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Unseelie
Seelie is a term for fairies in Scottish folklore, appearing in the form of seely wights or The Seelie Court. The Northern and Middle English word (also , , ), and the Scots form , mean "happy", "lucky" or "blessed." Despite their name, the seelie folk of legend could be morally ambivalent and dangerous. Calling them "seelie," similar to names such as "good neighbors," may have been a euphemism to ward off their anger. Etymology The word derives from the Old English and and the Proto-West Germanic ''*sālīg'' (“blissful, happy”). The Modern Standard English word " silly" is also derived from this root. The antonym, ''unseely'' (also ''unsall'', ''unsell)'' means "unhappy", "misfortunate" or "unholy." Seelie wights Many Scottish ballads and tales tell of "Seilie wichts" or "wights," meaning blessed beings. Julian Goodare theorized that these were legendary nature spirits, similar to but distinct from fairies. Goodare additionally hypothesized that there was a sixteen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairies
A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic mythology, Celtic, Slavic paganism, Slavic, Germanic folklore, Germanic, and French folklore, French folklore), a form of Supernatural#Spirit, spirit, often with metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a Christian mythology, Christian tradition, as deities in Paganism, Pagan belief systems, as Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits of the dead, as Prehistory, prehistoric precursors to humans, or as spirits of nature. The label of ''fairy'' has at times applied only to specific Magic (su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shellycoat
In Scottish and Northern English folklore, a shellycoat is a type of bogeyman that haunts rivers and streams. Name The name comes from the coat of shells these creatures are said to wear, which rattle upon movement. Distribution 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. Characteristics 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. A common tactic of a shellycoat would be to cry out as if drowning and then laugh at the distracted victim. As described above, the shellycoat shares many of the traits of the Brag, Kelpie and Nix. Schellenrock Jacob Grimm stated in his ''Deutsche Mythologie'' that the Scottish goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classifications Of Fairies
Fairies, particularly those of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh folklore, have been classified in a variety of ways. Classifications – which most often come from scholarly analysis, and may not always accurately reflect local traditions – typically focus on behavior or physical characteristics. Early classifications of fairies Germanic lore featured light and dark elves ( Ljósálfar and Dökkálfar). This may be roughly equivalent to later concepts such as the Seelie and Unseelie. In the mid-thirteenth century, Thomas of Cantimpré classified fairies into ''neptuni'' of water, ''incubi'' who wandered the earth, ''dusii'' under the earth, and ''spiritualia nequitie in celestibus'', who inhabit the air. In 1566, John Walsh of Devonshire – on trial for witchcraft – said that there were three kinds of "feries": white, green and black. Good and evil Seelie and Unseelie Courts In Scottish folklore, faeries are divided into the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Tit Tot
"Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of '' Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about an imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a woman's firstborn child. Plot In order to appear superior, a miller brags to the king and people of his kingdom by claiming his daughter can spin straw into gold.Some versions make the miller's daughter blonde and describe the "straw-into-gold" claim as a careless boast the miller makes about the way his daughter's straw-like blond hair takes on a gold-like lustre when sunshine strikes it. The king calls for the girl, locks her up in a tower room filled with straw and a spinning wheel, and demands she spin the straw into gold by morning or he will have her killed.Other versions have the king threatening to lock her up in a dungeon forever, or to punish her father for lying. When she has given up all hope, a little imp-like man appears in the room and spins the straw in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia Walliae'') was originally used in the Middle Ages to denote the marches between England and the Principality of Wales, in which Marcher lords had specific rights, exercised to some extent independently of the king of England. In modern usage, "the Marches" is often used to describe those English counties which lie along the border with Wales, particularly Shropshire and Herefordshire, and sometimes adjoining areas of Wales. However, at one time the Marches included all of the historic counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Etymology The term ''March'' is from the 13th-century Middle English ''marche'' ("border region, frontier"). The term was borrowed from Old French ''marche'' ("limit, bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tylwyth Teg
(Middle Welsh for "Fair Family"; ) is the most usual term in Wales for the mythological creatures corresponding to the fairy folk of Welsh and Irish folklore . Other names for them include ("Blessing of the Mothers"), and . Origins The term is first attested in a poem attributed to the 14th-century , in which the principal character gets perilously but comically lost while going to visit his girlfriend: "" ("(The) weak enchantment (now) flees, / (the) long burden of the ''Tylwyth Teg'' (departs) into the mist"). Attributes In later sources the are described as fair-haired and covet golden-haired human children whom they kidnap, leaving changelings (or , ) in their place. They dance and make fairy rings and they live underground or underwater. They bestow riches on those they favour but these gifts vanish if they are spoken of, and fairy maidens may become the wives of human men. These fairy wives are however still bound by traditional taboos. They must be careful to av ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rumpelstiltskin
"Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about an imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a woman's firstborn child. Plot In order to appear superior, a miller brags to the king and people of his kingdom by claiming his daughter can Spinning (textiles), spin straw into gold.Some versions make the miller's daughter blonde and describe the "straw-into-gold" claim as a careless boast the miller makes about the way his daughter's straw-like blond hair takes on a gold-like lustre when sunshine strikes it. The king calls for the girl, locks her up in a tower room filled with straw and a spinning wheel, and demands she spin the straw into gold by morning or he will have her killed.Other versions have the king threatening to lock her up in a dungeon forever, or to punish her father for lying. When she has given up all hope, a little imp-like man appears in the room and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was formerly known as the Houghton Mifflin Company, but it changed its name following the 2007 acquisition of Harcourt (publisher), Harcourt Publishing. Prior to March 2010, it was a subsidiary of EMPG, Education Media and Publishing Group Limited, an Irish-owned holding company registered in the Cayman Islands and formerly known as Riverdeep. In 2022, it was acquired by Veritas Capital, a New York-based private-equity firm. Company history In 1832, William Ticknor and John Allen purchased a bookselling business in Boston and began to involve themselves in publishing; James T. Fields joined as a partner in 1843. Fields and Ticknor gradually gathered an impressive list of writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry Dav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tam Lin
Tam Lin, also known as Tamas-Lin, Tamlane, Tamlene, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam-Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam-Lyn or Tam-Lane, is a character in the legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. History The story of Tam Lin revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies. The motif of winning a person (or subduing an enemy) by holding him through all forms of Transformation chase, transformation is found throughout Europe in Folklore, folktales. The story has been adapted into numerous stories, songs, and films. It is also associated with a Reel (dance), reel of the same name, which is also known as the ''Glasgow Reel''. Tam Lin is listed as the List of the Child Ballads, 39th Child Ballads, Child Ballad and List of folk songs by Roud number, number 35 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Synopsis Most variants begin with the warning that Tam Lin collects either a possession or the virginity of any maiden who passes through the forest of Carterh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry. In 1876 he was named Harvard's first Professor of English, a position which allowed him to focus on academic research. It was during this time that he began work on the Child Ballads. The Child Ballads were published in five volumes between 1882 and 1898. While Child was primarily a literary scholar with little interest in the music of the ballads, his work became a major contribution to the study of English-language folk music. Biography Francis James Child was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His lifelong friend, scholar and social reformer Charles Eliot Norton, described Child's father, a sailmaker, as "one of that class of intellige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allison Gross
"Allison Gross" (Roud 3212, Child 35), also known as "Alison Cross", is a traditional folk ballad. It tells the story of "the ugliest witch in the north country" who tries to persuade a man to become her lover and then punishes him by a transformation. Synopsis Allison Gross, a hideous witch, tries to bribe the narrator to be her lover. She combed his hair, first. When a scarlet mantle, a silk shirt with pearls, and a golden cup all fail, she blows on a horn three times, making an oath to make him regret it; she then strikes him with a silver wand, turning him into a wyrm (dragon) bound to a tree. His sister Maisry comes to him to comb his hair. One day the Seelie Court comes by, and a queen strokes him three times, turning him back into his proper form. Motifs The horn motif is not clear. In " The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea", the witch uses it after the transformation to summon her victim, but nothing appears to stem from it here.Francis James Child, ''The English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baobhan Sith
The baobhan sith (literally "fairy witch" or "fairy hag" in Scottish Gaelic) is a female fairy in the folklore of the Scottish Highlands, though they also share certain characteristics in common with the succubus. They appear as beautiful women who seduce their victims before attacking them and killing them. Folklore There are numerous stories about the baobhan sith with a general theme of hunters being attacked in the wilderness at night. In "the" tale recorded by Mackenzie, there were four men who went hunting and took shelter for the night in a lonely shieling or hut. One of the men supplied vocal music while the others began dancing. The men expressed a desire for partners to dance with, and soon after that four women entered the hut. Katharine Briggs suggested that the baobhan sith was unable to catch the fourth man among the horses because of the iron with which the horses were shod, iron being a traditional fairy vulnerability. In a similar tale one of the men noticed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
