A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. H ...

, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have been inspired by Paracelsus's concept:

Robert Alfred Vaughan Robert Alfred Vaughan (1823–1857) was an English Congregationalist minister and author. Life The eldest child of Robert Vaughan (minister), Robert Vaughan, he was born at Worcester, England, Worcester on 18 March 1823, a seven-months child who ...

noted that "the wild but poetical fantasies" of Paracelsus had probably exercised a larger influence over his age and the subsequent one than is generally supposed, particularly on the

Rosicrucians Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

, but that through the 18th century they had become reduced to "machinery for the playwright" and "opera figurantes with wings of gauze and spangles".

Etymology

"Sylph" is possibly a blend of from Latin '' sylvestris'' and '' nympha'', ''sylvestris'' being a common synonym for sylph in Paracelsus. Anthon and Trollope note a similar usage in the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'', where ''silvestris'' is taken as an elliptical form of ''nympha silvestris'' ("forest nymph"). Jacob Grimm uses this phrase as a gloss for the Anglo-Saxon ''wudu-mær'' (roughly equivalent to "woodmare"), which he also takes as a metaphorical name for an

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the li ...

Jan Baptist van Helmont Jan Baptist van Helmont (; ; 12 January 1580 – 30 December 1644) was a chemist, physiologist, and physician from Brussels. He worked during the years just after Paracelsus and the rise of iatrochemistry, and is sometimes considered t ...

, a near contemporary of Paracelsus and coiner of the word "gas", uses ''sylvestris'' in the sense of "wild" to describe gaseous emissions, which may be connected to the Paracelsian usage. Thorpe's ''Northern Mythology'' connects the adjective ''sylvestres'' and the related ''silvaticas'' to European wild man legends. A related idea is that "sylph" is from a hyper-urbane respelling of a Latin neologism ''silves'', but in either case this connection to the Latin root ''silva'' ("forest") is supported by Paracelsus' use of ''sylphes'' as a synonym for ''schrötlein'', a German word for a tree spirit or especially an earth spirit in his ''Liber de Sanguine ultra Mortem''. An alternative theory is that it derives from silphē ( el, ), which a number of etymological sources gloss as "

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

". French etymological sources often derive it from a Latin word ''sylphus'', glossed as "

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...

" (in the Latin sense, a type of spirit) and only known from an inscription rather than literary Latin. The ''

Deutsches Wörterbuch The ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' (; "The German Dictionary"), abbreviated ''DWB'', is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence. The Swiss German physician and alchemist Paracelsus first coined the term sylph in the 16th century to describe an air spirit in his overarching scheme of elemental spirits associated with the four

Classical elements Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had sim ...

. Paracelsus drew from earlier sources, but his systematic treatment of the idea was definitive, with the names of three of the four types having originated in his works. The other three elemental spirits named were Gnomes (earth), Salamanders (fire), and Undines (water). These ideas were adopted in

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

and were widely encountered in subsequent hermetic literature. In the '' Liber de Nymphis'' of the ''Philosophia Magna'', Paracelsus discusses the characteristics of the elementals at length. Sylphs, he says, are rougher, coarser, taller, and stronger than humans. The elementals are said to be able to move through their own elements as human beings move through air. Because of this, sylphs are the closest to humans in his conception because they move through air like we do, while in fire they burn, in water they drown, and in earth, they get stuck.

In literature

Sylphs are mentioned by that name in the 1668 German novel '' Simplicius Simplicissimus'', though the author seems to have taken them to be water spirits. The French pseudo-novel '' Comte de Gabalis'' (1670) was important in passing sylphs into the literary sphere. It appears to have originated the derivative term "sylphid" (French ''sylphide''), which it uses as the feminine counterpart to "sylph". While modern scholars consider ''Comte de Gabalis'' to have been intended as a satire of occult philosophy, many of its contemporaries considered it to be an earnest exposition of occult lore. Its author, Abbé de Montfaucon de Villars, was assassinated on the road in 1673 and one rumor had it that he had been killed by a gang of sylphs for disclosing their secrets. One of the best-known discussions of sylphs comes with

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

. In '' Rape of the Lock'' (final ed. 1717), Pope

satirizes Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

French Rosicrucian and alchemical writings when he invents a theory to explain the sylph. In a parody of heroic poetry and the "dark" and "mysterious" alchemical literature, and in particular the sometimes esoterically Classical heroic poetry of the 18th century in England and France, Pope pretends to have a new alchemy, in which the sylph is the mystically, chemically condensed humors of peevish women. In Pope's poem, women who are full of

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

and vanity turn into sylphs when they die because their spirits are too full of dark vapors to ascend to the skies. Belinda, the heroine of Pope's poem, is attended by a small army of sylphs, who foster her vanity and guard her beauty. The poem is a parody of Paracelsian ideas, inasmuch as Pope imitates the pseudo-science of alchemy to explain the seriousness with which vain women approach the dressing room. In a slight parody of the divine battle in Pope's ''Rape of the Lock'', when the Baron of the poem attempts to cut a lock of Belinda's hair, the sylphs interpose their airy bodies between the blades of the scissors (to no effect whatsoever). Ariel, the chief sylph in ''the Rape of the Lock'', has the same name as

Prospero Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea ...

's servant Ariel in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's '' The Tempest'' (ca. 1611), and Shakespeare's character is described literally as an "airy spirit" in the '' dramatis personae''. This name is generally thought to have been original with Shakespeare, though the exact inspiration for the character is unclear.Johnson, W. Stacy. "The Genesis of Ariel." ''Shakespeare Quarterly''. (July 1951) 2.3 pgs. 205-210 Pope explicitly cited ''Comte de Gabalis'' as a source for elemental lore in the dedication. In the 1778 British novel '' The Sylph'', a sylph appears as a guardian spirit for the female protagonist. By 1765, the French author Jean-François Marmontel had found the sylph legend notable enough that he included among his ''Moral Tales'' the story of "the Sylph-Husband," in which a young woman obsessed with the idea of marrying a sylph is deluded into falling in love with her arranged-husband after he impersonates one. Sylphide -Marie Taglioni -1832 -2

In Fernando Pessoa's "Book of Disquiet", (entry 214 - New Directions, 2017) he writes (translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jill Costa): "And as with books so with everything else...Given that anything can be dreamed to serve as a real interruption to the silent flow of my days, I raise eyes of weary protest to the sylph who is mine alone, to the poor girl who, had she only learned to sing, could perhaps have been a siren".

In ballet and opera

The famous ballet ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' ( en, The Sylph; da, Sylfiden) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. ...

'' ("The (Female) Sylph", Paris, 1832) is a prominent example of sylph lore in theater in the 19th century. It appeared in a second version in Denmark in 1836. A similarly themed opera '' The Mountain Sylph'' appeared in England in 1834. Sylphs again took to the stage in the 1909 ballet ''

Les Sylphides ''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact dis ...

''.

In popular culture

*Willow, a character in

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 ''New York Times'' bestsellers during his writing career, and has ...

' '' Magic Kingdom of Landover'' series of novels (1986), is a sylph and the wife of protagonist

Ben Holiday The ''Magic Kingdom of Landover'' series is a series of six fantasy novels by Terry Brooks following the adventures of a former trial lawyer named Ben Holiday and the collection of friends and enemies that he encounters when he purchases a magica ...

. She is the daughter of the River Master and a wood elemental, giving her pale green skin and emerald hair. Her dual nature is reflected in the fact that she must transform into a willow tree once every 21 days to maintain her life force. She has a tense and distant relationship with her father, as her existence serves as a permanent reminder to him of the brief relationship he desires to reclaim, but never can. And so it is to her mother that she turns for guidance. *The Silph Company, featured prominently within the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' franchise, manufactures a device called the Silph Scope, which allows the user to view spectral entities otherwise unidentifiable to the naked eye. Some Pokémon are known for being inspired by the sylph. *In

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the '' Mistborn'' series and '' Th ...

's '' The Stormlight Archive'' series of novels (2010), the character Sylphrena is introduced as a windspren, a creature that is drawn to the element of wind and its characteristics. As other windspren, Sylphrena (Syl) possesses the ability to travel freely through the air and change her form—allowing her to adopt the features of a human, beast, or anything she wishes, including a ribbon of light. *The lyrics of the song "Desire As" by

Prefab Sprout Prefab Sprout are an English pop music, pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy McAloon, Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wend ...

from their 1985 album ''Steve McQueen'' mentions a "sylph-figured creature that changes her mind". The same lyric is quoted in a song by LYR, called "Winter Solstice", featuring poet laureate

Simon Armitage Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

Association with fairies

Because of their association with the ballet ''

'', where sylphs are identified with fairies and the medieval legends of fairyland, as well as a confusion with other "airy spirits" (e.g., in William Shakespeare's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

''), a slender girl may be referred to as a sylph. "Sylph" has passed into general language as a term for minor spirits, elementals, or faeries of the air.

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

authors will sometimes employ sylphs in their fiction, for example creating giant artistic clouds in the skies with airy wings.John Grant and John Clute, ''

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Sc ...

'', "Elemental" p 313-4,

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control 16th-century introductions Elementals Fantasy creatures Female legendary creatures Wind creatures