Tylwyth Teg
Tylwyth Teg (Welsh: "Fair Family"[1]) is the most usual term in Wales for fairies, though they are also referred to as the Bendith y Mamau ("Blessing of the Mothers"). They share many of the same characteristics as other fairies. They are described as fair-haired and covet golden-haired human children whom they kidnap, leaving changelings (or "crimbils") in their place. They dance and make fairy rings and they live underground or under the water. They bestow riches on those they favour but these gifts vanish if they are spoken of, and fairy maidens may become the wives of human men.[1]
As the Bendith y Mamau they are sometimes described as stunted and ugly.[1] They ride horses in fairy rades (processions) and visit houses where bowls of milk are customarily put out for them. A changeling story tells of a woman whose three year old son was stolen and she was given a threefold instruction by a "cunning man" (magician) on how to get him back. She removed the top from a raw egg and began stirring the contents, and as the changeling watched her do this certain comments he made established his otherworldly identity. She then went to a crossroads at midnight during the full moon and observed a fairy rade in order to confirm that her son was with them. Lastly she obtained a black hen and without plucking it she roasted it over a wood fire until every feather dropped off. The changeling then disappeared and her son was returned to her.[1][2]
In popular culture [edit]
- Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain include a race of Fair Folk similar to the Tylwyth Teg.
- Joan Aiken's 1968 novel The Whispering Mountain explains the Tylwyth Teg as a diminutive Mediterranean race who were imported to Wales as slaves to work in the mines.
- Jim Butcher's short story Curses set in the Harry Dresden universe has the Tylwyth Teg responsible for the Curse of the Billy Goat on the Chicago Cubs.
- Mercedes Lackey's novel Home from the Sea features the Tylwyth Teg as mischievous elemental sprites.
References [edit]
Further reading [edit]
- MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 368. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
- Wentz, W. Y. (1998). The Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 524. ISBN 019072518 Check
|isbn=value (help). - Evans, Hugh (1938). Y Tylwyth Teg. Liverpool: Gwasg Y Brython. p. 98.
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