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LaRPS : Legacies Role Play System » Support » Roleplaying Lectures
Race Class 101: Fae, Elven and Changlings Oh My!
(14 posts)-
[13:50] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Hi Araiel.
[13:51] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Hiya Faith
[13:51] Emilia (pink.gearz): Hi Faith :)
[13:51] Marcus Firegrave is Offline
[13:51] Faith Diesel: was trying to sneak in
[13:51] Faith Diesel: giggle
[13:51] Faith Diesel: s
[13:51] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Hi Pearl, come on in :)
[13:52] Pearl Grey (pearlgrey): May anyone attend?
[13:52] Emilia (pink.gearz) waves at Pearl
[13:52] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Anyone who wants the information may attend
[13:52] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Come on in hun, we don't bite. Much!
[13:52] Pearl Grey (pearlgrey): great...waves at Emillia
[13:52] Emilia (pink.gearz) smiles
[13:52] Faith Diesel: dont even need to be part of legacies to join classes hun
[13:53] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): everyone is entirely welcome to come to class :-)
[13:53] Pearl Grey (pearlgrey): O.K. didn't know if it was ultra top secret information.
[13:54] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): the purpose is to help rp, now, this is isn't ic knowledge, just keep that in the back of your head pearl :)
[13:54] Emilia (pink.gearz): Hey hey Sephy
[13:54] Angel (angel.walters): sorry was coooking lunch
[13:55] Pearl Grey (pearlgrey): right o.k.
[13:55] Angel (angel.walters): hay sweety
[13:55] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): hello everyone
[13:55] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): Hi mom :)
[13:55] Faith Diesel: giggles - only two races are a little bit secret and there are reasons for that.
[13:55] K.D. Silvansky : ((Keighvin Silvansky is in StoryTeller mode.))
[13:56] Angel (angel.walters): well it is ic knowledge for me lol
[13:57] Emilia (pink.gearz): Hey Uni!
[13:57] Ąɭçђęɱį (unicornis.alchemi): ello
[13:57] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Hi Alba.
[13:58] Ąɭçђęɱį (unicornis.alchemi): ello
[13:58] Angel (angel.walters): hay some one order lunch ?
[13:58] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Okay, going to go ahead and get set up here. We're about to start.
[13:58] Emilia (pink.gearz): Yay!
[13:59] Angel (angel.walters): do i need to move?
[13:59] Faith Diesel: who is spamming boxes?
[13:59] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): First of all, Welcome to Legacies, this is Race Class 101: Fae, Elven, and a bunch of sub-races that aren't individualized. Each box, if you click on it, gives you a notecard full of great information.
[13:59] Faith Diesel: oh
[14:00] Naia Madruga: I am not anhy of those races but am interested in learning about them. it is ok that I sit in ?
[14:00] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): This way you can go after the information that interests you, also, all notecards will be posted on the forums for ease of use after the class. Come on in Naia.
[14:01] Angel (angel.walters): sorry was part of my outfit
[14:01] John Spatterdash: ((Spatterdash Resident has entered the area.))
[14:02] Monoceros Inglewood: a party without me ???
[14:02] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): where you been Father?
[14:02] Monoceros Inglewood: you don't wanna know, Pers ;-)
[14:02] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Now, everyone can ask questions at any time in my class, I only ask that you keep it on the class subject. Now, first of all a disclaimer: None of this information is meant to be limiting. It's your roleplay. This is just information that anyone can find out that I have gathered over a long period of time. If you want to rp something that is not here, great. We love people who do that too.
[14:03] jafar tepet: ((spyder Beeswing has entered the area.))
[14:04] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Now, you'll notice that their are a lot of boxes on the inner circle. These are the Fae & Elven sub races. We don't differentiate each race. It would simply be too much, the Fae are wildly different many times.
[14:04] Kirin: ((Kirin Umino has entered the area.))
[14:06] Dasha Nightfire is Online
[14:06] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Now, most people, but not all, have a roleplay basis of three courts. They my have different names, some call them the sun and moon, night and light, winter and summer courts, but the basis is always just about the same. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and the Wyld Court. Now, most of all, you must understand that for the Fae, their is a massive game of politics going on.
[14:08] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): The Seelie can be most any race, but in particular, the Shellycoats, Bogles, Redcaps, Bansidhe, Sluagh. Some particularly bad Pixies, some of the Changelings as well. Mostly it is a political distinction- and a Fae can change courts. You aren't tied to one. But changing should probably be done carefully--not at a flip of a hat. The Seelie court like to be viewed as the good fae. Anyone want to guess why?
[14:08] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Unseelie^ in the front of that sentence, Not Seelie^
[14:09] Emilia (pink.gearz): I don't know
[14:09] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): If People Trust you, they are easier to manoveur around. You can get them to do what you want, isn't it? If people look at you in a good way.
[14:10] Emilia (pink.gearz): mhm
[14:10] Angel (angel.walters): lol because there high and might tubes make them think there good and can do no wrong?
[14:10] Angel (angel.walters): *tudes
[14:11] Race Class: Seelie Court owned by Keighvin Silvansky gave you 'Seelie' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isle%20of%20Legacies/116/150/1504 ).
[14:11] Faith Diesel: Fate would say those of the unseelie court were brave and noble and those of the seelie court lazy ungrateful asses but thats just fate
[14:12] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Not really Angel, they want to be viewed as good because it's easier that way. Unseelie and Seelie is like being Democrat and Republican, it changes depending on who's leading, who it is, and what their views on. In the Seelie Courts, they are called "Blessed Ones" Many times, because they want to be viewed as all that is light, beautiful, good. The Seelie have a pretty standard code. Death Before Dishonor. --Honor, is the only way that a Seelie may be recognized.
[14:13] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Love Conquer's All: Love is the perfect expression of the Soul.
[14:13] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Beauty is Life: Can anyone tell me why this might be an issue?
[14:13] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): What if a Fae was ugly? Would it be welcomed into the Seelie court?
[14:13] Emilia (pink.gearz): No
[14:13] Angel (angel.walters): nope
[14:13] Kirin Umino: not really
[14:13] Angel (angel.walters): but i never seen any one play a ugly fae
[14:14] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): All beauty in the Seelie court is to be protected. Period. No matter if it is a beautiful person, place or thing.
[14:14] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Never Forget a Debt: this goes two ways, a double edged sword. Seelie are bound by their code of hono to repay any debt owed as soon as possible, this includes...both favors and insults.
[14:14] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): so if you insult a Seelie, they will be just as quick to hand you revenge.
[14:15] Pandora Fireguard is Online
[14:15] Emilia (pink.gearz) whispers: As opposed to an unseeli?
[14:16] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Now the last thing, The Seelie Court, find the Unseelie court to be Absolutely repellent. However, remember that it is a political distinction, just because most Seelie are like that, doesn't mean you have to be. Just be aware that many of them can't tolerate each other- which causes quite a bit of friction in the Sithen.
[14:16] Race Class: Unseelie owned by Keighvin Silvansky gave you 'Unseelie' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isle%20of%20Legacies/117/155/1504 ).
[14:16] Emilia (pink.gearz): What's a Sithen?
[14:17] Angel (angel.walters): home
[14:17] Emilia (pink.gearz): ty
[14:17] Faith Diesel: fae meeting place
[14:17] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): *grins* I would suggest gently finding other Fae in the Sim. To get than answered, a great place to start might be the Dark Coast, I believe it's called, and the other being Underhill. *wink*
[14:17] Emilia (pink.gearz): :o
[14:18] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Now, the Unseelie Court. The Seelie Court wants everyone to believe that the Unseelie Court consists of the malicous and evilly inclined Fae.
[14:19] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): But. this isn't nessicarily so. They call them "The Unblessed Ones." And yet they too have a bond with the Goddesss. It's a way of putting down the Unseelie, who as a whole, tend to not be very pretty. However, again not all of them appear to be so.
[14:20] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Being Unseelie doesn't mean you automatically hate other races and want them to fall off a cliff. It just means that you things a more chaotic way, or that your more interested in doing things for yourself, rather than someone else. Rules really aren't important to the unseelie. Because there are ways around them. The Unseelie are all about the wording of something.
[14:20] Angel (angel.walters): blinks oh?
[14:20] Marcus Firegrave is Online
[14:21] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): One of the Codes of the Unseelie Court is Glamour is Free. What you see may not be what you get.
[14:21] Naia Madruga: by glamour is free. you mean anyone can have it or use it
[14:21] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): While an Unseelie may appear to be a beautiful lady...*bows to them* They might not be. They might also be a glorious beauty out to use that beauty, hard to tell.
[14:22] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Both courts have different opinions of it's use. The Unseelie believe that to have power and not use it is almost a sin. They use their power as they see fit.
[14:22] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): If you have it, why not use it? is pretty much a standard motto.
[14:23] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Or rather, if you have it, flaunt it. *grin* Change is Good, is the next Code of the Unseelie Court. --The Unseelie believe that security is an illusion. they accept that to survive, one must have to adapt. The Seelie tend to be very traditional, the Unseelie, not so much.
[14:23] Angel (angel.walters): giggles will do
[14:23] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Honor is a Lie. Can you tell me why an Unseelie might think this?
[14:24] Angel (angel.walters): wow there soundign more like the jedi and sith
[14:24] Angel (angel.walters): couse ever one lies?
[14:24] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Very much like that Angel, two sides of the same coin, is the most apt saying for the Seelie and Unseelie.
[14:24] Kirin Umino: Probably that people pretend to have honor but go their own way anyway?
[14:25] Faith Diesel: Unseelie didnt see much honour when the seelie failed to join them in the battle with the formians
[14:25] Marcus Firegrave: honor is codes of conduct that limit ones "movements" often viewed as limiting ones potential to those who dont believe in it
[14:25] Naia Madruga: who are the formians
[14:25] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): *nod* Very good Kirin the Unseelie generally put no personal stock in honor. Instead they pursue their own self interests vigorously. If they want it, they go for it. Unseelie feel as if truth could only be reached through a devotion to the self. Not to others. --And Very good Marcus :)
[14:25] Spatterdash: Awww, beat me to it Angel.. I thought a doctor saying "everybody lies" was .. right, somehow ;)
[14:25] Ariel Liveoak: ((Ariel Liveoak is Out Of Character))
[14:26] Faith Diesel: i translate the formians as the humans - (based on irish myths)
[14:26] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Passion Before Duty. Passion was considered for the Unseelie to be the truest state of being--the Unseelie tend to be all instinct and passion. The unseelie court are also rather popular in that they welcome anyone and everything with a single drop of ancestral fae blood in it.
[14:26] Angel (angel.walters): well if there like that then whitch one is sith and whitch one jedi couse well nighter where wrong in there thinking but yet they both where and big house fan
[14:27] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): In this case, the Fae like to present themselves as the Seelie being the "Jedi" and the Unseelie being the "Sith" that doesn't however, mean that is true. Remember, it's a massive game of politics to the Fae.
[14:27] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Now, who wants to guess what the Wyld Courts are?
[14:28] Race Class: The Wyld Courts owned by Keighvin Silvansky gave you 'The Wyld Courts' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isle%20of%20Legacies/116/152/1501 ).
[14:28] Ariel Liveoak: The Neutrals
[14:28] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): forest wild?
[14:28] Angel (angel.walters): bendu
[14:28] Naia Madruga: one that thing the seelie and unseelie are the dame
[14:28] Naia Madruga: same
[14:28] Kirin Umino: rogues or underfaes?
[14:28] Angel (angel.walters): but yeah neutral
[14:28] Naia Madruga: dont want to deal with either one of them
[14:28] Ąɭçђęɱį (unicornis.alchemi): are they going to start pulling my tail ?
[14:29] Ariel Liveoak: Registered as Independent :P
[14:29] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Any Fae can be forest wild--the Wyld Court is simply those Fae who do not wish to align with either the Seelie or Unseelie. They are often called the "Trouping" Fae, because they don't like to stay in one spot. They also tend to appreciate wyld magic a bit more than the chaos of the Unseelie and the Order of the Seelie Courts. Unpolitic to a tea.
[14:29] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): They really don't have much good to say about either the Seelie or the Unseelie. Both tend to annoy the Wyld Court.
[14:29] Ariel Liveoak: Is there an actual Wyld Court in Legacies?
[14:30] Angel (angel.walters): gyspe fae?
[14:30] Angel (angel.walters): yes
[14:30] Pandora Fireguard is Offline
[14:30] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Remember, these are political distinctions, not actual court destinctions- The Sithen is used by all fae, a kind of meeting and place of safety for all three courts.
[14:30] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby) is Online
[14:30] Ariel Liveoak: ...I need to find that one of these days
[14:30] Marcus Firegrave: such a question is impossible to answer, as any player can make a group be it a "rogue group" or a formalized one
[14:31] Naia Madruga: are elves part of this too ?
[14:31] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): The Elves are a part of this madness. Most Elves consider themselves members of the Fae races.
[14:31] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): However, the Elves have their own race in Legacies. Anyone want to guess why?
[14:32] Naia Madruga: they dont fly?
[14:32] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Bingo. That's my best guess. *grin*
[14:32] Angel (angel.walters): fae have wings and elves dont
[14:32] Pandora Fireguard is Online
[14:32] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Elves, Sidhe don't fly. So they generally pickk the Elven Race. the Fae Race can fly in Legacies. They don't have to of course, but it's an option.
[14:33] Naia Madruga: and they alll make up these three courts
[14:33] Naia Madruga: wow
[14:33] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): yep! And several other individual courts, I merely went with what I understood best, their are many other cours.
[14:33] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): courts^
[14:33] Angel (angel.walters): Flying abilityYes
Phylum
-
Underwater abilityn/a
Class
-
AppetiteDaily
Order
-
IntelligenceHigh
Family
-
FerocityNeutral
Genus
-
LanguagesElven and Common
Species
-
[14:34] Angel (angel.walters): opps
[14:34] Spatterdash: Can I ask a biological question? Or will that wait til lateR? (And no, it's not THAT one - I know about the mummy and the daddy and the 'special hug' ;) )
[14:34] Emilia (pink.gearz): *After a millennia of indiscriminate breeding, And another part says they couldn't breed and had to capture humans.. Whats that about?
[14:34] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): -laughs- Go ahead Spatter.
[14:34] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby) tried to sneak in but fell over laughing at spatter
[14:34] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Emilia, I'll get yours next :)
[14:34] Angel (angel.walters): tri has fae/fairys as no fly and elves as fly?
[14:34] Naia Madruga: giggles at spatte
[14:35] Naia Madruga: the reverse Angel
[14:35] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Elves can't fly, last I checked *wiggles his ears*
[14:35] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): n/a means natural ability
[14:35] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Not unless you shoot them out of a slingshot.
[14:35] Faith Diesel: n/a means its a natural ability - can fly like others walk
[14:35] Spatterdash: Well, I occasionally have to RP terating fae. I know not to use iron instruments, but are their biologies roughly comensurate with mammalian/human? i.e. heart, lungs, digestives, etc.?
[14:36] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Great question Spatter, and it entirely depends upon the way the person is rping.
[14:36] Naia Madruga: they like sugar....
[14:36] Faith Diesel: yes means they can fly but its not natural so basically its a significant action & short lived
[14:36] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): most of the Fae races I would say yes on, but Ban Sidhe and Sluagh and soe of the others don't fit that either. I would say your going to find that out roleplay with each individual fae.
[14:37] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): (coughs... should ask Bastion ICly Spatter)
[14:37] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): ;-)
[14:37] Spatterdash nods. "Thanks.. sorry - self interest beats the flow once more ;) "
[14:37] Emilia (pink.gearz): *They have no method of reproduction, so they enslave mortals whom they think would never be missed and carry them along to become one of them.
[14:38] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Okay, Emiliia your question was why do some fae have it listed they can reproduce, and some cannot. Well pretty much- that's just the lore. Legacies doesn't allow children, so the point is kind of moot.
[14:38] Emilia (pink.gearz): I see
[14:39] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): That information is just for Lore Purposes. Most Fae are known for stealing children. Can you guess why the Seelie and Unseelie would want to steal children?
[14:39] Marcus Firegrave: great taste? less filling?
[14:39] Emilia (pink.gearz): To turn them Fae
[14:39] Angel (angel.walters): they can see use?
[14:40] Naia Madruga: can you been turned fae.. dont you have to be born.. ?
[14:40] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): because they're to good to do anything themselves and need slaves?
[14:40] Cherry Malheur is Online
[14:40] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): >.>
[14:40] Emilia (pink.gearz): wow I need to reconstruct my character if that is true
[14:40] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Good thinking Astrid, some of the Fae might be lazy, the Unseelie for instance, tend to like servants.
[14:40] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): It's easier than doing it themselves.
[14:41] Marcus Firegrave: that and children are delicious
[14:41] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): The Seelie tend to fall in love with beauty. *smacks Marcus* So a beautiful child might be covetted and stolen as well.
[14:41] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): need me to sit next to Marcus and smack him?
[14:42] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Please Astrid *grin*
[14:42] Marcus Firegrave: you cant silence the truth!
[14:42] Faith Diesel: did you see naias question Kev
[14:42] Kirin Umino: the kids make great toys/pets
[14:42] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Yep faith, was typing.
[14:42] Faith Diesel: about being able to convert to fae
[14:42] Emilia (pink.gearz): Yah I need Naia's question answered too that will change my entire story
[14:43] Kirin Umino: XD
[14:43] Ąɭçђęɱį (unicornis.alchemi): I make a great pet :)
[14:43] Naia Madruga: my question can one be turned into a fae.. I thought they were born..not turned.
[14:43] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Some races of the Fae could convert a child, using magic to twist the child into something else. Maybe a changeling, or even among the Unseelie, who tend to like to "experiment" sometimes.
[14:44] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Many things are possible with magic, I would say that a Fae could be created, not born, myself.
[14:44] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): sorry i'm late had to sort something
[14:44] Kirin Umino: lol you already are a great pet Alba.. :-P
[14:44] Naia Madruga wiggles her fingers to the unicorn... " come here uni uni,,, unicorni
[14:44] Alba beams
[14:44] Ariel Liveoak: By the way, I really want to steal your cape, K.D. :P
[14:44] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): i have a big question of the fae law and culture.
[14:44] Faith Diesel: grins but i think the reverse - fae is a race and your are boen to it
[14:44] Faith Diesel: born*
[14:44] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): It comes down to how you want to roleplay it. We're not here to tell you how to roleplay--just give you info's. If you want to rp as a turned or created Fae- then of course, go for, as long as it's plausible.
[14:44] Emilia (pink.gearz): Well if unseeli capture humans because they can't reproduce that would suggest to me humans can be turned.
[14:45] Faith Diesel: it doesnt matter that we differ
[14:45] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Bingo emilia, and that would be my thoughts as well. It's up to your rp. Go ahead Lucifrage.
[14:45] Naia Madruga tries to picture herself as a neko fae. beyond her imagination
[14:46] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): so there is slavery in RP too?
[14:46] Marcus Firegrave: as long as there is ooc consent
[14:46] Ariel Liveoak: ((Isn't Nekop basically Japanese Fae?))
[14:46] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): or should I use the word minion
[14:46] Faith Diesel: its our character - we research and play it - and shuts up - sorry kev
[14:46] Naia Madruga: depend on the player
[14:46] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): *smacks the other ST's* down! *grin*
[14:46] Naia Madruga: we dont fly
[14:46] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Ariel I think your probably thinking Kitsunie maybe.
[14:46] Ariel Liveoak: Ah, ok.
[14:47] Naia Madruga: the bakeneko is a fae demon
[14:47] Marcus Firegrave: she is >.> -sits down and shuts up before hes hit... again-
[14:47] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby) smacks Marcus
[14:47] Kirin Umino: Kitsune are the Wyld Cour in japanese lore
[14:47] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): the binding of the word, all literature shows fae have laws surrounding their word being something they must fufil, hense they are wary of their speach, and if they intend to betray or trick someone in a deal or such, must be careful how they word it, also known as the law of the foresworn. Djinn have similar rules. you have any comments on this part of culture both seelie and unseelie follow, this is the peice i mean -
[14:47] Ariel Liveoak: Me too, me too! *smacks Marcus* :P
[14:47] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): One of the greatest laws of the fey involves swearing oaths. If a fey gives their word or swears an oath, then they cannot break it and are bound by it. To break their word (to be foresworn) means that they will be out-cast. Even the rulers of each Court must abide by their oaths.
[14:48] Naia Madruga: Bakeneko is like the kitsune.. but not a fox a cat
[14:48] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Okay guys, let's focus on class please :) if you have questions let's answer them in a orderly manner :)
[14:48] Dale Cocksworth raises his hand
[14:49] Dale (pagedale) raises his hand ;-)
[14:49] Dale (pagedale): Sorry forgot to turn off my "/me safety gesture" LOL
[14:50] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Lucifrage- I would say that is entirely up to each Fae's roleplay. I know some that roleplay that they cannot lie, and others that they can. There is no hard and fast rule for this. We don't stand here and go. "Your Fae and Elven, you cannot ever lie." *shakes his head* That is a character's distinction. One could also roleplay that they tell everyone they can't lie but they can. Not all literally shows that Fae have laws about their word, some suggest that Fae are not bound to it as well. Again, we're not here to limit your rp, just to help you with it. That's a personal decision for each roleplayer. Also, one should note, their is a massive difference in telling the truth, and being Honest."
[14:52] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): of course, word it well and you can make some woppers without a lie, just some ommisions and wordplay. I just know sidhe courts use the law, if its followed in practice is another matter ;-)
[14:53] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Not nessicarily Lucifrage, I know a very awesome Seelie court Fae who doesn't follow that. Of course, she's not going to tell you that she can lie. *grin* Again, it's a character decision, it doesn't matter if you think it should or should not be. It is each roleplayer's rp.
[14:53] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): of course.
[14:55] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Nobody gets to tell you how you get to roleplay, which is why at the beginning of class I stated that this is just basic information. Everyone is welcome to go with their own story, their own history. If we start limiting people, we start having issues, we're here to facilitate roleplay, not tell you how to do it *grin* Just keep it plausible. If your character has a plausibile reason it can lie then awesome!
[14:55] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): If you want them to be truthful to the extreme, you can do that as well. Nobody has the right to tell you that their is one true way. Their isn't.
[14:56] Faith Diesel: grins and winks at Kev
[14:56] Angel (angel.walters): so it is okay for let say joe blow to play say a prince of the faes?
[14:56] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): It's one of the great things about the Fae--they are so diverse. So many differences in each person's rp, and this is allowed because we have so much diversity in the lore between different countries, places, and lands.
[14:56] Naia Madruga: giggles so there isnt a real life fae to tell us
[14:56] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): My lawyer who has a decent skill set in sithen law just intends on using that in court with other laws, of course, law means little without some perswasion and law dice rolls to convince a jury, right ;-)
[14:57] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): For instance, the Japanese view fae very differently than the irish. For instance. Now, did I miss any questions---oh wait, go ahead Dale
[14:57] Dale (pagedale) smiles lowering his tired arm
[14:58] Angel (angel.walters): raise hand
[14:58] Naia Madruga: nods yes they do.. with a wink
[14:58] Dale (pagedale): I noticed you didn't reference teh new WoD Changeling The Lost book in your notes
[14:58] Angel (angel.walters): so it is okay for let say joe blow to play say a prince of the faes?
[14:59] Dale (pagedale): I thin there is some amazing info in there about contracts and "race" ideas that are worth a look, even if the game mechanics suck ;-)
[14:59] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): There are hundreds, no thousands of different games and lore about each race Dale, if I tried to list every game, I'd be blind deaf and stupid before I got it done. *grin* Also, the Larps Race does have a basic description of the race.
[15:00] Faith Diesel: Angel has a good question
[15:00] Dale (pagedale): The Elementa and Wizend Fae in that book are particualarly interesting, i alonot went that route with my concept instead but decided to go a more Psychic/Mage directin
[15:01] Dale (pagedale): I have soem other good books I may post to the froums after teh holidays
[15:02] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): *grins at Angel* that she does. Now, we know their are three courts, and of course, many many side courts. One could roleplay as a prince of one of those courts, I suppose. Can anyone make a guess on what the issues might be with nameing yourself as a prince of a court?
[15:03] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): having an actual court!
[15:03] Faith Diesel: other characters dont have to believe you
[15:03] Spatterdash: people Listening to your IMs, and reporting them in the paper? ;) (Topical wave to any fellow Brits out there)
[15:04] Ariel Liveoak chuckles
[15:04] Vedis Seid is Online
[15:04] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Indeed Faith. I could roleplay that I was Santa Clause's top elf. That doesn't mean that other roleplayers wouldn't look at me like I was mental.
[15:04] Angel (angel.walters): same prob the old "prince" had he was not like in the aspuct but was a great rper as a hole
[15:04] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): omg... *photoshops a pic of Kev as santa's top elf*
[15:04] Spatterdash looks worried... Has he time to lead this class if he is Santa's top elf?
[15:04] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): Luci is a prince of djinn, but he points out all that means is hes rich and magic ridden, his bloodline's near wiped out, so naming yourself as a prince of a court, you need some court else you better have a reason IC for your exile, perhaps losing the court to a brother's usurping? and as well if your say, prince of the autumn court and larps already HAS an established autumn court, thats gonna go down bad.
[15:05] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Bingo Lucifrage. Very good point. You want to try to be inventive enough that you don't trod on someone else's feet.
[15:06] Ariel Liveoak: i was gonna say, yeah, feels like it's bordering on Godmode.
[15:06] Faith Diesel: try and be respectful of others rp too - i try to removed my interpretation of fae from the main stream by making Fate a country cousin - it allows her to deviate without tripping up others rp
[15:06] Marcus Firegrave is Offline
[15:06] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): *nod* And my character is the bastard offspring of a king. He certainly won't be an heir anytime soon. *waggles brow* their's a lot of ways to go about it.
[15:07] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): snickers and tries to count how many sidhe princes and princesses we've had and loses count...
[15:07] Ariel Liveoak laughs
[15:07] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): We only ask that you respect each other's rp as best as you can.
[15:07] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Did I miss any questions?
[15:07] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): i avoid godmode with luci's status by ballancing out his magic powers and royal training with a vast array of mental illnesses XD hard to fear a genie who's arguing with people who only exist in his head most of the time!
[15:07] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): meh.. beauty of ffee form rp, it all works out as long as it's respected
[15:08] Angel (angel.walters): okay i have a good one
[15:08] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): go ahead angel.
[15:08] Cinder Darkfire is Online
[15:08] Ariel Liveoak: Oh, I wasn't addressing that at you, Lucifrage... I was just late expressing an opinion on the whole "prince" question in general.
[15:09] Angel (angel.walters): how old is old enough i mean in d&d 236 is just an aduly but thaat may not be what you (legos) goes bye
[15:10] Cinder Darkfire is Offline
[15:10] Angel (angel.walters): *by
[15:12] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Consider this Angel, does age really matter to those that consider themselves immortal? *he arches a brow* It's up to your individual rp again. For some they might consider 236 to be elderly, others might consider that young. We do ask that you don't do any child avatars here, so I would shoot for at least a mature age, and that can be entirely held out in rp, you don't have to tell anyone your age, after all. Again, we don't have a set standard in "your too old" or "old enough" we just ask that each character be considered an adult. No child avatars allowed, period.
[15:13] Pandora Fireguard is Offline
[15:13] Pandora Fireguard is Online
[15:14] Angel (angel.walters): okay
[15:14] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): fae to my knowlage pass childhood very fast but take forever to be concidered elders.
[15:15] Naia Madruga: giggles that is because they live so long
[15:15] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): I can't give you a standard "age" because we don't have them, not for each race. We only ask that all rp characters are adults. Again, keep it plausible. Anyone else?
[15:15] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): not only that, elder is often seen as a status and not a number.
[15:16] Naia Madruga: A very informative class Kev
[15:16] Dale (pagedale): Yes TY!
[15:16] Naia Madruga: good job at explaining thank you.
[15:16] Dale (pagedale) smiles
[15:16] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): If no more questions, please turn your meters on now please.
[15:16] Naia Madruga: I have always been a bit confuse with the faes
[15:16] Faith Diesel: can i just say dale or any of you - feel free to give good links about legacies related topics in the forums and just ask me or leigh if you want to give a guest lecture yourself
[15:17] Kirin Umino: Age or no age, it's the character's maturity IC that shows...
[15:17] K.D. Silvansky : ((Naia is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:17] Dale (pagedale) grins , OH, OK TY!
[15:17] Naia Madruga: thank you
[15:17] K.D. Silvansky : ((John Spatterdash is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:17] Naia Madruga: kev
[15:17] K.D. Silvansky : ((PearlGrey is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:17] Faith Diesel: i dont need xp kev - im just troublesome
[15:17] K.D. Silvansky : ((Lucifrage Rofcal is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:17] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): i'd give a lecture on djinn and middle eastern mythological creatures, but, the class would be too small
[15:18] K.D. Silvansky : ((Dale Cocksworth is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:18] Pearl Grey (pearlgrey): Thank you--enjoyed the informative class!
[15:18] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): shit, we dont even have any angels in larps i know of.
[15:18] K.D. Silvansky : ((Araiel Toranaril is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:18] Angel (angel.walters): thank you hun
[15:18] Emilia (pink.gearz): I've seen 2 angels
[15:18] Angel (angel.walters): Spreads wings open
[15:18] K.D. Silvansky : ((Ariel Liveoak is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:19] K.D. Silvansky : ((Kirin is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:19] There is no suitable surface to sit on, try another spot.
[15:19] Ariel Liveoak: Oh, ta :)
[15:19] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): people aren't always what they seem luci
[15:19] K.D. Silvansky : ((Persephone Kelaino Plutonian is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:19] Naia Madruga: isnt that the truth
[15:19] Kirin Umino: thanks
[15:19] K.D. Silvansky : ((Emilia is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:19] Emilia (pink.gearz): Ty
[15:19] Sephy (persephonekore.plutonian): thank you
[15:19] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): giggles.... I bet naia is a Fae glamored to appear like a neko *nods*
[15:19] K.D. Silvansky : ((Alba is given 1000 experience points.))
[15:19] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Okay, did I miss anyone!
[15:20] Ąɭçђęɱį (unicornis.alchemi): yay xp yumm yumms
[15:20] Naia Madruga winks at Astrid
[15:20] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): ^_^
[15:20] Lucifrage Rofcal (lucifrage.koray): I bet luci actually looks monsterous and uses this form as its deceptivly cute.
[15:20] Astrid Muircastle (astrid.floresby): cute?
[15:20] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): Alright everyone, I'll post this class on the website, and all the notecards as well, so you can look back at them if you want for reference. Thank you all very much for coming.
[15:21] Emilia (pink.gearz): Ty K.D. For all the hard work
[15:21] Faith Diesel: ty kev
[15:21] Emilia (pink.gearz): and taking the time
[15:21] Spatterdash grins
[15:21] Ariel Liveoak: Yes, thanks!
[15:21] Spatterdash: Hear hear ! And apologies for my lively and microphone-hogging conduct :/ lol
[15:21] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): *laugh* Your welcome guys, we will be having more race classes as well. A different one every tuesday.
[15:22] Naia Madruga: Oh fun
[15:22] K.D. (keighvin.silvansky): I believe Werewolves are the next class I have ready. *grin* -
Elves Notecard
__________________Descriptions of Elves: "Quote: Those Pointy Eared Beautiful Bastards" -Unknown
Pointed Ears, Light skin, multitudes of hair colors, usually either very ugly, or very beautiful.
The elves are a seperate race from the Fae in Larps, due to some differences in language, and skill points.
they are however, considered by most to be part of the fae.
How you roleplay your elf is up to you, here is some of the lore about elves.LORE:
The English word elf is from the Old English ælf or elf, in reference to a midget, themselves from the Proto-Germanic *albiz which also resulted in Old Norse álfr, Middle High German elbe. *Albiz may be from the Proto-Indo-European root *albh- meaning "white", from which also stems the Latin albus "white".[1] Alternatively, a connection to the Rbhus, semi-divine craftsmen in Indian mythology, has also been suggested(OED).
Originally ælf/elf and its plural ælfe were the masculine forms, while the corresponding feminine form (first found in eighth century glosses) was ælfen or elfen (with a possible feminine plural -ælfa, found in dunælfa) which became the Middle English elven, using the feminine suffix -en from the earlier -inn which derives from the Proto-Germanic *-innja). The fact that cognates exist (such as the German elbinne) could suggest a West Germanic *alb(i)innjo, but this is uncertain, as the examples may be simply a transference to the weak declension common in Southern and Western forms of Middle English. The Middle English forms with this weak declension were aluen(e) and eluen(e). By the earlier eleventh century ælf could denote a female.
The Modern German Elf (m), Elfe (f), Elfen is a loan from English. A masculine Elb is reconstructed from the plural by Jacob Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, who rejects Elfe as a (then, in the 1830s) recent anglicism. Elb (m, plural Elbe or Elben) is a reconstructed term, while Elbe (f) is attested in Middle High German. Alb, Alp (m), plural Alpe has the meaning of "incubus" (Old High German alp, plural *alpî or *elpî). Gothic has no direct testimony of *albs, plural *albeis, but Procopius has the personal name Albila.
[edit] Germanic mythology
Further information: Germanic mythologyJacob Grimm discusses "Wights and Elves" comparatively in chapter 17 of his Teutonic Mythology. He notes that the Elder Edda couples the Æsir and the álfar, a conjunction that recurs in Old English ês and ylfe, clearly grouping the elves as a divine or supernatural class of beings, sometimes extended by the Vanir as a third class: The Hrafnagaldr states Alföðr orkar, álfar skilja, vanir vita "The Allfather [i.e. the áss] has power, the álfar have skill, and vanir knowledge".
A notable crux in the Old Norse mythology is the distinction of álfar and dvergar. They appear as separate races in extended lists such as the one in Alvíssmál, listing Æsir, álfar, Vanir, goð (gods), męnn (humans), ginregin, jǫtnar, dvergar and denizens of Hęl. Middle High German tradition asgma separates the elbe from getwerc.
On the other hand, there is a close kinship between elves and dwarves, evident already because many dwarves have elvish names, including simple Álfr "elf", and Alberich "king of elves".
Loki is particularly difficult to classify; he is usually called an áss, but is really of jǫtunn origin, and is nevertheless also addressed as álfr. The conclusion of Grimm is that the classification "elf" can be considered to "shrink and stretch by turns". The etymology connecting *alboz with albus "white" suggests an original dichotomy of "white" vs. "black" genii, corresponding to the elves vs. the dwarves which was subsequently confused. Thus the "white" elves proper are named ljósálfar "light elves", contrasting with døckálfar "dark elves".
Snorri in the Prose Edda states that the light elves dwell in Álfheim while the dark elves dwell underground. Confusion arises from the introduction of the additional term svartálfar "black elves", which at first appears synonymous to the "dark elves"; Snorri identifies with the dvergar and has them reside in Svartálfaheim. This prompts Grimm to assume a tripartite division of light elves, dark elves and black elves, of which only the latter are identical with dwarves, while the dark elves are an intermediate class, "not so much downright black, as dim, dingy". In support of such an intermediate class between light elves, or "elves proper", on one hand, and black elves or dwarves on the other, Grimm adduces the evidence of the Scottish brownies and other traditions of dwarves wearing grey or brown clothing.
[edit] Old Norse
The god Frey, the lord of the light-elves
The hero Völundr the 'ruler of the elves' (vísi álfar), sometimes thought to be dwarves, nicknamed 'dark elves' (dökkálfar)The earliest preserved descriptions of elves comes from Norse mythology. In Old Norse they are called álfar (nominative singular álfr).
Men could be elevated to the rank of elves after death, such as the petty king Olaf Geirstad-Elf. The smith hero Völundr is identified as 'Ruler of Elves' (vísi álfa) and 'One among the Elven Folk' (álfa ljóði), in the poem Völundarkviða, whose later prose introduction also identifies him as the son of a king of 'Finnar', an Arctic people respected for their shamanic magic (most likely, the sami). In the Thidrek's Saga a human queen is surprised to learn that the lover who has made her pregnant is an elf and not a man. In the saga of Hrolf Kraki a king named Helgi rapes and impregnates an elf-woman clad in silk who is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
Crossbreeding was possible between elves and humans in the Old Norse belief. The human queen who had an elvish lover bore the hero Högni, and the elf-woman who was raped by Helgi bore Skuld, who married Hjörvard, Hrólfr Kraki's killer. The saga of Hrolf Kraki adds that since Skuld was half-elven, she was very skilled in witchcraft (seiðr), and this to the point that she was almost invincible in battle. When her warriors fell, she made them rise again to continue fighting. The only way to defeat her was to capture her before she could summon her armies, which included elvish warriors.[2]
They are also found in the Heimskringla and in The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son accounts of a line of local kings who ruled over Álfheim, and since they had elven blood they were said to be more beautiful than most men.
The land governed by King Alf was called Alfheim, and all his offspring are related to the elves. They were fairer than any other people...[3]
In addition to these human aspects, they are commonly described as semi-divine beings associated with fertility and the cult of the ancestors and ancestor worship. The notion of elves thus appears similar to the animistic belief in spirits of nature and of the deceased, common to nearly all human religions; this is also true for the Old Norse belief in dísir, fylgjur and vörðar ("follower" and "warden" spirits, respectively). Like spirits, the elves were not bound by physical limitations and could pass through walls and doors in the manner of ghosts, which happens in Norna-Gests þáttr.
The Icelandic mythographer and historian Snorri Sturluson referred to dwarves (dvergar) as "dark-elves" (dökkálfar) or "black-elves" (svartálfar). He referred to other elves as "light-elves" (ljósálfar), which has often been associated with elves' connection with Freyr, the god of fertility (according to Grímnismál, Poetic Edda). Snorri describes the elf differences as follows:
"There is one place there that is called the Elf Home (Álfheimr which is the elven city). People live there that are named the light elves (Ljósálfar). But the dark elves (Dökkálfar) live below in earth,in caves and the dark forest and they are unlike them in appearance – and more unlike them in reality. The Light Elves are brighter than the sun in appearance, but the Dark Elves are blacker than pitch." (Snorri, Gylfaginning 17, Prose Edda)
"Sá er einn staðr þar, er kallaðr er Álfheimr. Þar byggvir fólk þat, er Ljósálfar heita, en Dökkálfar búa niðri í jörðu, ok eru þeir ólíkir þeim sýnum ok miklu ólíkari reyndum. Ljósálfar eru fegri en sól sýnum, en Dökkálfar eru svartari en bik."[4]
Further evidence for elves in Norse mythology comes from Skaldic poetry, the Poetic Edda and legendary sagas. In these elves are linked to the Æsir, particularly by the common phrase "Æsir and the elves". In the Alvíssmál ("The Sayings of All-Wise"), elves are considered distinct from both the Æsir and the Vanir.
Grímnismál relates that the Van Frey was the lord of Álfheimr (meaning "elf-world"), the home of the light-elves. Lokasenna relates that a large group of Æsir and elves had assembled at Ægir's court for a banquet.
A poem from around 1020, the Austrfaravísur ('Eastern-journey verses') of Sigvat Thordarson, mentions that, as a Christian, he was refused board in a heathen household, in Sweden, because an álfablót ("elves' sacrifice") was being conducted there.
From the time of year (close to the autumnal equinox) and the elves' association with fertility and the ancestors, it might be assumed that it had to do with the ancestor cult and the life force of the family.
In addition to this, Kormáks saga accounts for how a sacrifice to elves was apparently believed able to heal a severe battle wound:
Þorvarð healed but slowly; and when he could get on his feet he went to see Þorðís, and asked her what was best to help his healing.
"A hill there is," answered she, "not far away from here, where elves have their haunt. Now get you the bull that Kormák killed, and redden the outer side of the hill with its blood, and make a feast for the elves with its flesh. Then thou wilt be healed."[5]Old English
The Old English form of the word is ælf (pl. ælfe, with regional and chronological variants such as ylfe and ælfen). Words for the nymphs of the Greek and Roman mythos were translated by Anglo-Saxon scholars with ælf and variants on it.[6]
Old English tradition preserves the ylfe exclusively as mischievous, harmful beings. The 10th century Metrical Charm "Against A Sudden Stitch" (Wið færstice) offers remedy against sudden pain (such as rheumatism) caused by projectiles of either ése or ylfe or witches (gif hit wære esa gescot oððe hit wære ylfa gescot oððe hit wære hægtessan gescot "be it Ése-shot or Elf-shot or witch-shot").
In relation the beauty of the Norse elves, some further evidence is given by old English words such as ælfsciene ("elf-beautiful"), used of seductively beautiful Biblical women in the Old English poems Judith and Genesis A. Although elves could be considered to be beautiful and potentially helpful beings in some sections of English-speaking society throughout its history, Old English evidence also attests to alignments of elves with demons, as for example in line 112 of Beowulf. On the other hand, oaf is simply a variant of the word elf, presumably originally referring to a changeling or to someone stupefied by elvish enchantment.
Elf-shot (or elf-bolt or elf-arrow) is a word found in Scotland and Northern England, first attested in a manuscript of about the last quarter of the 16th century. Although first attested in the sense 'sharp pain caused by elves', it is later attested denoting Neolithic flint arrow-heads, which by the 17th century seem to have been attributed in the region to elvish folk, and which were used in healing rituals, and alleged to be used by witches (and perhaps elves) to injure people and cattle.[7] So too a tangle in the hair was called an elf-lock, as being caused by the mischief of the elves (or especially by Queen Mab),[8] and sudden paralysis was sometimes attributed to elf-stroke. Compare with the following excerpt from an 1750 ode by Willam Collins:
There every herd, by sad experience, knows
How, winged with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,
When the sick ewe her summer food forgoes,
Or, stretched on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie.[9]German
Very little material concerning elves or elben survives in Old High German beyond the mere noun form alp, plural alpî, elpî. Middle High German has a feminine singular elbe and a plural elbe, elber,[10] but the word becomes very rare, mostly surviving in the adjective elbisch, and is replaced by the English form elf, elfen via 18th century German translations of Shakespeare's A Midsummernight's Dream. The masculine alp survives in German with a shifted meaning of "nightmare".
Jacob Grimm in his Deutsches Wörterbuch deplored the "unhochdeutsch" form Elf, borrowed "unthinkingly" from the English, and Tolkien was inspired by Grimm to recommend reviving the genuinely German form in his Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings (1967) and Elb, Elben was consequently reintroduced in the 1972 German translation of The Lord of the Rings.
In Christian folklore, the elber began to be described as mischievous pranksters that could cause disease to cattle and people, and bring bad dreams to sleepers. The German word for nightmare, Alptraum, means "elf dream". The archaic form Alpdruck means "elf pressure"; it was believed that nightmares are a result of an elf sitting on the dreamer's chest (incubi). This aspect of German elf-belief largely corresponds to the Scandinavian belief in the mara.
[edit] Modern folklore
[edit] Scandinavian
Little älvor, playing with Tomtebobarnen. From Children of the Forest (1910) by Swedish author and illustrator Elsa Beskow.In Scandinavian folklore, which is a later blend of Norse mythology and elements of Christian mythology, an elf is called elver in Danish, alv in Norwegian, and alv or älva in Swedish (the first is masculine, the second feminine). The Norwegian expressions seldom appear in genuine folklore, and when they do, they are always used synonymous to huldrefolk or vetter, a category of earth-dwelling beings generally held to be more related to Norse dwarves than elves which is comparable to the Icelandic huldufólk (hidden people).
In Denmark and Sweden, the elves appear as beings distinct from the vetter, even though the border between them is diffuse. The insect-winged fairies in British folklore are often called "älvor" in modern Swedish or "alfer" in Danish, although the correct translation is "feer". In a similar vein, the alf found in the fairy tale The Elf of the Rose by Danish author H. C. Andersen is so tiny that he can have a rose blossom for home, and has "wings that reached from his shoulders to his feet". Yet, Andersen also wrote about elvere in The Elfin Hill. The elves in this story are more alike those of traditional Danish folklore, who were beautiful females, living in hills and boulders, capable of dancing a man to death. Like the huldra in Norway and Sweden, they are hollow when seen from the back.
The "Elf cross" which protected against malevolent elves.[11]The elves of Norse mythology have survived into folklore mainly as females, living in hills and mounds of stones.[12] The Swedish älvor.[13] (sing. älva) were stunningly beautiful girls who lived in the forest with an elven king. They were long-lived and light-hearted in nature. The elves are typically pictured as fair-haired, white-clad, and (like most creatures in the Scandinavian folklore) nasty when offended. In the stories, they often play the role of disease-spirits. The most common, though also most harmless case was various irritating skin rashes, which were called älvablåst (elven blow) and could be cured by a forceful counter-blow (a handy pair of bellows was most useful for this purpose). Skålgropar, a particular kind of petroglyph found in Scandinavia, were known in older times as älvkvarnar (elven mills), pointing to their believed usage. One could appease the elves by offering them a treat (preferably butter) placed into an elven mill – perhaps a custom with roots in the Old Norse álfablót.
In order to protect themselves against malevolent elves, Scandinavians could use a so-called Elf cross (Alfkors, Älvkors or Ellakors), which was carved into buildings or other objects.[11] It existed in two shapes, one was a pentagram and it was still frequently used in early 20th century Sweden as painted or carved onto doors, walls and household utensils in order to protect against elves.[11] As the name suggests, the elves were perceived as a potential danger against people and livestock.[11] The second form was an ordinary cross carved onto a round or oblong silver plate.[11] This second kind of elf cross one was worn as a pendant in a necklace and in order to have sufficient magic it had to be forged during three evenings with silver from nine different sources of inherited silver.[11] In some locations it also had to be on the altar of a church during three consecutive Sundays.[11]
Ängsälvor, "meadow elves", (1850), painting by Nils Blommér.
Älvalek, "Elf Play", (1866), painting by August Malmström.The elves could be seen dancing over meadows, particularly at night and on misty mornings. They left a kind of circle where they had danced, which were called älvdanser (elf dances) or älvringar (elf circles), and to urinate in one was thought to cause venereal diseases. Typically, elf circles were fairy rings consisting of a ring of small mushrooms, but there was also another kind of elf circle:
On lake shores, where the forest met the lake, you could find elf circles. They were round places where the grass had been flattened like a floor. Elves had danced there. By Lake Tisaren,[14] I have seen one of those. It could be dangerous and one could become ill if one had trodden over such a place or if one destroyed anything there.[12]
If a human watched the dance of the elves, he would discover that even though only a few hours seemed to have passed, many years had passed in the real world. (This time phenomenon is retold in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings when the Fellowship pass into both Rivendell and Lothlórien, where time seems almost to stand still. It also has a remote parallel in the Irish sídhe.) In a song from the late Middle Ages about Olaf Liljekrans, the elven queen invites him to dance. He refuses, he knows what will happen if he joins the dance and he is on his way home to his own wedding. The queen offers him gifts, but he declines. She threatens to kill him if he does not join, but he rides off and dies of the disease she sent upon him, and his young bride dies of a broken heart.[15]
However, the elves were not exclusively young and beautiful. In the Swedish folktale Little Rosa and Long Leda, an elvish woman (älvakvinna) arrives in the end and saves the heroine, Little Rose, on condition that the king's cattle no longer graze on her hill. She is described as a beautiful old woman and by her aspect people saw that she belonged to the subterraneans.[16]
[edit] Icelandic
See also: huldufólkExpression of belief in huldufólk or "hidden folk", the elves that dwell in rock formations, is common in Iceland. If the natives do not explicitly express their belief, they are often reluctant to express disbelief.[17] A 2006 and 2007 study on superstition by the University of Iceland’s Faculty of Social Sciences supervised by Terry Gunnell (associate folklore professor), reveal that natives would not rule out the existence of elves and ghosts (similar results of a 1974 survey by Professor Erlendur Haraldsson, Fréttabladid reports). Gunnell stated: "Icelanders seem much more open to phenomena like dreaming the future, forebodings, ghosts and elves than other nations." His results were consistent with a similar study conducted in 1974.[18]
[edit] GermanAn elven king occasionally appears among the predominantly female elves as in Denmark and Sweden. In the German middle-age epic the Nibelungenlied, a dwarf named Alberich plays an important role. Alberich literally translates as "elf-sovereign", further contributing to the elf–dwarf confusion observed already in the Younger Edda. Via the French Alberon, the same name has entered English as Oberon – king of elves and fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (see below).
The legend of Der Erlkönig appears to have originated in fairly recent times in Denmark and Goethe based his poem on "Erlkönigs Tochter" ("Erlkönig's Daughter"), a Danish work translated into German by Johann Gottfried Herder.
The Erlkönig's nature has been the subject of some debate. The name translates literally from the German as "Alder King" rather than its common English translation, "Elf King" (which would be rendered as Elfenkönig in German). It has often been suggested that Erlkönig is a mistranslation from the original Danish ellerkonge or elverkonge, which does mean "elf king".
According to German and Danish folklore, the Erlkönig appears as an omen of death, much like the banshee in Irish mythology. Unlike the banshee, however, the Erlkönig will appear only to the person about to die. His form and expression also tell the person what sort of death they will have: a pained expression means a painful death, a peaceful expression means a peaceful death. This aspect of the legend was immortalised by Goethe in his poem Der Erlkönig, later set to music by Schubert.
In the first story of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Die Wichtelmänner, the title protagonists are two naked mannequins, which help a shoemaker in his work. When he rewards their work with little clothes, they are so delighted, that they run away and are never seen again. Even though Wichtelmänner are akin to beings such as kobolds, dwarves and brownies, the tale has been translated into English as The Elves and the Shoemaker, and is echoed in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories (see House-elf).
Variations of the German elf in folklore include the moss people[19] and the weisse frauen ("white women"). On the latter Jacob Grimm does not make a direct association to the elves, but other researchers see a possible connection to the shining light elves of Old Norse.[20]
English and Lowland Scottish
Poor little birdie teased, by Victorian era illustrator Richard Doyle depicts the traditional view of an elf from later English folklore as a diminutive woodland humanoid.The elf makes many appearances in ballads of English and Scottish origin, as well as folk tales, many involving trips to Elphame or Elfland (the Álfheim of Norse mythology), a mystical realm which is sometimes an eerie and unpleasant place. The elf is occasionally portrayed in a positive light, such as the Queen of Elphame in the ballad Thomas the Rhymer, but many examples exist of elves of sinister character, frequently bent on rape[citation needed] and murder, as in the Tale of Childe Rowland, or the ballad Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight, in which the Elf-Knight bears away Isabel to murder her. Most instances of elves in ballads are male; the only commonly encountered female elf is the Queen of Elfland, who appears in Thomas the Rhymer and The Queen of Elfland's Nourice, in which a woman is abducted to be a wet-nurse to the queen's baby, but promised that she may return home once the child is weaned. In none of these cases is the elf a spritely character with pixie-like qualities.
English folktales of the early modern period commonly portray elves as small, elusive people with mischievous personalities. They are often portrayed as children with Williams syndrome (which was not recognised as a medical condition but some specialist believe that people were enchanted with their character and appearance that they believed to be magical),[21] usually with fair hair. They are not evil but might annoy humans or interfere in their affairs. They are sometimes said to be invisible. In this tradition, elves became similar to the concept of fairies. As people from the English countryside immigrated to America, they brought elements of English folklore with them, and this particular depiction of elves then evolved in America into the Christmas elves of pop culture.
Successively, the word elf, as well as literary term fairy, evolved to a general denotation of various nature spirits like Puck, hobgoblins, Robin Goodfellow, the English and Scots brownie, the Northumbrian English hob and so forth. These terms, like their relatives in other European languages, are no longer clearly distinguished in popular folklore.
Significant for the distancing of the concept of elves from its mythological origins was the influence from literature. In Elizabethan England, William Shakespeare imagined elves as little people. He apparently considered elves and fairies to be the same race. In Henry IV, part 1, act II, scene iv, he has Falstaff call Prince Henry, "you starveling, you elfskin!", and in his A Midsummer Night's Dream, his elves are almost as small as insects. On the other hand, Edmund Spenser applies elf to full-sized beings in The Faerie Queene.
The influence of Shakespeare and Michael Drayton made the use of elf and fairy for very small beings the norm. In Victorian literature, elves usually appeared in illustrations as tiny men and women with pointed ears and stocking caps. An example is Andrew Lang's fairy tale Princess Nobody (1884), illustrated by Richard Doyle, where fairies are tiny people with butterfly wings, whereas elves are tiny people with red stocking caps. There were exceptions to this rule however, such as the full-sized elves who appear in Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter as well as Northern English and Scottish Lowlands folklore (as seen in such tales as The Queen of Elfan's Nourice and other local variants).
American Christmas Elf
In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland the modern children's folklore of Santa Claus typically includes elves at Christmas; green-clad elves with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats as Santa's helpers or hired workers. They make the toys in a workshop located in the North Pole. In this portrayal, elves slightly resemble nimble and delicate versions of the dwarves of Norse mythology as well as the elves in English folktakes in the Victorian period from which they could have derived.
The vision of the small but crafty Christmas elf (possibly derived from the elves of English fairytales of the Victorian period) has come to influence modern popular conception of elves, and sits side by side with the fantasy elves following Tolkien's work (see below). The American cookie company Keebler has long advertised that its cookies are made by elves in a hollow tree, and Kellogg's, who happens to now be the owner of Keebler, uses the elves of Snap, Crackle, and Pop as mascots of Rice Krispies cereal, and the role of elves as Santa's helpers has continued to be popular, as evidenced by the success of the popular Christmas movie Elf. It should be noted that these elves are referred to as elfish or elfin as opposed to elven[citation needed].
[edit] Fantasy fiction
Main article: Elves in fantasy fiction and games
A recent interpretation of a high fantasy elf, from WTactics card gameThe fantasy genre in the 20th century grows out of 19th century Romanticism. 19th century scholars such as Andrew Lang and the Grimm brothers collected "fairy-stories" from popular folklore and in some cases retold them freely. A pioneering work of the genre that would come to be known as "fantasy" was The King of Elfland's Daughter, a 1924 novel by Lord Dunsany. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (1937) is seminal, predating the lecture On Fairy-Stories by the same author by a few years. In the 1939 lecture, Tolkien introduced the term "Fantasy" in a sense of "higher form of Art, indeed the most nearly pure form, and so (when achieved) the most potent". Elves played a central role in Tolkien's legendarium, notably The Silmarillion. Tolkien's writing has such popularity that in the 1960s and afterwards, Elves speaking an Elvish language similar to those in Tolkien's novels (like Quenya, and Sindarin) became staple non-human characters in high fantasy works and in fantasy role-playing games.
Post-Tolkien fantasy elves (popularized by the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game) tend to be more beautiful and wiser than humans, with sharper senses and perceptions. They are said to be gifted in magic and mentally sharp and are characterized as lovers of nature, art, and song. Often, they are skilled archers. A hallmark of fantasy elves is their long and pointed ears (a convention begun with a note of Tolkien's that the ears of elves were "leaf-shaped").[22]
References
^ IE root *albh-, in American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2000. bartleby.com
^ Setr Skuld hér til inn mesta seið at vinna Hrólf konung, bróður sinn, svá at í fylgd er með henni álfar ok nornir ok annat ótöluligt illþýði, svá at mannlig náttúra má eigi slíkt standast.[1]
^ The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son[dead link] (Old Norse original: Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar). Chapter 1.
^ Sturluson, Snorri. The Younger (or Prose) Edda, Rasmus B. Anderson translation (1897). Chapter 7.
^ The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald (Old Norse original: Kormáks saga). Chapter 22.
^ OED
^ Hall, Alaric. 2005. 'Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials', Folklore, 116 (2005), 19-36.
^ "elf-lock", OED Online (Oxford University Press), 1989, retrieved 26 November 2009
^ Collins, Willam. 1775. An Ode On The Popular Superstitions Of The Highlands Of Scotland, Considered As The Subject Of Poetry.
^ Marshall Jones Company (1930). Mythology of All Races Series, Volume 2 Eddic, Great Britain: Marshall Jones Company, 1930, pp. 220.
^ a b c d e f g The article Alfkors in Nordisk familjebok (1904).
^ a b An account given in 1926, Hellström (1990). En Krönika om Åsbro. pp. 36. ISBN 91-7194-726-4.
^ For the Swedish belief in älvor see mainly Schön, Ebbe (1986). "De fagra flickorna på ängen". Älvor, vättar och andra väsen. ISBN 91-29-57688-1. A more summary description in English is provided by Keightley, Thomas (1870). The Fairy Mythology., esp. chapter Scandinavia: Elves.
^ Google Maps
^ Keightley, Thomas (1870). The Fairy Mythology. provides two translated versions of the song: Sir Olof in Elve-Dance and The Elf-Woman and Sir Olof.
^ "Lilla Rosa och Långa Leda". Svenska folksagor. Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell Förlag AB. 1984. pp. 158.
^ Novatoadvance.com, Chasing waterfalls ... and elves
^ Icelandreview.com, Iceland Still Believes in Elves and Ghosts
^ Thistelton-Dyer, T.F. The Folk-lore of Plants, 1889. Available online by Project Gutenberg. File retrieved 3-05-07.
^ Grimm, Jacob (1835). Deutsche Mythologie (German Mythology); From English released version Grimm's Teutonic Mythology (1888); Available online by Northvegr © 2004-2007, Chapter 32, pages 2,3; Marshall Jones Company (1930). Mythology of All Races Series, Volume 2 Eddic, Great Britain: Marshall Jones Company, 1930, pp. 221-222.
^ Books.google.co.uk
^ Tolkien, J.R.R., Letter #27 (writing to Houghton-Mifflin circa March–April 1938.) http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/Ears.htmlJacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (1835).
Marshall Jones Company (1930). Mythology of All Races Series, Volume 2 Eddic, Great Britain: Marshall Jones Company, 1930, 220-221.
Jolly, Karen Louise. Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms in Context. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
Coghlan, Ronan. Handbook of Fairies, Milverton, Capall Bann, 2002. -
SIDHE Notecard
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The aos sí (Irish pronunciation: [iːs ˈʃiː], older form aes sídhe [eːs ˈʃiːə]) are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves, however they are not strictly the same race. Many roleplayers play these characters as an entirely different race. They are said to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans. This world is described in the Book of Invasions (recorded in the Book of Leinster) as a parallel universe in which the aos sí walk amongst the living. In the Irish language, aos sí means "people of the mounds" (the mounds are known in Irish as "the sídhe"). In Irish literature the people of the mounds are also referred to as the daoine sídhe (['diːnʲə 'ʃiːə]), and in Scottish Gaelic literature as the daoine sìth. They are said to be the ancestors, spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods.Some later English texts have referred to the aos sí as "the sídhe". While this is linguistically incorrect it has become a widespread usage in English.
In Gaelic mythology
In many Gaelic tales the aos sí are later, literary versions of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("People of the Goddess Danu") – the deities and deified ancestors of Irish mythology. Some sources describe them as the survivors of the Tuatha Dé Danann who retreated into the Otherworld after they were defeated by the Milesians – the mortal Sons of Míl Espáine who, like many other early invaders of Ireland, came from Spain. Geoffrey Keating, an Irish historian of the late 17th century, equates Spain with the Land of the Dead.
In Gaelic folklore
In folk belief and practice, the aos sí are often appeased with offerings, and care is taken to avoid angering or insulting them. Often they are not named directly, but rather spoken of as "The Good Neighbors", "The Fair Folk", or simply "The Folk". The most common names for them, aos sí, aes sídhe, daoine sídhe (singular duine sídhe) and daoine sìth mean, literally, "people of peace". The aos sí are generally described as stunningly beautiful, though they can also be terrible and hideous.
Aos sí are sometimes seen as fierce guardians of their abodes – whether a fairy hill, a fairy ring, a special tree (often a hawthorn) or a particular loch or wood. The Gaelic Otherworld is seen as closer at the times of dusk and dawn, therefore this is a special time to the aos sí, as are some festivals such as Samhain, Beltane and Midsummer.
[edit] The sídhe: abodes of the aes sídheAs part of the terms of their surrender to the Milesians the Tuatha Dé Danann agreed to retreat and dwell underground in the sídhe (modern Irish: sí; Scottish Gaelic: sìth; Old Irish síde, singular síd), the hills or earthen mounds that dot the Irish landscape. In some later poetry each tribe of the Tuatha Dé Danann was given its own mound.
In a number of later English language texts the word sídhe is used both for the mounds and the people of the mounds. However sidh in older texts refers specifically to "the palaces, courts, halls or residences" of the ghostly beings that, according to Gaedhelic mythology, inhabit them.[1]
The fact that many of these sídhe have been found to be ancient burial mounds[citation needed] has contributed to the theory that the aos sí were the pre-Celtic occupants of Ireland. "The Book of Invasions", "The Annals of the Four Masters", and oral history support this view.
Others present these stories as mythology deriving from Greek cultural influence, deriving arguments mainly from Hesiod’s "Works and Days", which portrays the basic moral foundation and plantation techniques of the citizens of Greece and describes the races of men, created by the Greek deities.
The story of the Aes Sídhe is found all over Scotland and Ireland, many tales referring to how the Norse invaders drove Scottish inhabitants underground to live in the hills. This part of the legend contributes to the Changeling myth in west European folklore.
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Changelings Notecard
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Changelings
This strange creature has the ability to visually look like other creatures but the disadvantage of not being able to hold other creatures attributes. So if you see a large dragon, they may not be who you think they are.A changeling is a creature found in Western European folklore and folk religion. It is typically described as being the offspring of a fairy, troll, elf or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in the place of a human child. Sometimes the term is also used to refer to the child who was taken. The apparent changeling could also be a stock or fetch, an enchanted piece of wood that would soon appear to grow sick and die. The theme of the swapped child is common among medieval literature and reflects concern over infants afflicted by as-then unknown diseases, disorders, or mental retardation.
A human child might be taken due to many factors: to act as a servant, the love of a human child, or malice.[1] Most often it was thought that fairies exchanged the children. Some Norwegian tales tell that the change was made to prevent inbreeding: to give trolls and humans new blood, humans were given children with enormous strength as a reward. In some rare cases, the very elderly of the Fairy people would be exchanged in the place of a human baby, and then the old fairy could live in comfort, being coddled by its human parents.[2] Simple charms, such as an inverted coat or open iron scissors left where the child sleeps, were thought to ward them off; other measures included a constant watch over the child.[3]
The devil steals a baby and leaves a changeling behind, early 15th century, detail of "The legend of St. Stephen" by Martino di BartolomeoPurpose of a changeling
Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptized children. Once children had been baptized and therefore become part of the Church, the trolls could not take them. One belief is that trolls thought that being raised by humans was something very classy, and that they therefore wanted to give their own children a human upbringing.
Beauty in human children and young women, particularly blond hair, attracted the fairies.[4]
In Scottish folklore, the children might be replacements for fairy children in the tithe to Hell;[5] this is best known from the ballad of Tam Lin.[6] Also, according to common Scottish myths, a child born with a caul (head helmet) across their face is a changeling, and of fey birth.
Some folklorists believe that fairies were memories of inhabitants of various regions in Europe who had been driven into hiding by invaders. They held that changelings had actually occurred; the hiding people would exchange their own sickly children for the healthy children of the invaders.[7]
In other folklore, the changelings are put in place of the child to feed off of the mother of the child. The kidnapped child then becomes food for the changeling's mother. This is done for the survival of their kind. Once the changeling mother and the changeling have drained the life from the human mother and child, the changeling and its mother begin to search for a new suitable food source. Other sources[2] say that human milk is necessary for fairy children to survive. In these cases either the newborn human child would be switched with a fairy babe to be suckled by the human mother, or the human mother would be taken back to the fairy world to breastfeed the fairy babies. It is also thought that human midwives were necessary to bring fairy babes into the world.
Some changelings might forget they are not human and proceed to live a human life. Changelings which do not forget, however, may later return to their fairy family, possibly leaving the human family without warning. As for the human child that was taken, he or she may often stay with the fairy family forever.
Changelings in medieval folklore
CornwallThe Mên-an-Tol stones in Cornwall are supposed to have a fairy or pixie guardian who can make miraculous cures. In one case a changeling baby was put through the stone in order for the mother to get the real child back. Evil pixies had changed her child and the ancient stones were able to reverse their evil spell.[8]
[edit] IrelandIn Ireland, looking at a baby with envy – "over looking the baby" – was dangerous, as it endangered the baby, who was then in the fairies' power.[9] So too was admiring or envying a woman or man dangerous, unless the person added a blessing; the able-bodied and beautiful were in particular danger. Women were especially in danger in liminal states: being a new bride, or a new mother.[10]
Putting a changeling in a fire would cause it to jump up the chimney and return the human child, but at least one tale recounts a mother with a changeling finding that a fairy woman came to her home with the human child, saying the other fairies had done the exchange, and she wanted her own baby.[9] The tale of surprising a changeling into speech – by brewing eggshells – is also told in Ireland, as in Wales.[11]
Belief in changelings endured in parts of Ireland until recent times;[citation needed] in 1895, Bridget Cleary was killed by her husband who believed her to be a changeling.
Changelings, in some instances, were regarded not as substituted fairy children but instead old fairies brought to the human world to die.
Lowland Scotland and Northern England
In the Anglo-Scottish border region it was believed that elves (or fairies) lived in "Elf Hills" (or "Fairy Hills"). Along with this belief in supernatural beings was the view that they could spirit away children, and even adults, and take them back to their own world (see Elfhame).[12][13] Often, it was thought, a baby would be snatched and replaced with a simulation of the baby, usually a male adult elf, to be suckled by the mother.[12] The real baby would be treated well by the elves and would grow up to be one of them, whereas the changeling baby would be discontented and wearisome.[13] Many herbs, salves and seeds could be used for discovering the fairy-folk and ward off their designs.[13] In one tale a mother suspected that her baby had been taken and replaced with a changeling, a view that was proven to be correct one day when a neighbour ran into the house shouting "Come here and ye'll se a sight! Yonder's the Fairy Hill a' alowe." To which the elf got up saying "Waes me! What'll come o' me wife and bairns?" and made his way out of the chimney.[12] At Byerholm near Newcastleton in Liddesdale sometime during the early 19th century, a dwarf called Robert Elliot or Little Hobbie o' The Castleton as he was known, was reputed to be a changeling. When taunted by other boys he would not hesitate to draw his gully and dispatch them, however being that he was woefully short in the legs they usually out-ran him and escaped. He was courageous however and when he heard that his neighbour, the six-foot three-inch (191 cm) William Scott of Kirndean, a sturdy and strong borderer, had slandered his name, he invited the man to his house, took him up the stairs and challenged him to a duel. Scott beat a hasty retreat.[13]
Child ballad 40, The Queen of Elfan's Nourice, depicts the abduction of a new mother, drawing on the folklore of the changelings. Although it is fragmentary, it contains the mother's grief and the Queen of Elfland's promise to return her to her own child if she will nurse the queen's child until it can walk.[14]
Malta
The ritual impurity[15] of the parturient mother and her child exposed them, according to traditional Maltese belief, to unusual danger especially during the first few days after birth. A changeling child (called mibdul, "changed") was taken to St Julian's Bay,[16] where a statue of the saint stands, and given a sand-bath. A cordial was also administered, in attempts to return the being.[17]
[edit] ScandinaviaSince most beings from Scandinavian folklore are said to be afraid of iron, Scandinavian parents often placed an iron item such as a pair of scissors or a knife on top of an unbaptized infant's cradle. It was believed that if a human child was taken in spite of such measures, the parents could force the return of the child by treating the changeling cruelly, using methods such as whipping or even inserting it in a heated oven. In at least one case, a woman was taken to court for having killed her child in an oven.[18]
Painting by John Bauer of two trolls with a human child they have raisedIn one Swedish changeling tale,[19] the human mother is advised to brutalize the changeling so that the trolls will return her son, but she refuses, unable to mistreat an innocent child despite knowing its nature. When her husband demands she abandon the changeling, she refuses, and he leaves her – whereupon he meets their son in the forest, wandering free. The son explains that since his mother had never been cruel to the changeling, so the troll mother had never been cruel to him, and when she sacrificed what was dearest to her, her husband, they had realized they had no power over her and released him.
In another Swedish fairy tale[20] (which is depicted by the image), a princess is kidnapped by trolls and replaced with their own offspring against the wishes of the troll mother. The changelings grow up with their new parents, but both find it hard to adapt: the human girl is disgusted by her future bridegroom, a troll prince, whereas the troll girl is bored by her life and by her dull human future groom. Upset with the conditions of their lives, they both go astray in the forest, passing each other without noticing it. The princess comes to the castle whereupon the queen immediately recognizes her, and the troll girl finds a troll woman who is cursing loudly as she works. The troll girl bursts out that the troll woman is much more fun than any other person she has ever seen, and her mother happily sees that her true daughter has returned. Both the human girl and the troll girl marry happily the very same day.
Spain
In Asturias (North Spain) there is a legend about the Xana, a sort of nymph who used to live near rivers, fountains and lakes, sometimes helping travellers on their journeys. The Xanas were conceived as little female fairies with supernatural beauty. They could deliver babies, "xaninos," that were sometimes swapped with human babies in order to be baptized. The legend says that in order to distinguish a "xanino" from a human baby, some pots and egg shells should be put close to the fireplace; a xanino would say: "I was born one hundred years ago, and since then I have not seen so many egg shells near the fire!".
Wales
In Wales the changeling child (plentyn cael (sing.), plant cael (pl.)) initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning.
The common means employed to identify a changeling is to cook a family meal in an eggshell. The child will exclaim, "I have seen the acorn before the oak, but I never saw the likes of this," and vanish, only to be replaced by the original human child. Alternatively, or following this identification, it is supposedly necessary to mistreat the child by placing it in a hot oven, by holding it in a shovel over a hot fire, or by bathing it in a solution of foxglove.[21]
"Changelings" in the historical record
Children were sometimes taken to be changelings by the superstitious, and therefore abused or murdered.
Two 19th century cases reflected the belief in changelings. In 1826, Anne Roche bathed Michael Leahy, a four-year-old boy unable to speak or stand, three times in the Flesk; he drowned the third time. She swore that she was merely attempting to drive the fairy out of him, and the jury acquitted her of murder.[22] In the 1890s in Ireland, Bridget Cleary was killed by several people, including her husband and cousins, after a short bout of illness (probably pneumonia). Local storyteller Jack Dunne accused Bridget of being a fairy changeling. It is debatable whether her husband, Michael, actually believed her to be a fairy – many believe he concocted a "fairy defence" after he murdered his wife in a fit of rage. The killers were convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, as even after the death they claimed that they were convinced they had killed a changeling, not Bridget Cleary.[23]
Changelings in other countries
The ogbanje (pronounced similar to "oh-BWAN-jeh") is a term meaning "child who comes and goes" among the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria. When a woman would have numerous children either stillborn or die early in infancy, the traditional belief was that it was a malicious spirit that was being reincarnated over and over again to torment the afflicted mother. One of the most commonly-prescribed methods for ridding one's self of an ogbanje was to find its iyi-uwa, a buried object that ties the evil spirit to the mortal world, and destroy it.
Many scholars now believe that ogbanje stories were attempting to explain children with sickle-cell anemia, which is endemic to West Africa and afflicts around one-quarter of the population. Even today, and especially in areas of Africa lacking medical resources, infant death is common for children born with severe sickle-cell anemia.
The similarity between the European changeling and the Igbo ogbanje is striking enough that Igbos themselves often translate the word into English as "changeling".
Aswangs, a kind of ghoul from Filipino folklore, are also sometimes said to leave behind duplicates of their victims made of plant matter. Like the stocks of European fairy folklore, the Aswang's plant duplicates soon appear to sicken and die.
The changeling theme has frequently appeared in literature, especially in the genres of fairy tale and fantasy. Notable appearances of changelings in literature include the following:
"In Scarlett, the sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind, Cat, Scarlett O'Hara's illegitimate daughter by Rhett, is thought to be a changeling.
The Stolen Child (1889) a poem by William Butler Yeats, is about a boy replaced by a changeling.
Bortbytingen (The Changeling) (1915) by Selma Lagerlöf. Modern translation by Sylvia Söderlind.
The Changeling (1916), poem by Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), written from the point of view of a changeling.
Pickman's Model (1927), short story by H.P. Lovecraft. The story alludes to Pickman being the descendant of a changeling from a subterranean race.
The Broken Sword (1954), novel by Poul Anderson. A mortal child, Skafloc, is captured by the elves and exchanged for a changeling named Valgard. Although near-identical in appearance to the original, the changeling is a moody loner prone to fits of the rage.
The Changeling (1970) by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Shy Martha befriends Ivy, a classmate from a no-account, criminal family. Ostracized at school and abused at home, Ivy distances herself from reality by convincing herself and Martha that she is a changeling.
Changeling (1981) by Roger Zelazny. The novel describing the adventures of both changelings, maladapted in their respective new worlds.
Outside Over There (1981) a children's story by Maurice Sendak, in which goblins replace Ida's baby sister with a changeling made of ice, which melts.
Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist (1988) The discovery of a fairie mound in upstate New York leads to dangerous contact between the human and fairie worlds, including a changeling exchange
The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993) by Michael Swanwick. Jane, the heroine, is a changeling who was stolen by the fairies to work in a factory.
The Moorchild (1997) by Eloise McGraw. The protagonist of this Newbery Honor-winning novel is a fairy-born child who is forced to become a changeling.
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (1999) by Gregory Maguire. Clara is believed to be a changeling.
Tithe : A Modern Faerie Tale (2002) by Holly Black. The protagonist, Kaye, discovers that she is a changeling who has been magically made to look like a human.
Low Red Moon (2003), "So Runs the World Away", "The Dead and the Moonstruck" (both in To Charles Fort, With Love, 2005), and Daughter of Hounds (2007) by Caitlín R. Kiernan. Changelings are referred to as the Children of the Cuckoo and are raised to serve a subterranean race of ghouls called the ghul or the Hounds of Cain.
The War of the Flowers (2003) by Tad Williams. Theo is revealed to be a changeling.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004) by Susanna Clarke. The man with the thistle down hair, a fairy, switches Arabella Woodhope Strange with an enchanted moss-oak log made into a copy of her. The changeling copy dies three days later.
Stones Unturned (2006), third book in The Menagerie series by Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski. Principal character Danny Ferrick is a changeling.
Faery Baby (2006) by Lin Spicer. The main character Faery Baby is swapped with a human child as she experiences 'failure to thrive'. Her name is later turned to Fae. Her parents were Titania and Oberon who reluctantly switched her.
Poison (2006) by Chris Wooding. The main character, Poison, sets out on a journey to find her little sister Azalea, who is swapped for a changeling.
Changeling (2006) by Delia Sherman Neef is a human changeling.
The Stolen Child (2006) by Keith Donohue. The main character, Henry, is taken by changelings and replaced by one. The novel bounces between Henry's and the changeling's stories every other chapter and is based on Yeats' poem by the same name.
In a field guide telling all of the creatures in the Spiderwick Chronicles universe, a changeling is mentioned as a fairy child disguised as the real child. Some distinguishing features are the massive appitite, odd way of speaking, and may even lure his "family" to his real family.
Bedtime Story for a Stolen Child (2010) by Anna Mayle. About Leinad, kidnapped by faeries as a child and a changeling, who replaced him in his life as Daniel.
The Replacement (2010) by Brenna Yovanoff. The main character Mackie Doyle is changeling who must face his supernatural origin and enter the underworld of the Slag Heaps in order to rescue his friend's baby sister.
In the Trylle Trilogy (2010), written by Amanda Hocking, the main character Wendy Everly finds out she was switched at birth, discovering a modern troll community in Minnesota.
In Julian May's "Saga of Pliocene Exile," aliens that landed on earth 6 million years ago (and interbred with humans from time to time) were responsible for all the human changeling and fairy-kind myths around the world.
Four grown changelings appear in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, especially the book Summer Knight. These are in essence half-and-half, part fairy and part human, nearing the age where they must choose to be either fully human or fully fae for the rest of their lives. By the end of Summer Knight two have chosen fairy and two human.
Patricia A. McKillip's The Changeling Sea is partly the tale of the changeling sons of an island king.Drama
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1596?), play by William Shakespeare. Titania and Oberon, the fairy queen and king, fight over the possession of a human boy for whom a changeling had been exchanged, creating the basis for the dramatic conflict of the play.
The Winter's Tale (1611?), another play by William Shakespeare. A shepherd is told that he should be rich by the fairies, and tells his son to hurry up and open the bearing cloth of a baby he finds, assuming that the baby was "changeling" and there would be money in the bearing cloth.
The Silver Bough (2008), musical directed by Kath Burlinson in association with Youth Music Theatre: UK, inspired by Scottish traditions. Three mothers have their children exchanged for changelings as they turn their backs to hang up laundry in one scene"Changeling", episode 12 of the 3rd season of the TV series So Weird. Annie and the boys are stuck babysitting a changeling.
"The Kids Are Alright", episode 2 of the 3rd season of the US TV series Supernatural. Sam and Dean discover that many of the neighborhood children are actually changelings, following several mysterious deaths in the neighborhood. In this episode the changelings are controlled by a mother changeling who feeds on the kidnapped children. Her children in turn feed on the mothers of the kids they replace, until Sam kills the mother by torching her, thereby killing her offspring.
In the Star Trek episode The Changeling, (season 2, episode 3) Captain Kirk mentions the legend when he learns of the origin of the Nomad probe.
In the UK TV series Merlin episode "Changeling", Arthur almost marries a princess who turns out to be a changeling, however, in this case, the changeling is the actual princess who has been possessed at birth by a fairy, not replaced by one. Merlin frees her by using a potion that forces the fairy from her, returning her to normal.
In Caryl Churchill's play The Skriker, main character Josie kills her baby because she was convinced it was a changeling - given that the title character is a fairy, this may in fact be true.
"Changeling" Shadowrun (1992), by Chris Kubasik, main character goblinizes into a troll.
The Daisy ChainComics and games
Hellboy: The Corpse, comic book short story by Mike Mignola. A changeling known as Gruagach swears revenge against Hellboy and becomes a recurring antagonist, determined to kill Hellboy by any means necessary and, through doing so, save his race from fading out of existence.
Courtney Crumrin, comic, first mini-series. A changeling appears.
Changeling: the Lost (2007), role-playing game by White Wolf. Humans are stolen by malicious or inscrutable faerie lords, transformed into fae creatures, and then escaped back to our world. An earlier White Wolf game, Changeling: The Dreaming (1995), used a different definition of "changeling".
Magic: The Gathering, collectible card game. Changelings are childlike creatures that impulsively mimic creatures around them. They were introduced in the Lorwyn expansion block, which was notably inspired by European folklore. One of the cards is "Crib Swap" which depicts the replacement of a baby with a small changeling.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (2010), PC Real-time strategy game. Changelings are temporary Zerg units which mimic opposing units, often used by players to scout against their opponent's strategies and army composition.
Tomb Raider Chronicles (2000), PC Action-Adventure game. Changelings are enemies in the Ireland levels.
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Ban Sidhe Notecard
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The banshee, from the Irish bean sí [bʲæn ˈʃiː] ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld.In legend, a banshee is a fairy woman who begins to wail if someone is about to die. In Scottish mythology the creature is called the bean sìth or bean-nighe and is seen washing the blood stained clothes or armour of those who are about to die. Similar creatures are also found in Welsh,[1] Norse[2][3] [4] and American folklore. The aos sí ("tumulus folk") are variously believed to be the survivals of pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Sightings of Banshees have been reported as recently as 1948.[5]
The story of the bean-sidhe began as a fairy woman keening at the death of important personages.[6] In later stories, the appearance of the banshee could foretell death. Banshees were said to appear for particular Irish families, though which families made it onto this list varied depending on who was telling the story. Stories of banshees were also prevalent in the West Highlands of Scotland.[6]
The banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but she can also appear as a stunningly beautiful woman of any age that suits her. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a "banshee" is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan.
Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die and usually around woods. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seer or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. There are records of several prophets believed to be incarnate banshees attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry in the southwest of Ireland, her keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone in the north, as "the sound of two boards being struck together"; and on Rathlin Island as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl".
The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.
History and mythology
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)In legend, a banshee wails nearby if someone is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. The most common surname attached to the banshee was Mac.[7] They were also associated with the Airlie clan.[6] Accounts of banshees go back as far as 1380 with the publication of the Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh (Triumps of Torlough) by Seean mac Craith.[8] Mentions of banshees can also be found in Norman literature of that time.[8] The Ban Si was also known to wail at the crowning of the true king. Such a cry was reported to be heard at the crowning of Brian Boru.
Traditionally, when a person died a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh, [ˈkɰiːnʲə] or [ˈkiːnʲuː], "caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail") at the funeral. These women are sometimes referred to as "keeners" and the best keeners would be in much demand. Legend has it that for five great Gaelic families — the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the Kavanaghs — the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would sing the lament when a family member died, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.
The O'Briens' banshee was thought to have the name of Eevul, and was ruler of 25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance.[8] It is thought that from this myth comes the idea that the wailing of numerous banshees signifies the death of a great person.[8]
In later versions, the banshee might appear before the death and warn the family by wailing.[9] When several banshees appeared at once, it indicated the death of someone great or holy.[10] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a woman who died in childbirth.[11]
Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, often having long, pale hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids — stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red, or black with a grey cloak.[7]
The bean nighe (Scottish Gaelic for "washer woman"), is a Scottish fairy, seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of bean sìth (in Irish bean sídhe, anglicized as "banshee").
Legends
As the "Washer at the Ford" she wanders near deserted streams where she washes the blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said that mnathan nighe (the plural of bean nighe) are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are doomed to do this work until the day their lives would have normally ended.
In the ancient Celtic epic, The Ulster Cycle, The Morrígan is seen in the role of a bean nighe. When the hero Cúchulainn rides out to war, he encounters the Morrígan as a hag washing his bloody armour in a ford. From this omen he realizes this battle will be his last.
A bean nighe is described in some tales as having one nostril, one big protruding tooth, webbed feet and long-hanging breasts, and to be dressed in green. A mortal who is bold enough to sneak up to her while she is washing and suck her breast can claim to be her foster child. The mortal can then gain a wish from her. If a mortal passing by asks politely, she will tell the names of the chosen that are going to die. While generally appearing as a hag, she can also manifest as a beautiful young woman when it suits her, much as does her Irish counterpart the bean sídhe.
Etymology
A bean nighe ("washerwoman") is a specific type of bean sìth.[1]
Both the Irish bean sídhe and the Scottish Gaelic bean shìth (both meaning "woman of the sídhe", "fairy woman" or "woman of peace") are derived from the Old Irish ben síde, "fairy woman": bean: woman, and sídhe: the genitive of "fairy".
In Scottish Gaelic, bean shìth can also be spelled bean-shìdh. Both are correct.
Sìth in Scottish Gaelic (síd in Old Irish, síocháin in Modern Irish) also means "peace", and the fairies are referred to as the daoine sìth (Irish, daoine sídhe) - the "people of peace". Sídhe, in its variant spellings, refers to the Sídhe Mounds where these beings dwell.
The bean nighe is sometimes known by the diminutives ban nigheachain (little washerwoman) or nigheag na h-àth (little washer at the ford).
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Shellycoat Notecard
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The shellycoat is a scottish bogie who lives in freshwater streams. He is so-called because his body is almost covered in shells which clatter when he moves. He enjoys leading travellers astray, and tricking and confusing them. Kithain are as disposed as their faerie counterparts to tricking and bewildering innocent people, especially those whom they see as encroaching on their territory. The nature of these deceptions is often similar to those of a pooka, but there is rarely evidence of the culprit mocking the victim directly; instead the shellycoat is content with the satisfaction of humiliating someone. Seelie tricks are less severe, and the motive is usually to keep people in their respective places. This is their calling; they are gifted with an immunity to conceit, and if he has friends in high places, his work is often focused on a purposeful aim, though sidhe will rarely deal openly with shellycoats, since many look down on them for their apparently mischievous behaviour. Meetings are clandestine, such as that between Dark Tom and candle Jack, though that was, of course, in the case of a sluagh, and with a far more unpleasant purpose.Appearance
A shellycoat in mortal seeming is usually quite short or stooped in stature, with long arms and fingers, a large flat nose and thin, wet hair. He will usually dress such as to cover most of his body, ususally showing only his face and hands. No matter what he wears, it will appear to be noisy and unsubtle when he moves. In fae seeming, a shellycoat has pale green skin and is covered from head to toe in small shells of all kinds, from whelks to watersnails, the clattering of which make his movements loud and obvious. His hair is thin and black, in long wet strands reaching down his back. Only the face and part of the head, and the hands and feet can be seen clearly. A shellycoat's body is always damp and clammy, and often smells slightly of stagnant water.
SeemingsChildling: Often scolded for being a bully, though it would be noticed that he only picks on the bullies themselves. Surprising ingenuity and logic for a childling.
Wilder: At secondary school, the most efficient of prefects. Good at keeping people in line while not necessarily a good leader. Very trustworthy, at least by those who know exactly where they stand, and stay there.
Grump: Much like a wilder, a grump will become more easily accepted by most people than before.
Lifestyles
While without a code of honour, seelie shellycoats usually have a sense of morals, and the cunning and ingenuity of a pooka grump. Unseelie have a tendency to go renegade or freelance as mercenary pranksters, though very rarely murderers; even unseelie kithain retain a sense of ethics and a glimmer of responsibility. Shellycoats often turn out to be the unsung heroes of social order, but few feel resent towards the sidhe for this; they rarely lose their temper, and have a strong sense of their relative social standing.Birthrights
Trickery: Shellycoats know how to deal with the complacent; this is not confined to mundane deception, they are also strong in the art of Chicanery. Shellycoat characters receive two free dots in Chicanery. This is never used to take advantage of nobles.
Trustworthy: Despite their reputation, shellycoats are usually trusted (even if only in secret) by those above them. Social plus when dealing with someone of higher social standing, unless there are others present who are not like-minded as the noble in question. Their respect and understanding of vocation, and their patience, confers means a good ammount of willpower.
Frailties
Shellycoat: A shellycoat's shell cover makes a lot of noise with the smallest motion. It may also inhibit movement to a small degree.Shellycoat Quotes:
"I strongly believe he will soon change his mind, my Lord."LORE:
In Scottish and Northern English[1] folklore, a shellycoat is a type of bogeyman that haunts rivers and streams. The name comes from the coat of shells these creatures are said to wear, which rattle upon movement. Shellycoats are considered to be relatively harmless; they may mislead wanderers, particularly those they think are trespassing upon the creature's territory, but without malice.[2] A common tactic of a shellycoat would be to cry out as if drowning and then laugh at the distracted victim.
Many places on the coast of Scotland have names that reference the shellycoat. Supposedly, shellycoats are particularly fond of the area around the river Hermitage, in Liddesdale.
As described above, the shellycoat shares many of the traits of the Brag, Kelpie and Nix.
Schellenrock
Jacob Grimm stated in his Deutsche Mythologie[3] that the Scottish goblin Shellycoat is one and the same as the German Schellenrock, that is bell-coat:
“ A pück [home-sprite] served the monks of a Mecklenburg monastery for thirty years, in kitchen, stall and elsewhere; he was thoroughly good-natured, and only bargained for 'tunicam de diversis coloribus, et tintinnabulis plenam.' [a "parti-coloured coat with tinkling bells"][4] In Scotland there lived a goblin Shellycoat, and we saw (p. 465) that the dwarfs of the Mid. Ages also loved bells [schellen; and schellenkappe is Germ. for cap and bells]. The bells on the dress of a fool still attest his affinity to the shrewd and merry goblin (fol, follet); see Suppl. ”Thomas Keightly quotes Grimm and classifies the shellycoat as a type of brownie.[5]:
“ Another name by which the domestic spirit was known in some parts of Scotland was Shellycoat, of which the origin is uncertain. ”The domestic nature of the shellycoat emphasized by Grimm and Keightly stands in contradistinction to the wild nature of the water sprites mentioned in other sources.
Bibliography
Briggs, Katharine Mary. The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature. University of Chicago Press, London, 1967.
Grimm, Jacob. Deutsche Mythologie. Vollständige Ausgabe. Marix Verlag: Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-86539-143-8. English version at Northvegr Grimm's Teutonic Mythology Translation Project. Available online at http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/017_14.php
Keightley, Thomas. The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries. 1870. Available online at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm130.htm.
References
^ The Letters of Joseph Ritson, Esq By Joseph Ritson, Joseph Frank, Nicholas Harris Nicolas, William Pikering, London, 1833
^ Briggs, pp. 58-59.
^ Chapter 17, p. 4.
^ Latin translation following Keightly.
^ Keightly, 1870, in the section "Brownie". -
Bogles Notecard
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A bogle, boggle or bogill is a British (particularly Northumbrian[1] and Scots) term for a ghost or folkloric being, of fae persuasion, usually considered to be a dead "Fae". Also in relation to the "Bogeyman"The name is derived from the Middle-English Bugge (of which the term bogey is also derived) which is in turn a cognate of the German term word bögge (of which böggel-mann ("Goblin") is derived)[5][6][7] and possibly the Norwegian dialect word bugge meaning "important man".[8] The Welsh Bwg could also be connected,[5] and was thought in the past to be the origin of the English term however recently it has been shown that it is probably a borrowing from the older Middle English word.[9][10] They are reputed to live for the simple purpose of perplexing mankind, rather than seriously harming or serving them.[3]
One of the most famous usages of the term was by Gavin Douglas, who was in turn quoted by Robert Burns at the beginning of Tam O' Shanter[11]
Of Brownyis and of Bogillis full is this Buke.
There is a popular story of a bogle known as Tatty Bogle, who would hide himself in potato fields (hence his name) and either attack unwary humans or cause blight within the patch. This bogle was depicted as a scarecrow, "bogle" being an old name for "scarecrow" in various parts of England and Scotland.[12] Another popular Scottish reference to bogles comes in The Bogle by the Boor Tree, a poem passed down in the Scottish dialect. In this ghostly ode, the Bogle is heard in the wind and in the trees to "fricht wee weans".
It is unclear what the connection is between "Bogle" and various other similarly named creatures in various folklores.[13] The "Bocan" of the Highlands may be a cognate of the Norse Puki however,[14] and thus also the English "Puck" .[15][16][17]
The Larne Weekly Reporter of March 31, 1866, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, carried a front page article entitled Bogles in Ballygowan, detailing strange goings on in a rural area where a particular house became the target for missiles being thrown through windows and on one occasion through the roof. Local people were terrified. The occurrences appeared to have ceased after several months and were being blamed on the fact that the house in question had been refurbished using materials from an older house which was apparently the preserve of the 'little people'. This is one of the few references in Northern Ireland to 'bogles' although the phrase 'bogey man' is widely used.
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A Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie, is a type of malevolent murderous goblin found in Irish and Scottish folklore.
Aka : Fir Larrig, Dunter, Red-comb, Bloodycap
Description/Morphology
He usually takes the form of an short old man with a large mouth full of sharp teeth. His eyes are fiery red and his arms end in talons sharper than those of eagles. He wears iron boots, carries a pikestaff, and wears a red cap upon his head. The latter is the source of his name, and Redcap periodically redyes his cap by drenching it in human blood.
Behavior
Redcaps are said to murder travelers who stray into their homes, sometimes by pushing boulders off cliffs on to them, or pushing them from the ramparts of their castles.
Powers/Weaknesses
It is considered impossible though it is not, to escape a Red Cap despite the iron-shod boots he wears. They constantly made strange sounds which resembled the sound of beating flax. When this sound grew especially loud, it was a portant of death or misfortune. The only way to escape one is to quote a passage from the Bible. Quotations from the Bible cause this faery intense pain making it flee.
Places
The Red Cap moves from place to place on a whim throughout the extreme lowlands of Scotland along the English border. He haunts the ruins of old castles and cairns which he guards with his life.
Famous
The most infamous redcap of all was Robin Redcap. As the familiar of Lord William de Soulis, Robin wreaked much harm and ruin in the lands of his master's dwelling, Hermitage Castle. Men were murdered, women cruelly abused, and dark arts were practiced. So much infamy and blasphemy was said to have been committed at Hermitage Castle that the great stone keep was thought to be sinking under a great weight of sin, as though the very ground wanted to hide it from the sight of God.
Yet Soulis, for all the evil he wrought, met a very horrible end: he was taken to the Nine Stane Rigg, a circle of stones hard by the castle, and there he was wrapped in lead and boiled to death in a great cauldron.
William Henderson found the following song about Redcap:
Now Redcap he was there,
And he was there indeed;
And grimly he girned and glowed,
Wi' his red cowl on his head.Then Redcap gave a yell,
It was a yell indeed;
That the flesh neath my oxter grew cauld,
It grew as cauld as lead.Auld Bluidie cowl ga'ed a girn
It was a girn indeed;
Syne my flesh it grew mizzled for fear,
And I stood like a thing that is dead.Last Redcowl gave a laugh,
It was a laugh indeed;
'Twas mair like a hoarse, hoarse scrough,
Syne a tooth fell out o' his head.Another Redcap in Perthshire was a little man who lived in Grantully Castle.
Art/Fiction
Red Caps are featured in the game Lost Magic as a common enemy along with Purple Caps.
Red Cap is Monster in My Pocket #25. They appear in the video game, sliding down diagonal girders in the stage 4.
Mike Mignola, the author of the Hellboy comic book series, includes a short story entitled Iron Shoes which depicts Hellboy investigating an old abandoned castle in Scotland inhabited by a canabilistic goblin who wears iron shoes and hurls iron spears at Hellboy. This story can be found in Mignola's third hellboy trade paperback volume The Chained Coffin and Other Tales following the story The Corpse.
Redcaps are mentioned in the Harry Potter series by British author Joanne Rowling.
Redcaps (properly called Powries) are one of the nine types of Shadow Fey or Arak in Ravenloft. They are always of Chaotic Evil alignment.
Redcaps are enemies which match their original description of goblins in the MMORPG City of Heroes.
Redcaps are one of the basic Kiths of Kithain in Changeling The Dreaming, the RPG by White Wolf. They are strong supporters of the Unseelie court, often to the point of torturing their Seelie members. The redcaps' incredible appetite also figures strongly in the game.
Red caps (aka powries) are also some of the monsters in R.A. Salvatore's DemonWars series.
The Final Fantasy series, most notably in Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Redcaps appear and they are considered members of the goblin family, often being the weakest members of this family.
In the first Mage graphic novel: The Hero Discovered by Matt Wagner, redcaps serve as all-purpose henchmen to the Umbra Sprite, a powerful spirit of darkeness. Though not armed with pikes, they use Elf-Bolts fired from a sling and wear iron shod boots.
Redcaps also appear in the game Dark Cloud 2 or Dark Chronical as it is known in Britain. Here the creatures are dwarfed no higher than the main character's knee and wear a red cap which falls over the top of their eyes. Although far cuter than the original folklore, the redcaps are still as vicious, maintaining an annoyance unparalleled by other enemies. Some have names and as you continue through the Forest Dungeon a change occurs and some can have different colours of caps.
A Card named Murderous Redcap appears in the collectable card game, Magic the Gathering. It is classified as a Goblin Assassin type creature. It is aligned with the colors Black and Red.
Red caps are used as the front army with goblins in The Merideth Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton.
The popular trading card game Magic: the Gathering features a card by the name of Murderous Redcap, in which a goblin like creature is depicted complete with a blood-covered dagger and blood-soaked hat.
A Redcap also appears in the vertigo comic Fables#2 carrying an uzi with boo bear.
The Spiderwick Chronicles featured a goblin properly named Red Cap who wore iron boots and had a red cap.
Redcaps have appeared on a number of occasions in author Mark Chadbourn's fantasy trilogies The Dark Age and Kingdom of the Serpent.
Redcaps also appear in a 1999 PC game published by Bethseda Softworks, Magic & Mayhem. They are one of several summonable creatures that fight alongside the main character.
Redcaps make several appearances in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series.
Sawney Beane, the main villain in Rob Thurman's novel Madhouse, is identified as a redcap, although the traditional accounts of Sawney Beane describe him as human.
The film Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings features a "troll assassin" named the Red Cap, who is shown in early scenes pursuing two Sidhe and later hunting for the title character.
A Redcap appears hiding behind a curtain at the entrance of 'Rumpus Mansion', the haunted house attraction at Blackgang Chine Fantasy Park on the Isle of Wight. Visitors are urged to "Watch this heartless Redcap,‘cos he’d rather see you dead. He’d love to squeeze out all yer blood, then put it on his head!".
You can summon a Red Cap in the DS game Scribblenauts.
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Sluagh Notecard
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Sluagh (SLOO-ah): Thin, pale, with black hair and eyes, and smelling of death and decay in their fae miens, these Nightmare fae exist to strike fear into the hearts of wrongdoers, children in particular. They are able to escape from practically any bonds, other than cold iron, and can contort themselves into disquieting shapes. They have incredibly keen senses, and are able to see through illusions, and see unEmbodied wraiths, as well. They treasure broken and discarded things, and can be found living in sewers, crawlspaces or crumbling mansions. Generally solitary, rarely seen (unless they want to be), sluagh are insular and clannish to an extreme, have an unsettlingly polite demeanor, and an odd sense of etiquette. Despised as outcasts by the other kiths, the sluagh are often tolerated only for the knowledge and secrets that they so prize. They are unable to speak above a whisper, as whispers in the dark are more terrifying than a shout. A rumor exists that this Frailty may be due to an ancient curse upon their kith.In Irish and Scottish folklore, the Sluagh (Irish pronunciation: [sɫuə], Scottish Gaelic: [slˠ̪uaɣ]) were the spirits of the restless dead. Sometimes they were seen as sinners, or generally evil people who were welcome in neither heaven nor hell, nor in the Otherworld, who had also been rejected by the Celtic deities and by the earth itself. Whichever the underlying belief, they are almost always depicted as troublesome and destructive. They were seen to fly in groups like flocks of birds, coming from the west, and were known to try to enter the house of a dying person in an effort to carry the soul away with them. West-facing windows were sometimes kept closed to keep them out. Some consider the Sluagh to also carry with them the souls of innocent people who were kidnapped by these destructive spirits.
Lewis Spence writes in 'The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain'[1]:
In the Western Isles of Scotland the Sluagh, or fairy host, was regarded as composed of the souls of the dead flying through the air, and the feast of the dead at Hallowe'en was likewise the festival of the fairies.
References:
^ Spence, Lewis (1945) The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain p. 88 ISBN 0 09 474300 2
^ World of Darkness, Changeling the Dreamer. p 992. -
Faeries Notecard
______________________Physical Description: Winged beings
(sometimes seen as fairie or faerie) is a spirit or supernatural being that is found in the legends, folklore, and mythology of many different cultures. They are generally humanoid in their appearance and have supernatural abilities such as the ability to fly, cast spells and to influence or foresee the future. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, females of small stature, they originally were of a much different image: tall, angelic beings and short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned fay. The small, gauzy-winged fairies that are commonly depicted today did not appear until the 1800s.
As a consequence, practical considerations of fairies have normally been advice on averting them. Cold iron is the most familiar, but other things are regarded as detrimental to the fairies: wearing clothing inside out, running water, bells (especially church bells), St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers, among others. While many fairies will confuse travelers on the path, the will o' the wisp can be avoided by not following it. Certain locations, known to be haunts of fairies, are to be avoided; C. S. Lewis reported hearing of a cottage more feared for its reported fairies than its reported ghost. In particular, digging in fairy hills was unwise. Paths that the fairies travel are also wise to avoid. Home-owners have knocked corners from houses because the corner blocked the fairy path, and cottages have been built with the front and back doors in line, so that the owners could, in need, leave them both open and let the fairies troop through all night. Good house-keeping could keep brownies from spiteful actions, and such water hags as Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth, prone to drowning people, could be avoided with the body of water they inhabit.
A considerable amount of lore about fairies revolves about changelings and preventing a baby from being thus abducted.
A good number of folk tales about fairies are warnings about the dangers of negligence in this area.
Fairy tales and legendsIn English, the term "fairy tale" is something of a misnomer, as many so-called fairy tales don't feature fairies at all. For folk narratives featuring magic that are told as fiction (such as in the collections of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Andrew Lang, and Aleksandr Afanas'ev), folklorists such as Jack Zipes usually prefer the terms "magic tales," "wonder tales," or the German "Zaubermärchen." In those magic tales that do involve fairies -- such as the fairy godmother in "Cinderella" -- it is rarely important, as per Vladimir Propp, that these characters are fairies, as such: fairies do not have any powers that are not also theoretically available to witches or talking animals or deceased mothers. However, J. R. R. Tolkien described these tales as taking place in the land of Faerie.
Stories that feature fairies are not generally categorized as fairy tales; most stories that are about fairies as fairies are legends -- narratives of folk history that take place in real time and/or space. These stories depict fairies in somewhat contradictory ways — kindly and dangerous, steadfast and fickle, loving and aloof, simple and unknowable.
In many legends, the fairies are prone to kidnapping humans, either as babies, leaving changelings in their place, or as young men and women. This can be for a time or forever, and may be more or less dangerous to the kidnapped. In Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight Child Ballad #4, the elf-knight is a Bluebeard figure, and Isabel must trick and kill him to preserve her life. Tam Lin reveals that the title character, though living among the fairies and having fairy powers, was in fact an "earthly knight" and, though his life was pleasant now, he feared that the fairies would pay him as their tiend to hell. 'Sir Orfeo' tells how Sir Orfeo's wife was kidnapped by the King of Faerie and only by trickery and excellent harping ability was he able to win her back. Thomas the Rhymer shows Thomas escaping with less difficulty, but he spends seven years in Faerie. Oisín is harmed not by his stay in Faerie but by his return; when he dismounts, the three centuries that have passed catch up with him, reducing him to an aged man.
A common feature of the fairies is the use of magic to disguise appearance. Fairy gold is notoriously unreliable, appearing as gold when paid, but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves, or gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other useless things.
These illusions are also implicit in the tales of fairy ointment. Many tales from the British islands tell of a mortal woman summoned to attend a fairy birth — sometimes attending a mortal, kidnapped woman's childbed. Invariably, the woman is given something for the child's eyes, usually an ointment; though mischance, or sometimes curiosity, she uses it on one or both of her own eyes. At that point, she sees where she is; one midwife realizes that she was not attending a great lady in a fine house but her own runaway maid-servant in a wretched cave. She escapes without making her ability known, but sooner or later betrays that she can see the fairies. She is invariably blinded in the eye where she can, or in both if she used the ointment on both.
LiteratureFairies were taken up as characters in medieval chansons de gestes and lais, as when Huon of Bordeaux is aided by the fairy king Oberon, and Sir Launfal takes a fairy lover, and is nearly lost when he breaks her prohibition not to speak of her (a prohibition not only fitting fairies' secretive nature, but the ethos of courtly love).
William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream deals extensively with the subject of fairy-folk and their interaction with a group of amateur theatrical players. This work details the spell cast by the mischievous fairy Puck (at the behest of the fairy-king Oberon) on Oberon's wife Titania, who falls in love with the first mortal she casts eyes upon, the unfortunate Bottom, whom Puck has transmogrified into having a donkey's head. Orson Scott Card's Magic Street adds new fairy lore to Shakespeare's story and offers an alternative history of the play.
Shakespeare carefully put in the mouth of his fairies:
PUCK: My fairy lord, this must be done with haste,
For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast,
And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger;
At whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and there,
Troop home to churchyards: damned spirits all,
That in crossways and floods have burial,
Already to their wormy beds are gone;
For fear lest day should look their shames upon,
They willfully themselves exile from light
And must for aye consort with black-brow'd night.
OBERON: But we are spirits of another sort:
I with the morning's love have oft made sport,
And, like a forester, the groves may tread,
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red,
Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.This was a wise precaution in the era of witch-hunts, when James I of England, writing a treatise on demonology, included many fairies as types of demons. This encouraged, when fairies were used in literature, a light and fanciful touch, to disassociate them with those spirits.
The fairies became progressively more fanciful, until Andrew Lang, explaining that his collections, mentioned above, were all old fairy tales, complained of Victorian fairy tales:
They always begin with a little boy or girl who goes out and meets the fairies of polyanthuses and gardenias and apple blossoms: 'Flowers and fruits, and other winged things.' These fairies try to be funny, and fail; or they try to preach, and succeed.
In his Fairy Folk Tales of Ireland (1892), W. B. Yeats coined the expression "trooping fairies" to refer to those fairies who liked to travel together in groups, related to the sidhe, Christianised remnants of the Tuatha Dé Danann. This is in contrast to the solitary fairies, such as the banshee, leprechaun, or pooka. Typically Yeats's trooping fairies are compared to the elves of English lore.
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Pixie Notecard
______________________In the folklore of southwestern England, a pixie or pisky is a tiny elflike spirit or mischievous creature with wings dressed in green who dances in the moonlight to the music of frogs and crickets.
Description
Pixies are usually depicted as winged, with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Sometimes their eyes are described as being pointed upwards at the temple ends.
Powers/Weaknesses
Some pixies are said to exude pixie dust, which is left in their footprints or floating behind them as they fly.
It is said that, if travellers felt the onset of the pixie spell, they can turn their coats inside out to confuse them and escape, a technique normally used for all fairies.
Pixies can also be repelled by objects made from iron as contact with the metal is said to harm them, another trait they share in common with other fairies of the British Isles.
Behavior
Pixies are said to enjoy playing tricks on people, for example by stealing their belongings or throwing things at them. At night, they steal horses (like many fairies) and bring them back before dawn, leaving only tangled manes as evidence of the prank.
On Dartmoor, in Devon, travellers who became lost on the moor were sometimes said to have been "pixie led," in other words, deliberately led astray by the little people.
Those who deliberately follow pixies often vanish without a trace. For example, a farmhand at Rowbrook, situated on the steep, wooded flanks of the River Dart valley, is said to have been lured down towards the river by mysterious voices, calling his name: ‘Jan Coo.’ He was never seen again.
Places
They are considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall.
History/Beliefs
CulturePixies were first discussed at some length by Mrs. Anna Eliza Bray in The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy, 3 vol. (1837)
Even within living memory, some rural families left small gifts, such as bowls of food or saucers of milk, for the pixies in order to placate them. When shown this respect and attention, pixies would sometimes even help the family by tidying up the household during the night.
Theories and analysis
Theories about origin and existenceOne myth states that pixies were a race of people who were not good enough for Heaven or bad enough for Hell and were therefore forced to remain on Earth forever. Another legend claims that they were Druids who resisted Christianity and were subsequently sentenced by God to grow smaller and smaller until they accepted Christianity.
More recently a theory has developed that they are named after the nation of Picts that inhabited Scotland during the post-Roman period, whom some believe are descended from an indigenous group of people predating the arrival of the Celts in Britain during the Iron Age, the word 'pixie' apparently being formed from a mixture of the words 'Pict' and Sídhe (see also Banshee). However, this is not proven, as many scholars believe the Picts to have been largely a Celtic people, as evidenced by the fact that they were called Priteni (Irish Cruithni) by the Welsh, an archaic Celtic name for "Briton". Additionally, the name Pict is derived from Latin picti, "painted people", making the Pictish origin of pixies unlikely as the word would not have been used by the Celts to describe their neighbours.
It has been speculated by some medical professionals that the legends of pixies and elf|elves, was inspired by a genetic disorder known as Williams syndrome. Some of these afflicted have pointed ears and sloe eyes and elongated faces that make them look like "real" pixies and the syndrome is often called "Pixieism".
Art / Fiction
Pixies in modern culturePixies commonly appear in popular culture. Fantasy books and movies such as The Black Cauldron feature the creatures. In film, their first appearance was in the 1912 film As Others See Us.
Holly Black's Spiderwick Chronicles: Pixies are small and mischievous creatures that can usually be found in one's backyard.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart brings a cage of Cornish Pixies to class as part of a lesson. The pixies are small, blue, anthropoid creatures which fly without the aid of wings and create havoc when released.
Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series: Pixies are one of a number of magical species that have been driven underground by humans and the pollution they have caused on earth. Pixies fly using mechanical wings. Opal Koboi is the megalomaniac, genius pixie of Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels:The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky feature a race of fairies named "Pictsies", which are truly Pictish pixies.
The Fairly OddParents:The Pixies are dull, wear grey suits, speak in monotone voices, wear pointy caps as opposed to the fairy crown-things and, unlike the fairies, treat magic like a business. Instead of wands, they carry cellphones which make the traditional Fairly Odd Parents 'Ping!' when a fairy uses magic, except the ping is pixelated. The female pixies are not seen. The Head Pixie (H.P. for short), Mr. Sanderson, and the other male pixies are voiced by Ben Stein.
The Monster Rancher video games and anime series:Features anthropoid pixies that resemble angels and fairies.
The influential alternative rock band Pixies:Directly named for the creatures.
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Seelie Court Notecard
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Seely-Seelie, Seleigh, Seily, and Sealy -however you prefer to pronounce it, is the scottish, northern, and middle english termed for happy, lucky, blessed fairies, elves, pixies, and so for. They are derived from Old English soel and gesoelig. The modern standard english word silly is also derived from this root. Many ballads talk about “Seely wights” a lowlander scot term for faes.The Seelie court are known to seek help from humans, to warn those who had accidentally offended them, and to return human kindness with favors of their own. Still, a fae belonging to this court will avenge insults and could be prone to mischief.[4] The most common time of day to see them is twilight.[5] They are also known for using humans for their own goals, however, in these cases the humans are rarely "injured" but "uninjured does not mean "free".
One should remember that Most "fae" cannot lie, those that can, will tell you that they cannot, just to see if your smart enough.
Also, their is a great deal of difference between "Not Lying and "Telling the Truth." Keep that in mind.The Seelie Court were considered the true aristocrats of the Daoine Sidhe. They were judges, dispensing justice to the other fae when it was required, and served as frequent arbitrators of the many faery quarrels. The Seelie Court was very political, complete with cliques, factions, gossiping, and rivalry.
Sometimes called the ‘Blessed Ones,’ the Seelie were often depicted as a procession of brilliant light riding on the night air. The Seelie Court, as a group, would often use these excursions to find those in need of help. The Seelie were also prone to a great deal of mischief, especially when bored. However, their pranks rarely caused true harm, for the Seelie at most wish to be left alone by humans, but have no desire to really hurt them as a whole.
Seelie also doesn't mean that you love humans and want to live in harmony with them, it also doesn't mean that you're particularly good. It just means that you are polite and ordered as you go about doing it. Seelie Courters know the system better than anyone else around, and because they know the system, they know how to manipulate it and pull it, because it will bend, but the point is not to break the system, because then it's no longer useful. It's just as easy, if not easier, to be Seelie and Evil, then it is to be Unseelie and Evil. They are also all about the meaning, rather than all about the word, because the meaning is what you actually mean, rather than what you actually say. If you say "I swear that I will not murder my lord and master…" that means that they will not harm, murder, destroy or maim in anyway, either by their hand or by someone else's, their lord and master. That means that even if their lord and master becomes a tyrant that should be killed off, they cannot, because they swore by the meaning. Seelie Courters do sometimes appear to care more about mortals or humans, then any of the other courts, but this does not mean that they actually do. However, this also doesn't mean that they don't. It just depends on the fae
. Unseelie and Seelie is like being Democrat and Republican, it changes depending on whose running, who it is and what their views are. However, I'm far more weary of the Seelie Court, then I am the Unseelie Court. Seelie Courters are also far more capable of things such as changelings and fetches, mostly not because they want to harm us, but because they want to learn about other races, and kidnapping is far easier than anything else. Seelie Courters also fall in love a lot easier than others do, which is the other reason why more women tend to go missing.
Also, just because you settle
on what court you want to be associated with, doesn't mean that you have
to be stuck in that court for the rest of your life. Fae flip their
courts all the time, either because of the seasons, someone insulting
their honor, war denotes that they must in order to increase power, or
they've gone and gotten their hearts broken. Any of these reasons can
make a faerie flip their court, and some of them do it JUST BECAUSE THEY
CAN. However, when they flip their court, THEN they are the most
dangerous, because they're not familiar with the state thay they're in,
so they go back and forth and back and forth trying to decide which is
right and which is not. They can be fine one moment and so angry they'll try
destroy you the next.________________________________________________
The Code of the Seelie Court
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Like many human courts, the Seelie Court had its own code of conduct, a code which all of the Seelie had to abide by. This code is:Death Before Dishonor: A member of the Seelie Court would protect his or her honor to the death. Honor was the single source of glory for the Seelie, the only way to attain recognition. A true Seelie would rather have died than live with personal dishonor, and would never bring dishonor to another of the Seelie.
Love Conquers All: For the Seelie, love was the perfect expression of the soul. It transcended all other things. Though romantic love was considered to be the highest and purest form of love, platonic love was also encouraged.
Beauty is Life: Beauty was one of the first tenants of the Seelie Court. To belong, a faery had to be beautiful, and all beauty was to be protected. The Seelie were known to go to war to protect beauty, whether it was a beautiful person, place, or thing.
Never Forget a Debt: This tenant worked in two ways. The Seelie were bound by their code of honor to repay any debt owed as soon as was possible. This included both favors and insults. The Seelie would repay a favor in a timely fashion. At the same time, they would exact vengeance almost immediately.
" . . . the single assumption which makes our existence viable -- that somebody is watching . . ."
-- Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
People tend to think of fey as lovely creatures of almost unearthly beauty and grace. This image epitomizes the fey of the Seelie Court. Many artists and bards, both fey and other, have striven to capture the beauty of the Seelie Court. Most have gone mad; none have truly succeeded. Pure manifestations of nature and beauty, the members of the Seelie Court view themselves as the pinnacle of perfection. This elitist attitude restricts status in the court to only pure-blood fey. A court fey can trace his or her lineage back several millennia, showing nothing but true fey (no templates, no transformations such as from the monk class or various prestige classes, and no other creature types by blood or breeding).
Fey high society and the fey realms, be they on the Plane of Faerie or fey high-society enclaves on the Material Plane, contain the only creatures whose opinions matter. Politics thrive in this elitist environment. Seelie fey form cliques and factionalize amongst themselves. In the endlessly politicking and gossiping world of the Seelie Court, status can be won by hosting guests (willing or unwilling) or attracting followers with great skill in a craft or performance art.
Seelie Court fey occasionally tolerate the company of beautiful or gifted creatures, preferring those of fey, elven, or celestial blood. These "court friends" may provide companionship and amusements, but only those with pure lineage may hold positions of importance.
Admittance to the Seelie Court for outsiders is extremely rare, even more so if the outsiders are not of pure fey blood. Upon entrance to the court, visitors must be prepared with valuable and unusual gifts for the Queen of Light, or they might find themselves lost in an endless hedge maze. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of wondrous power, gems of brightness, and magical jewelry.
The physical appearance of the Seelie Court mirrors nature, to which the fey are intrinsically linked. White ash trees, strong and stately, with their branches intertwining to create a living ceiling, line the throne hall like marble columns. Gossamer streamers of iridescent blues, pinks and purples wind their way through the boughs. Phosphorescent flowers gleam like lanterns amidst the treetops. Semi-precious jewels of amethysts, tiger's eyes and topaz decorate flowers that float down the waterways lining the path to the throne. Statues carved of gold and adorned with gems further attest to the wealth and beauty of the current ruler, as each queen must display more splendor than the previous one or risk the gossip and scorn of her subjects. The throne itself, a and queen who sits on it, are the focal points of the room. The throne of the Seelie Court is shaped like a large ice dragon, as brilliantly cold and glittery as the fey nobility.
Queen Tatiana and King Oberon are the current rulers of the Seelie Court. An undisputed beauty, Tatiana looks unfavorably upon female courtier or visitors whose appearance rivals hers. This attitude is caused, in part, by the occasional wanderings of King Oberon's affection.
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The Seelie Court Fae find the Unseelie Court Fae absolutely repellent. -
Unseelie Notecard
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The Unseelie Court consists of the malicious and evilly-inclined fae, also known as the Fae of Winter. Unlike the Seelie Court, no offense is necessary to bring down their assaults.[6] As a group (or "host"), they appear at night and assault travelers, often carrying them through the air, beating them, and forcing them to commit such acts as shooting elfshot at cattle.[7][8] Like the beings of the Seely Court who are not always benevolent, neither are the fairies of the Unseelie Court always malevolent. However, when forced to choose, they will always prefer to harm—rather than to help—humans. Some of the most common characters in the Unseelie Court are Bogies, Bogles, Boggars, Abbylubbers and Buttery spirits.[9] The division into "seely" and "unseely" spirits was roughly equivalent to the division of Elves in Norse mythology, into "light" and "dark" distinctions[10].The Unseelie Court or Unblessed Court contains the most malicious, malevolent and evil of the faeries, and a number of monsters of horrible appearance and fearsome abilities as well. They comprise the Sluagh, or The Host, the band of the unsanctified dead who fly above the earth, stealing mortals and take great pleasure in harming humans. (Supposedly) Remember, this is perception.
Often called the ‘Unblessed Ones,’ the Unseelie were depicted as a dark cloud riding upon the wind from where their unnerving cackles and howls can be heard. Though not necessarily evil, they were far from kind. These unsavory characters tended towards evil and were often malignant. Some Scottish legends claim that the Unseelie were fallen Seelie, those who could not live up to the strict standards of chivalry of the shining court. They have no method of reproduction, so they enslave mortals whom they think would never be missed and carry them along to become one of them. The Unseelie Court is often portrayed out to harm, or at least bedevil and trick, humankind.
However, what is portrayed is not always what is "True" The dregs of the Unseelie Court are the ones to be most wary of, though they tend to not bother humans unless they "feel" like it or find a human particularly "interesting". Fae don't usually meddle with humans unless there is something in it for THEM, Seelie or Unseelie. If a fae does not see that they can benefit from the interaction, then they wont interact.
Being Unseelie doesn't mean that you hate humans or the other races and want them all to fall off a cliff, it just means that you do things and opperate in a more chaotic way, or that you're more interested in doing things for yourself, rather than someone else. Rules really aren't important to someone who is Unseelie, because there are always ways around them. The Unseelie are notorious for being cunning enough to get out of Iron-tight, Seelie Oaths. The Unseelie are all about the Wording or something, because if you word something just right, an oath, a promise, a statement, an anything, you can do anything with it, and that's anything from declairing war upon someone who did or didn't mean to, or getting out of a particuarly sticky oath you didn't really want to make. Not all Oathes are good, and not all Oathes are bad. Unseelie would much rather talk about something, than they would raise their swords and fight about it, because people who jump into battle don't think, and they don't think about the strategy of things, or if there's a loophole somewhere. Chaotic doesn't need to mean that they explode in colours out of everywhere or that they do things out of control, Chaos can be very controlled. Take a drive somewhere in Europe, or Asia, you'll find that chaos is very controlled over there. Unseelie will be the first to tell you what their intentions are, because what's the point in hiding them, really? The point is the most Unseelie don't care, and therefore, don't care enough to hide something behind a glamour or fake it.
Some of the members of the Unseelie Court included:
The sluagh (the Hosts of the Unforgiven dead, akin to the Wild Hunt)
Shellycoat (a trickster of the coasts)
Redcap (a vicious fairy who drenched his cap with human blood)
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The Code of the Unseelie Court
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Like many human courts, the Unseelie Court had its own code of conduct, a code which all of the Unseelie had to abide by. The details of this code were:Change is Good: The Unseelie firmly believed that security was an illusion. They considered chaos to be the ruling force in the universe, and accepted that they had to adapt and change to survive.
Glamour is Free: Glamour was the magick of the Daoine Sidhe. Both the Seelie and Unseelie possessed its power. However, the two Courts had differing opinions over its use. The Unseelie believed that to have power and not to use it was near to sin. They used their power for whatever they saw fit.
Honor is a Lie: The Unseelie placed no stock in the ideals of honor. Instead, they pursued their own self-interests vigorously. The Unseelie felt as if truth could be only be reach through a devotion to self, not a devotion to others.
Passion Before Duty: Passion was considered to be the truest state of being. The Unseelie acted without thought on pure instinct and passion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"They are two sides of the same coin, or let us say . . . the same side of two coins."
-- Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead"Blood is compulsory."
-- Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are DeadUnlike the selective, restrictive Seelie Court, the Unseelie Court welcomes anyone and everything with even a drop of ancestral fey blood. Fey can and do breed with anything, creating odd, mixed creatures. Most species consider the offspring grotesque monsters. The mutant creatures gravitate towards the Unseelie Court, which welcomes them and gives them an environment where peculiar physiologies and abilities are the norm.
The Unseelie Court is a more hospitable place for non-fey as well. Court nobles eagerly provide patronage for creatures who are extremely strong, dexterous, clever, beautiful, or talented. Obtaining the sponsorship of a court noble is not without its rewards, nor without its dangers. For instance, a gifted bard whose playing impresses a fey nobleman might be invited to his castle as a guest. Once there, the bard will be feted and asked to play every night -- and never be permitted to leave.
Ruling over all these oddities is the Queen of Air and Darkness: a fey of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The Queen of Air and Darkness has no current consort and no surviving children. The court is rife with gossip and political maneuvering as each noble curries the queen's favor in the hopes of being named the royal heir.
Outsiders not of fey blood are rarely admitted to the Unseelie Court. Visitors must be prepared with unusual and powerful gifts for the Queen, or they might find themselves the quarry of a nightmarish hunt. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of horrific power, gems of darkness, and cursed jewelry. (Details on the figurines of horrific power and gems of darkness will appear in a future fey column on the Wizards website.)
After a millennia of indiscriminate breeding, the physical appearance of the Unseelie Court mirrors the macabre. Twisted columns, trees forced into unnatural growth by royal gardeners, are scattered haphazardly through the hall. Curtains of shadows hide blood-soaked alcoves. Drawn back for times of celebration, the gaping crevasses reveal uninvited guests captured for the amusement of the court. Riotous blooms of nightshades and blood warts glow red in the evening, providing a maddening light to the misshapen court. The throne of the Unseelie Court is shaped like a great shadow dragon, a creature of midnight and darkness, like the queen herself.However, the Unseelie will always seek to discredit the Seelie, or cause mistrust towards them. It is a game of politics between two factions. Always!
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The Wyld Court Notecard
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The Wyld Court is simply those Fae who do not wish to be aligned with either the Seelie, or Unseelie. They are often called "Trouping Fae" in that they tend to not stay in one spot too often, and they tend to appreciate wyld magic more than the order or chaos of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.Unpolitical Creatures, they do not tolerate the continual squabbling of the two major factions, instead often are seen rolling their eyes and going. "Why me?"
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