Tylwyth Teg
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Middle Welsh Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...
for "
Fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...
Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
"; ) is the most usual term in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
for the mythological creatures corresponding to the
fairy folk 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 mythology, Celtic, Slavic paganism, Slavic, Germanic folklore, Germanic, ...
of English and Continental folklore and the Irish . Other names for them include ("Blessing of the
Mothers ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...
"), 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
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 ...
s (or , ) in their place. They dance and make
fairy ring A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by ...
s 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 In algebraic geometry, a 3-fold or threefold is a 3-dimensional algebraic variety Algebraic varieties are the central objects of study in algebraic geometry, a sub-field of mathematics. Classically, an algebraic variety is defined as the se ...
instruction by a "
cunning man Cunning may refer to: * Cunning (owarai), a Japanese comedy group * Cunning folk, a type of folk magic user * Cunning (surname), a list of people with Cunning as a surname See also

* Cunningham * * * Sneak (disambiguation) * Sly (disambigu ...
" (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
otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherwor ...
ly identity. She then went to a
crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
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 William Wirt Sikes (November 23, 1836 – August 18, 1883) was an American journalist and writer, perhaps best known today for his writings on Welsh folklore and customs. Early life William Wirt Sikes was born in Watertown, New York, the son of W ...
the may be divided into five general types: the (
elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...
), 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
hag HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Märk ...
s). The (singular ) inhabit groves and valleys and are similar to English elves. Their food consists of
toadstool A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is th ...
s and fairy butter (a type of fungus) and they wear
digitalis ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sha ...
bell flowers as gloves. They are ruled by
Queen Mab Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', where "she is the fairies' midwife". Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity i ...
and bring prosperity to those they favour.


In popular culture

*
Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...
's ''
Heretics of Dune ''Heretics of Dune'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the fifth in his ''Dune'' series of six novels. It was ranked as the No. 13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by ''The New York Times''. Fifteen hundred years have pa ...
'' includes two characters called
Tylwyth Waff The following is a list of secondary fictional characters from the science fiction media franchise ''Dune'' created by Frank Herbert. The characters listed originate in Herbert's novel series (1965–1985), but some also appear in the ''Prelude to ...
and
Miles Teg The following is a list of secondary fictional characters from the science fiction media franchise ''Dune'' created by Frank Herbert. The characters listed originate in Herbert's novel series (1965–1985), but some also appear in the ''Prelude to ...
. *
C. Robert Cargill Christopher Robert Cargill (born September 8, 1975) is an American screenwriter, novelist, podcast host, and former film critic known under the pseudonyms Massawyrm (on Ain't It Cool News) and Carlyle (on Spill.com). Cargill currently resides in ...
's novel ''Dreams and Shadows'' features the (referring to it as a ) as a child snatcher. *
Jim Butcher Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and ''Cinder Spires'' book series. Personal life Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. He ...
's short story "Curses" set in the
Harry Dresden ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are w ...
universe has the responsible for the
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on the
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. *
Joan Aiken Joan Delano Aiken (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English writer specialising in supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels. In 1999 she was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature. For ''The ...
's 1968 novel ''The Whispering Mountain'' explains the as a diminutive
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race who were imported to Wales as slaves to work in the mines. * In
Kelley Armstrong Kelley Armstrong (born 14 December 1968)Bio for school projectsLloyd Alexander Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been tran ...
's ''
The Chronicles of Prydain ''The Chronicles of Prydain'' is a pentalogy of children's high fantasy Bildungsroman novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company. The series includes: ''The Book of Three'' (1964), ''The Black Cauld ...
'' include a race of Fair Folk similar to the (which here is the name given to their underground kingdom). *
Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include i ...
's novel ''Home from the Sea'' features the as mischievous elemental sprites. * In
Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap ...
's fantasy novel ''The Iron Dragon's Daughter'' the are the aristocracy of the magical world. *
Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire (pronounced SHAWN-in; born January 5, 1978 in Martinez, California) is an American author and filker. McGuire is known for her urban fantasy novels. She uses the pseudonym Mira Grant to write science fiction/ horror and the pseudon ...
's ''October Daye'' series of books features a character as an
alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...
. * The chapter ''The Fairy Island'' in
Frances Jenkins Olcott Frances Jenkins Olcott (1872 – 29 March 1963) was the first head librarian of the children's department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in 1898. She also wrote many children's books and books for those in the profession of providing lib ...
'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
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series ''
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'', which itself is based on
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by
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,
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(
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) 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

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