The asrai is a type of
aquatic fairy
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...
in
English folklore
English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the English region's mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, and folktales. Its cultural history is rooted in Celtic, Christia ...
and literature. They are usually depicted as female, live in lakes and are similar to the
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
and
nixie.
Etymology and origin
The etymology of the word "asrai" is unknown. "Ashray" is sometimes given as a spelling variant. Their oldest known appearance in print was the poem "The Asrai" by
Robert Williams Buchanan
Robert Williams Buchanan (18 August 1841 – 10 June 1901) was a Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist.
Early life and education
He was the son of Robert Buchanan (1813–1866), Owenite lecturer and journalist, and was born at Caverswall, S ...
, first published in April 1872, and followed by a sequel, "The Changeling: A Legend of the Moonlight."
[Buchanan, Robert Williams (1884). ''The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan''. Chatto & Windus. pp. 201-204.] The first person to describe the asrai as a folkloric being was the storyteller
Ruth Tongue
Ruth Lyndall Tongue (7 February 1898 – 19 September 1981) was a British storyteller and writer who published several collections of folklore and various articles.
Biography
Ruth Tongue was born in Handsworth. She was the third and youngest chi ...
, whose reliability as a folklorist has been questioned.
[Simpson, Jacqueline, and Stephen Roud (2000). ''A Dictionary of English Folklore.'' Oxford University Press.]
Characteristics
In Buchanan's poetry, the asrai are pale, gentle beings, older than humanity, who fear sunlight and live beneath
Bala Lake
Bala Lake ( cy, Llyn Tegid ) is a large freshwater glacial lake in Gwynedd, Wales. The River Dee, which has its source on the slopes of Dduallt in the mountains of Snowdonia, feeds the long by wide lake. It was the largest natural body of ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. His poem "The Changeling" features a male asrai who inhabits a human body, becoming a
changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...
in search of an immortal
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
.
Ruth Tongue later collected tales from
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...
and
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
of asrai which live for hundreds of years and come up to the surface of the water once each century to bathe in the moonlight, which they use to help them grow. The Cheshire and Shropshire stories tell of a fisherman who captured an asrai and put it in his boat. It seemed to plead for its freedom in an unknown language, and when the fisherman bound it the touch of its cold wet hands burned his skin like fire, leaving a permanent mark. He covered the asrai with wet weeds, and it continued to protest, its voice getting fainter and fainter. By the time the fisherman reached the shore the asrai had melted away leaving nothing but a puddle of water in the boat, for the asrai perish if directly exposed too long to the sun. Their inability to survive daylight is similar to that of
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human ...
s from
Scandinavian folklore
Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been mutually influenced by, folklore in England, Germany, the Low Countries, the Baltic countries, Finland an ...
.
They are sometimes described as timid and shy, standing tall, or may be depicted as tall and lithe.
[Froud, Brian and Lee, Alan (2002). ''Faeries''. Pavilion Books. .] In some retellings, the asrai has green hair and a fishtail instead of legs,
or webbed feet instead.
[Arrowsmith, Nancy (2009) ]977
Year 977 ( CMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (''tsar'') of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman m ...
''Field Guide to the Little People''. Llewellyn. p. 56. . In a retelling by Rosalind Kerven, if the asrai sees a man she will attempt to lure him with promises of gold and jewels into the deepest part of the lake to drown or simply to trick him. However, she cannot tolerate human coarseness and vulgarity, and this will be enough to frighten her away.
[Kerven, Rosalind (2008). ''English Fairy Tales and Legends''. National Trust Books. pp. 120–123, 186–188. .] This tale had previously been told of a Shropshire mermaid, without the term asrai.
See also
*
Fuath
A fuath ( gd, fuath; ; lit. ‘hatred'; ''fuathan''; vough, vaugh) is a class of malevolent spirits in Scottish Highland folklore, especially water spirits.
In Sutherland was the so-called ''Moulin na Vaugha/Fouadh'', ‘Mill of the Fuath', h ...
*
Glaistig
*
Kelpie
A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Each-Uisge''), is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. It is usually described as a black horse-like creature, able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpi ...
*
Melusine
Mélusine () or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is als ...
*
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan ''n''a, Morgain ''a/e Morg ''a''ne, Morgant ''e Morge ''i''n, and Morgue ''inamong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a ...
*
Morgen
A morgen was a unit of measurement of land area in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and the Dutch colonies, including South Africa and Taiwan. The size of a morgen varies from . It was also used in Old Prussia, in the Balkans, ...
*
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.
They are distinct from river gods, who ...
*
Näkki
*
Nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
*
Rusalka
In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalky/rusalki; ; pl, rusałka}) is a typically feminine entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water, with counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Mel ...
*
Selkie
*
Siren
Siren or sirens may refer to:
Common meanings
* Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies
* Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology
Places
* Siren (town), Wisconsin
* Siren, Wiscon ...
*
Undines
Links
The Changeling: A Legend of the Moonlight
References
{{Fairies
English legendary creatures
Fairies
Female legendary creatures
Water spirits