated with the DEAD and underworld realms. In Celtic lore pigs are mystical creatures, originating with the spirits in the OTHERWORLD. Their flesh was associated with feasts of the dead and was otherwise taboo. In Celtic myth, swineherds were honoured as magicians and prophets.

PIGHT is another term for PUCK.

PISGIES are the small, white moths that flit about in the evening in Cornwall, thought to be the souls of DEAD children. See also PIXIES and BUTTERFLY.

RAVEN  [Corvus corax] - is considered to be a mysterious bird, associated with spirits, gods and fairies., though in early stories the raven is interchangeable with other members of the crow family. Ravens are carrion birds and were once a common sight, feeding on the corpses of the slain after a battle. This made them symbols of death and war; associated battle deities such as MACHA ['Raven'], MORRIGAN, BABD and Nemain who could all take raven form. The Morrigan would become a raven on the battlefield and foretell the outcome of the conflict to the Dagda. Some say that her later Arthurian counterpart was MORGAN LE FAY who also appeared as a raven. In many places in Britain, ARTHUR is thought to have become a raven after death, and countrymen tip their hats to ravens in consequence. To kill one was a crime, and insulted Arthur.

Ravens are guardians of the UNDERWORLD fairy treasure. A fierce raven is said to guard the gold in the Chaw ['Raven'] Gully mine in Cornwall. A stone obtained from raven's nests called is 'the raven stone' or 'stone of victory’ and it helps to discover fairy TREASURE and aid in PROPHECY

ROANE [‘Seal’] is an Irish or Scottish island race of fairy seal people, similar to the SELKIES. They are gentle, shy and retiring, desiring only to be left in peace. The females sometimes swim ashore and cast off their sealskins to dance in the moonlight as human maidens. If a fisherman can steal a roane’s skin he can force her to become his wife for as long as he can keep the seal skin hidden. As soon as she finds it she will don it and return to the sea.

SALAMANDERS are ELEMENTAL fairies of the fire, according to the alchemist Paracelsus [1493-1541]. They are usually portrayed as the newts of the same name.

SALBANELLI s. Salbanello are the fairy children of a SALVANELLO and a WITCH in Italian fairy lore.

SALEERANDEES are Welsh fairies, scaled beings that resemble lizards walking on two legs. They are cold blooded and seek out human's  fires. Though their appearance is frightening, they are not harmful. The name may be a corruption of ‘SALAMANDER’.

SÂNTOADERI are Rumanian fairies who appear as horses or centaurs, or perhaps a human who has something of the horse about him, such as horse shoes or a tail. They appear in groups of SEVEN, NINE or twelve, visiting villages and rattling chains and beating drums. They appear during Lent with the DEAD. If people venture out of their houses at night, these creatures will ride them like beasts or trample them underfoot. They break into houses to dance on human bodies or bring illness with them. However, they only punish those who break their taboos by SPINNING and weaving during the duration of their visit to earth.They carry away human souls.

Their patron is St Theodore. Women perform rites three weeks after Easter on Todorusale Day. The ceremonies are devoted to the fairies to ensure healing and fertility. On this day, the Sântoaderi dance with the IELE. They [or St Theodore] bring in the summer. [23] In Rumanian lore St Theodore, with twelve horses, six black and six white- the six months of winter and six of summer- chases the sun, which at the beginning of spring deviates and moves northwards. The six white horses defeat the six black ones [the six light months of summer versus the six dark months of winter].

SASQUATCH [‘Hairy Man’] or BIGFOOT has been seen many times in North America, the first recorded sighting being in 1811. It is described as being between seven and eleven feet tall, covered in thick fur or hair, with long arms, and a flat nose. Several expeditions have set out to find Bigfoot, but all have failed and those photographs and films that exist purporting to depict the creature are contentious. Some think Bigfoots belong to a natural but unknown species, while others believe them to be spirits. Descriptions of their appearance tallies with that of a large number of [mainly] forest fairies around the world, including the Schrat, Trolls, Urisk, Ved, Wood Wose, Boggarts, Brollachan, Callicantzaros, Fuath, Gruagach, Hobgoblin, Illes, Korreds, Maero, Ogres, Phynnodderr, and Pilosi.

SATYRS are the companions of the Greek gods Dionysus and PAN. They are NATURE SPIRITS of the fields and woods. They are covered with bristly hair, have GOAT legs and feet and small horns on their foreheads, extremely large genitals, flat noses and pointed ears. Stories associate them with sexual license and they appear incessantly chasing various NYMPHS. They came to represent debauchery.

SELKIE pl. Selkies or Silkies or Selchi [‘Seals’] are Orkney and Shetland fairies that take the form of seals in the sea, but when they come ashore they shed their seal skins and assume human form. Some say they are bewitched humans who can come ashore on MIDSUMMER Eve, cast off their seal skins, and resume their true shape. Others say that they are fairies and can only take a human shape at certain times, perhaps only every Johnsmas Eve [Midsummer Eve], though others that it is every ninth night.

Once ashore and in human form, the selkie-folk will dance on the seashore and if they are disturbed they will grab their skins and run back to the sea. If a man can steal and hide the shed skin he can force a selkie maid to marry him, though if she ever finds her skin she will put it on and be off back to the sea. The man will pine away and die of a broken heart. Though the female selkies sometimes marry humans, they can never settle: their dual nature means that they are not truly happy either in the sea or on the land.

Descendants of such unions have webbed fingers and toes or a horny substance on their palms and soles. The Mac Codrum clan from North Uist claim descent from selkies; they are known as Sliochd nan Ron, the Offspring of Seals. A distant ancestor stole the skin of a seal maiden as she danced and kept it hidden for many years, during which time she bore him many children.

The male selkies also come ashore to make love to human women, to whom they appear very seductive. Island men who do not keep their wives satisfied risk their wives taking selkie lovers. If a human woman wants to attract a male selkie for a lover, she should go to the sea and drop SEVEN tears in it at high tide. Generally, the male selkies have no love for humans, causing storms and overturning the boats of seal hunters and fishermen.

According to Orkney lore selkies are FALLEN ANGELS, thrown out of heaven and into the sea after offending God. Others say that they are the souls of drowned humans, allowed once a year to resume a human shape. Tales of seal people are found all over Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides and Faeroe Islands. Seals are a common sight in these parts and the name of Orkney is derived from the Norse Orkneyjar meaning ‘Seal Islands’.

SHAG is a North of England BLACK DOG. It is death to touch it.

SHAGFOAL or Tatterfoal is a Lincolnshire fairy, similar to a BRASH or the HEDLEY KOW. [24]

SHAPESHIFTER/ SHAPESHIFTING - most fairies possess the power of shapeshifting. They can alter their original forms in order to appear as lovelier than they are, or as various animals such as COWS, DEER, eagles, HORSES, BLACK DOGS, and CATS, though these may be the original forms for all we know. They can also manifest as moss, trees, herbs, columns of fire, stones, and balls of light. The Cornish believe that each shapeshifting operation makes fairies diminish in size until they become ants. The god MANANNAN gave the TUATHA DÉ DANAAN the power of shapeshifting so that they would be able to remain hidden from the occupying Celts.

SHONEY or Shony or Spony is a type of KELPIE that haunts the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Usually thought of as male, Shoney  was once a sea god, or perhaps goddess, as his name may relate to the Norse Sjofn, a sea goddess. The inhabitants of the Isle of Lewis made an offering of a cup of ale to the Shoney well into the nineteenth century. In the weeks before HALLOWEEN pocketfuls of malt were brought into the church of St Mulray, then combined and brewed into ale. A man would wade into the sea with a cup of this ale, and [in Gaelic] offer the Shoney the ale in return for good catches and seaweed to enrich the soil: "Shoney, I give you this cup of ale hoping that you will be so kind as to give us plenty of sea-ware for enriching our ground the ensuing year". [25] Some say that there are several Shoneys, and they are bad tempered, stupid, squat, with pointed ears and sharp teeth.

SHOOPILTEES or Shopiltees are little WATER HORSES or ponies that play about the Shetland and Orkney Islands, though they have not been seen in more than a hundred years, so they may have died out. They are similar to the KELPIE in character and live off the blood of the drowned.

SHUCK MONKEY or Shug Monkey is a BLACK DOG that haunts the area of Balsham and Wratting in Cambridgeshire. It is unusual in that it has the face of a monkey.

SILENI are creatures of classical Greek myth, originating in Albania. They are similar to SATYRS. In appearance, they have horses’ ears and sometimes the legs of HORSES or GOATS too.

SNAKE- guardian spirits and WATER FAIRIES often appear in the form of snakes, particularly the protectors of wells, springs and rivers. A well in Pembrokeshire contains a golden torc guarded by a fairy-serpent, which bites the hand of anyone who tries to steal it. The Maiden's Well in Aberdeenshire is reputed to contain a winged serpent. The Creek Native Americans believe a horned serpent will sometimes appear at a certain well. Arabs believe that DJINNS, in the form of DRAGON or serpent spirits, live in wells. 

A snake’s movements are sinuous and wave-like, like the course of a river or stream. It was once believed that all water contained a spirit-serpent. In Celtic lore, snakes and wells are associated with healing. Because the snake sheds its skin each year and appears renewed, it was seen to be immortal.

The snake was regarded as a powerful guardian spirit and was encouraged in temples and homes - snakes were often kept as pets. There are many tales of serpents guarding underground TREASURE under a lake, in a CAVE, or on an island in the far west of the ocean. The snake is a link with the UNDERWORLD from its habit of living in the earth. Snakes are often found in graveyards and were once thought to be communicating with the DEAD, or to be the spirits of the dead themselves.

In myth the snake or DRAGON [the two are often synonymous] is sometimes seen as ruling the winter half of the year and the underworld. It is defeated yearly or nightly by the god of the summer or the sun. The Sun god Apollo slew the python at Delphi with his sun ray ARROWS, while St. George killed the dragon. The Sun ‘dies’ nightly, and passes through the Underworld realm of the serpent or dragon. In Greek myth, Ge, the earth goddess, gives the Tree of Immortality as a wedding gift to Hera. It is located in the HESPIRIDES, an island in the far west, and guarded by the daughters of night and the serpent Ladon. The APPLES of the tree represent the sun, which sets or dies nightly in the west and journeys through the underworld, lair of the serpent or dragon, to be reborn each dawn in the east.

SWAN MAIDENS appear in Norse, Greek, Celtic, Indian, Malaysian, and Thai stories, from The Arabian Nights to the Welsh Mabinogion.  The motif of a fairy maid who first appears as an animal such as a seal [SELKIE], WHITE HIND or swan is a common one. She may challenge the hero or lend him magical aid. Sometimes swan maidens appear as guides to the DEAD, taking them to the Far Northern OTHERWORLD, through the swan-veils. The VALKYRIES were such swan maidens who could discard swan plumage to become human. Any man who could steal the plumage could command them. Some swan maidens are human women changed into immortal fairy swans, recognisable by the golden chains around their necks.

SYLVESTRES- Paracelsus named the spirits of the air sylvestres or sylphs from the Greek silphe meaning ‘BUTTERFLY’ or ‘moth’. They are described as almost transparent, very small and winged. See ELEMENTALS.

TANGIE or TANGYE [Derived from the Danish- ‘Seaweed’] is an evil WATER HORSE that haunts Shetland. It has long shaggy hair and is covered in seaweed. Tangie can also appear as an old man. Some say that there is a race of mischievous Tangies who tempt people to ride on their backs and duck them under the water. See also BLACK ERIC.

TARROO-USHTEY is a fearsome WATER BULL that lives in the seas surrounding the ISLE OF MAN, though similar animals are found all around Britain. It sometimes leaves the sea to feed and mate with domestic COWS. One farmer had to abandon his farm when the Tarroo-Ushtey took against him.

TATTERFOAL is a Lincolnshire GOBLIN who appears in the form of a HORSE.

TOADS [Bufo bufo] were often the FAMILIARS or the SHAPESHIFTING forms of evil fairies and WITCHES. Mediaeval alchemists thought the toad represented the primal elements of nature. Its dark and damp environment gives it lunar and UNDERWORLD associations.

Two girls saw a massive fat toad that turned out to be a fairy. One joked that if it ever had a baby she would be its godmother, the other quipped she would cook for the christening. A few days later an old woman knocked at their door and invited them to the baptism of the toad’s child, reminding them of their promise. They were taken to an isolated location where all sorts of strange looking guests had gathered to attend the ceremony. The service proceeded and the girls filled their parts. When they departed, they were astonished to have their aprons filled with coal from the hearth. They hurried home, scattering most of the coal as they went. However, when they arrived at their door and crossed the THRESHOLD, every bit of coal that remained had turned to gold.

UILEBHEIST are multi-headed sea monsters lurk off the coasts of the Shetland and Orkney islands. They are sometimes called DRAYGANS, which may be a corruption of ‘DRAGON’.

UNICORN is a fairy beast or an animal that dwells in FAIRYLAND, and is seldom seen by humans. Its food is spiritual. It generally appears as a white horse with a single horn in the centre of its forehead, though single horned rams, goats, bulls, wild asses, antelopes, rhinos have been known, not to mention one horned fish and snakes.

Unicorns were mentioned by the Greek historian Ctesis of Cnidos. He said that in India certain wild asses existed, larger than horses, with WHITE bodies, RED heads, blue eyes, and possessing a horn upon their foreheads about eighteen inches long. This horn was white at the base, black in the middle and had a red tip [these are the three colours of the moon, associated with the triple MOON Goddess - the white maiden, red mother, and black crone]. Those who drank from the horn would be protected from disease and poison. In ancient Persia there was a sacred unicorn with six eyes, nine mouths and one horn, made from pure gold. Its touch vanquished all corruption.

Our common image of a unicorn comes from the bestiaries of the Middle Ages. In Christian lore it represented the purity of Christ, torn apart in willing sacrifice by hunting dogs. The unicorn was too fleet of foot to be captured by huntsmen, and could only be snared by a virgin; attracted by her purity he will come willingly to her and lay his head in her lap. She then breaks its horn and the hunters pounce. This seems to be a story of betrayal, but the symbolism implies a sexual metaphor. She carries a mirror [an ancient representation of female genitalia], while the horn is obvious, there is a flagstaff nearby flying a flag depicting a crescent moon, while in the foreground are rabbits, oak and holly leaves.

The horn of the unicorn is called an alicorn, and many noblemen of the renaissance boasted of possessing one. They were frequently displayed at banquet as a defence against death by poisoning [a definite risk in some circles]: the horn was said to sweat in the presence of poison. Such horns were bought and sold for fabulous prices. The poor would beg to be given water into which the horn had been dipped, since this would cure all maladies. See also KIRIN and KI-LIN.

VOUIVRE is a Gascon fairy who appears as a SNAKE beside natural fountains. It has a diamond in the middle of its forehead, which is the source of its power. It only lets this out of its sight when it is bathing or drinking. Should a man steal it he will gain that power, while the fairy will fade away and die. The vouivre is sometimes a HOUSE FAIRY.

WATER BULL - though many WATER FAIRIES favour the form of horses, some appear as water bulls, including the TARROO-USHTEY. The water bull sometimes comes ashore at night to mate with mortal cattle, and the resulting offspring will be fat and sleek, and produce copious amounts of milk. In the autumn , when the harvest is completed and the cows are rounded up, they often run about as if mad, though no cause can be discerned. But if you look through a HAG STONE or through the hole in an animal skin made by an ELF BOLT, you will see they fairy bull fighting with the strongest in the herd, but before you do this be warned: the eye that sees this will never see again. The fairy bull is smaller than an earthly one, mouse coloured, crop-eared, short horned, supple, and strong in the body.

It appears on the riverbanks where he likes to eat green grass during the hours of darkness. One farmer had a cow that, every BELTANE, left the herd and walked along the river to a small island, which she swam to. After a while she would return to the pasture. This happened for several years running until she produced a calf that resembled the fairy bull. Then one Martinmas the farmer decided to slaughter her for meat. No sooner had he voiced his intention than she bellowed with rage, gathered all her calves before her and drove them into the water. They were never seen again.

In Fife, a plague of flesh eating water bulls come ashore at HALLOWEEN.

WATER HORSES - some WATER FAIRIES appear in the form of horses. These include the Aughisky, Cabbyl Ushty, Nuegle, Decair, Each-Uisge, Noggles, Eager, Glashtin, Kelpie, Nickur, and the Nuckelavee. These horses often try to trick humans into mounting them, and if they are foolish enough to do so, the water horse will carry them into deep water and drown them. Some water horses will even eat their victims.

WELL GUARDIANS - many wells have a fairy guardian in the form of a salmon, trout, SNAKE, FROG, TOAD or NYMPH. These fairies are particular to the locale. Sometimes the resident fairies have to be placated with offerings of PINS or coins. If a well guardian should seize you, you will be dragged down into the well and be forced to dwell forever with the fairy.

These legends may derive from the ancient belief that nymphs or goddesses guard wells and other waterways. Such places were holy and veneration of them still persists today. They were believed to have healing or cursing powers, the ability to bestow luck or take it away, and were presided over by Pagan deities, many of whom were later transformed into Christian saints, such as Brighid, or passed into folklore as ‘WHITE LADIES’ or ‘GREEN LADIES’. A well near Penrhos in Wales allegedly cured cancer. The sufferer would have to wash in the water, curse the disease, and drop pins into the well.

 In Derbyshire, wells are still dressed with pictures constructed from flowers, seeds and crystalline rocks, which once would have been made to placate the resident spirits. Today, the themes of the pictures are biblical ones, and the wells re-dedicated to Christian saints, usually called Anne [Anu], Mary, Margaret or Brigit [Brighid]. Almost every English town has a well dedicated to some female saint that would once have been sacred to a Pagan goddess. Fairy wells are more common in England, Ireland, and Norway than elsewhere.

WHOOPER or Hooper or Hooter haunted Sennen Cove in Cornwall. Even when the weather was perfectly clear a small blanket of mist would form on Cowloe Rock from within which a SWAN would make its whooping cry by day and emit showers of sparks by night. It foretold storms and prevented fishermen going into the open sea when storms threatened. The creature sadly disappeared when two insensitive men who were determined to go fishing ignored its warning and beat their way through the misty cloud with a flail. Neither they nor the creature were ever seen again.

WISH HOUNDS or Wist Hounds or Wisht Hounds haunt Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor. They are a pack of phantom BLACK DOGS. They hunt human souls.

Y FUWCH FRECH is a freckled fairy COW that lived near Cerrigydrugian in Denbigh, Wales. She supplied the whole neighbourhood with milk, filling any vessel brought to her. Then one day a WITCH tried to milk her into a sieve, and continued to do so until the cow went mad and drowned herself in Llyn Dan Ychen.

YCHEN BANNOG are the Fairy COWS that were used to haul the dreaded AFRANC from its lair in the River Conway near Betwys y Coed in Wales. The creature was enticed from its cave by a young girl it had fallen in love with, and though the villagers wrapped it in chains, it escaped, clawing the girl as it did so. The two magical fairy oxen were called in to haul it from its hiding place; they did so, but in the struggle one of them lost its eye. It fell to the ground and became a pool called Pwll Llygad Ych [‘The Pool of the Ox’s Eye’], that can still be seen.

YEFF HOUNDS or Yeth Hounds [‘Heath Hounds'] is a Somerset name for the hounds of the WILD HUNT or phantom BLACK DOGS. One pack haunts Cleeve Hill, Somerset, England.

ZALTYS is a strange Lithuanian HOUSE FAIRY that appears as a black SNAKE with a third eye in the middle of its forehead. It protects humans and animals, and if one takes up residence in a property, it is an OMEN of good fortune. Originally, Zaltys was the serpent who coiled around the roots of the World Tree, the enemy of the thunder god Perun, and the target for much of his lightening.