Tylwyth Teg

(Middle Welsh for "Fair Family"; ) is the most usual term in Wales for the mythological creatures corresponding to the fairy folk of English and Continental folklore and the Irish . Other names for them include ("Blessing of the Mothers"), and .

Origins

The term is first attested in a poem attributed to the 14th-century , in which the principal character gets perilously but comically lost while going to visit his girlfriend: "" ("(The) weak enchantment (now) flees, / (the) long burden of the ''Tylwyth Teg'' (departs) into the mist").

Attributes

In later sources the are described as fair-haired and covet golden-haired human children whom they kidnap, leaving changelings (or , ) in their place. They dance and make fairy rings and they live underground or under the water. They bestow riches on those they favour but these gifts vanish if they are spoken of, and fairy maidens may become the wives of human men. These fairy wives are however still bound by traditional taboos. They must be careful to avoid touching iron or they will vanish back to their realm never to be seen by their husbands again.

As the (the mothers blessing, a Southern Welsh name for fair folk), they ride horses in fairy rades (processions) and visit houses where bowls of milk are customarily put out for them. A changeling story tells of a woman whose three-year-old son was stolen by the fairies and she was given a threefold instruction by a " cunning man" (magician) on how to get him back. She removed the top from a raw egg and began stirring the contents, and as the changeling watched her do this certain comments he made established his otherworldly identity. She then went to a crossroads at midnight during the full moon and observed a fairy raid in order to confirm that her son was with them. Lastly she obtained a black hen and without plucking it she roasted it over a wood fire until every feather dropped off. The changeling then disappeared and her son was returned to her.

According to the folklorist Wirt Sikes the may be divided into five general types: the (elves), the (fairies of the mines), the (household fairies similar to brownies), the (female fairies of the lakes and streams) and the (mountain fairies more akin to hags). The (singular ) inhabit groves and valleys and are similar to English elves. Their food consists of toadstools and fairy butter (a type of fungus) and they wear digitalis bell flowers as gloves. They are ruled by Queen Mab and bring prosperity to those they favour.

In popular culture

* Frank Herbert's ''Heretics of Dune'' includes two characters called Tylwyth Waff and Miles Teg.
* C. Robert Cargill's novel ''Dreams and Shadows'' features the (referring to it as a ) as a child snatcher.
* Jim Butcher's short story "Curses" set in the Harry Dresden universe has the responsible for the Curse of the Billy Goat on the Chicago Cubs.
* Joan Aiken's 1968 novel ''The Whispering Mountain'' explains the as a diminutive Mediterranean race who were imported to Wales as slaves to work in the mines.
* In Kelley Armstrong's fantasy novel series ''Cainsville'' the and are the main themes, but it is not initially obvious until the later books when the history of such myths are revealed.
* Lloyd Alexander's '' The Chronicles of Prydain'' include a race of Fair Folk similar to the (which here is the name given to their underground kingdom).
* Mercedes Lackey's novel ''Home from the Sea'' features the as mischievous elemental sprites.
* In Michael Swanwick's fantasy novel ''The Iron Dragon's Daughter'' the are the aristocracy of the magical world.
* Seanan McGuire's ''October Daye'' series of books features a character as an alchemist.
* The chapter ''The Fairy Island'' in Frances Jenkins Olcott's anthology ''The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud'' features the as water-fairies living on an island abundant with flowers and fruit.
* In the third season of the HBO series ''True Blood'', which itself is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, Sookie Stackhouse ( Anna Paquin) finally learns that she is a human/faery hybrid and therefore why she possesses certain unique special abilities. The "Ellyllon" is one of the terms used to describe what her race is, as well as the terms Finodrerr, the Old People, the Fae and Aliens.

References

Further reading

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{{Fairies

Fictional characters introduced in the 14th century
Elves
Fairies
Welsh folklore