Happy Monday, Missians!
It's time for another Monday Mythical Beasts post. Before I start, I just want to say, there was scheduled to be a post on Saturday (May 19th), about Endangered Species, but I decided to scrap it, considering it wasn't something I was originally going to do, anyway, when I first made the May schedule, (back in March). I just added that one because my May calendar had too many empty spaces.
Because I have a lot going on right now, I decided to put things back the way they originally were, and not do a post for Saturday. I still may return to that post and just place it on the calendar for later in the year. Stay tuned. Okay, enough on that. Back to the topic at hand. Like in last Monday's post, I think we'll refer to this week's guests of honor as "Mythical Creatures". And what would these creatures be, you ask? None other than Sprites, Spriggans and Fairies.
I admit I got the inspiration for this post from an old Supernatural episode, where Sam and Dean have to battle against fairies, (Clap Your Hands if You Believe-Season 6, episode 9). One of my favorite scenes is when they're visiting the home of one of the quirky town residents to get more information on fairies. It's a super-funny scene. You can check out a snippet of it here, if you're interested:
I think most people have an idea of what a fairy is, (Tinkerbell, anyone?), but what about Sprites and Spriggans? And when we say Sprite, of course we're not talking about the soda. So, let's dive in and find out exactly what these creatures are, (and if fairies are exactly like what we've heard about them). Today's Mythical Creature information is courtesy of Wikipedia:
Millers were thought by the Scots to be "no canny", owing to their ability to control the forces of nature, such as fire in the kiln, water in the burn, and for being able to set machinery a-whirring. Superstitious communities sometimes believed that the miller must be in league with the fairies. In Scotland, fairies were often mischievous and to be feared. No one dared to set foot in the mill or kiln at night, as it was known that the fairies brought their corn to be milled after dark. So long as the locals believed this, the miller could sleep secure in the knowledge that his stores were not being robbed. John Fraser, the miller of Whitehill, claimed to have hidden and watched the fairies trying unsuccessfully to work the mill. He said he decided to come out of hiding and help them, upon which one of the fairy women gave him a gowpen (double handful of meal) and told him to put it in his empty girnal (store), saying that the store would remain full for a long time, no matter how much he took out.[64]Other actions were believed to offend fairies. Brownies were known to be driven off by being given clothing, though some folktales recounted that they were offended by inferior quality of the garments given, and others merely stated it, some even recounting that the brownie was delighted with the gift and left with it.[60] Other brownies left households or farms because they heard a complaint, or a compliment.[61]People who saw the fairies were advised not to look closely, because they resented infringements on their privacy.[62] The need to not offend them could lead to problems: one farmer found that fairies threshed his corn, but the threshing continued after all his corn was gone, and he concluded that they were stealing from his neighbors, leaving him the choice between offending them, dangerous in itself, and profiting by the theft.[63]
It's time for another Monday Mythical Beasts post. Before I start, I just want to say, there was scheduled to be a post on Saturday (May 19th), about Endangered Species, but I decided to scrap it, considering it wasn't something I was originally going to do, anyway, when I first made the May schedule, (back in March). I just added that one because my May calendar had too many empty spaces.
Because I have a lot going on right now, I decided to put things back the way they originally were, and not do a post for Saturday. I still may return to that post and just place it on the calendar for later in the year. Stay tuned. Okay, enough on that. Back to the topic at hand. Like in last Monday's post, I think we'll refer to this week's guests of honor as "Mythical Creatures". And what would these creatures be, you ask? None other than Sprites, Spriggans and Fairies.
I admit I got the inspiration for this post from an old Supernatural episode, where Sam and Dean have to battle against fairies, (Clap Your Hands if You Believe-Season 6, episode 9). One of my favorite scenes is when they're visiting the home of one of the quirky town residents to get more information on fairies. It's a super-funny scene. You can check out a snippet of it here, if you're interested:
I think most people have an idea of what a fairy is, (Tinkerbell, anyone?), but what about Sprites and Spriggans? And when we say Sprite, of course we're not talking about the soda. So, let's dive in and find out exactly what these creatures are, (and if fairies are exactly like what we've heard about them). Today's Mythical Creature information is courtesy of Wikipedia:
Spriggans:
According to The English Dialect Dictionary (1905), spriggans were apparently related to the trolls of Scandinavia.[1] Spriggans were depicted as grotesquely ugly, wizened old men with large child-like heads. They were said to be found at old ruins, cairns, and barrows guarding buried treasure.[2] Although small, they were usually considered to be the ghosts of giants,[1] with the ability to swell to enormous size. They were also said to act as fairy bodyguards.
Spriggans were notorious for their unpleasant dispositions, and delighted in working mischief against those who offended them. They raised sudden whirlwinds to terrify travellers, sent storms to blight crops, and sometimes stole away mortal children, leaving their ugly changelings in their place.[2] They were blamed if a house was robbed or a building collapsed, or if cattle were stolen.[1] In one story, an old woman got the better of a band of spriggans by turning her clothing inside-out (turning clothing supposedly being as effective as holy water or iron in repelling fairies) to gain their loot. They were sometimes associated with the underground spirits called knockers who could often be heard working in tin mines.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spriggan
Sprites:
Sprites appear to be a type of Fairy, (although they can also be associated with elves, pixies, or even goblins). A sprite is a supernatural entity. They are often depicted as fairy-like creatures or as an ethereal entity.[1]
The word "sprite" is derived from the Latin "spiritus" (spirit), via the French "esprit". Variations on the term include "spright" and the Celtic "spriggan". The term is chiefly used in regard to elves and fairies in European folklore, and in modern English is rarely used in reference to spirits.
There are examples of sprites and similar entities in literature, one of which is the air spirit Ariel[2] in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
The belief in diminutive beings such as sprites, elves, fairies, etc. has been common in many parts of the world, and might to some extent still be found within neo-spiritual and religious movements such as "neo-druidism" and Ásatrú.
In some elemental magics, the sprite is often believed to be the elemental of air (see also sylph).
A water sprite (also called a water fairy or water faery) is a general term for an elemental spirit associated with water, according to alchemist Paracelsus. Water sprites are said to be able to breathe water or air and sometimes can fly. They are mostly harmless unless threatened.
These creatures exist in mythology of various groups. Ancient Greeks knew water nymphs in several types such as naiads (or nyads), which were divine entities that tended to be fixed in one place[3] and so differed from gods or physical creatures. Slavic mythology knows them as vilas.
Water sprites differ from corporeal beings, such as selkies and mermaids, as they are not purely physical and are more akin to local deities than animals.[4]
Fairies:
A fairy (also fata, fay, fey,[1] fae, fair folk; from faery, faerie, "realm of the fays") is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. The term fairy is sometimes used to describe any magical creature, including goblins and gnomes, while at other times, the term describes only a specific type of ethereal creature or sprite.[6] The concept of "fairy" in the narrower sense is unique to English folklore, later made diminutive in accordance with prevailing tastes of the Victorian era, as in "fairy tales" for children.
Historical origins include various traditions of Celtics (Bretons, Welsh people), Gaelics (Irish, Scots), Germanic peoples, and of Middle French medieval romances. Fairie was used adjectivally, meaning "enchanted" (as in fairie knight, fairie queene), but also became a generic term for various "enchanted" creatures during the Late Middle English period. Literature of the Elizabethan era conflated elves with the fairies of Romance culture, rendering these terms somewhat interchangeable.
The Victorian era and Edwardian era saw a heightened increase of interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival cast fairies as part of Ireland's cultural heritage. Carole Silvers and others suggested this fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization and loss of older folk ways.[7]
Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Diminutive fairies of various kinds have been reported through centuries, ranging from quite tiny to the size of a human child.[8] These small sizes could be magically assumed, rather than constant.[9] Some smaller fairies could expand their figures to imitate humans.[10] On Orkney, fairies were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, sometimes seen in armour.[11] In some folklore, fairies have green eyes. Some depictions of fairies show them with footwear, others as barefoot. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artworks, are rare in folklore; fairies flew by means of magic, sometimes perched on ragwortstems or the backs of birds.[12] Modern illustrations often include dragonfly or butterfly wings.[13]
Protective Charms against Fairies:
n terms of protective charms, wearing clothing inside out,[50] church bells, St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers are regarded as effective. In Newfoundland folklore, the most popular type of fairy protection is bread, varying from stale bread to hard tack or a slice of fresh home-made bread. Bread is associated with the home and the hearth, as well as with industry and the taming of nature, and as such, seems to be disliked by some types of fairies. On the other hand, in much of the Celtic folklore, baked goods are a traditional offering to the folk, as are cream and butter.[21] “The prototype of food, and therefore a symbol of life, bread was one of the commonest protections against fairies. Before going out into a fairy-haunted place, it was customary to put a piece of dry bread in one’s pocket.”[51] In County Wexford, Ireland, in 1882, it was reported that “if an infant is carried out after dark a piece of bread is wrapped in its bib or dress, and this protects it from any witchcraft or evil.”[52]
Bells also have an ambiguous role; while they protect against fairies, the fairies riding on horseback — such as the fairy queen — often have bells on their harness. This may be a distinguishing trait between the Seelie Court from the Unseelie Court, such that fairies use them to protect themselves from more wicked members of their race.[53] Another ambiguous piece of folklore revolves about poultry: a cock's crow drove away fairies, but other tales recount fairies keeping poultry.[54]
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.[55] 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,[56] 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.[57] Locations such as fairy forts were left undisturbed; even cutting brush on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act.[58] Fairy trees, such as thorn trees, were dangerous to chop down; one such tree was left alone in Scotland, though it prevented a road being widened for seventy years.[59]
Millers were thought by the Scots to be "no canny", owing to their ability to control the forces of nature, such as fire in the kiln, water in the burn, and for being able to set machinery a-whirring. Superstitious communities sometimes believed that the miller must be in league with the fairies. In Scotland, fairies were often mischievous and to be feared. No one dared to set foot in the mill or kiln at night, as it was known that the fairies brought their corn to be milled after dark. So long as the locals believed this, the miller could sleep secure in the knowledge that his stores were not being robbed. John Fraser, the miller of Whitehill, claimed to have hidden and watched the fairies trying unsuccessfully to work the mill. He said he decided to come out of hiding and help them, upon which one of the fairy women gave him a gowpen (double handful of meal) and told him to put it in his empty girnal (store), saying that the store would remain full for a long time, no matter how much he took out.[64]Other actions were believed to offend fairies. Brownies were known to be driven off by being given clothing, though some folktales recounted that they were offended by inferior quality of the garments given, and others merely stated it, some even recounting that the brownie was delighted with the gift and left with it.[60] Other brownies left households or farms because they heard a complaint, or a compliment.[61]People who saw the fairies were advised not to look closely, because they resented infringements on their privacy.[62] The need to not offend them could lead to problems: one farmer found that fairies threshed his corn, but the threshing continued after all his corn was gone, and he concluded that they were stealing from his neighbors, leaving him the choice between offending them, dangerous in itself, and profiting by the theft.[63]
It is also believed that to know the name of a particular fairy could summon it to you and force it to do your bidding. The name could be used as an insult towards the fairy in question, but it could also rather contradictorily be used to grant powers and gifts to the user.
Before the advent of modern medicine, many physiological conditions were untreatable and when children were born with abnormalities, it was common to blame the fairies.[65]
To find out more
For more information, such as theories on what Fairies actually are, (the unworthy dead, the children of Eve, a kind of demon, a species independent of humans, an older race of humans, and fallen angels), and a host of other fascinating information, check out the rest of the Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy
I hope you guys found this info on Sprites, Spriggans, and Fairies intriguing. I certainly did. I kept clicking on each connecting link which led me into a rabbit hole of Pixies, Elves, Trolls, Gnomes, and a host of other creatures; and of course, some of these I just named will be the topic of our last Monday Mythical Beast post: Gnomes, Trolls, and Elves.
Like this past Saturday's cancelled post, due to this being a hectic week, I'm going to cancel Thursday's scheduled post as well, (National Service Dog Eye Examination Month Post). Like Saturday's it wasn't originally on the schedule, (even though this one is an important topic, and will likely be added in the next few months). So after today's post, I won't have another up until next Monday. But don't fret, we'll still have some action going for you guys over in our Facebook group. You can check us out here:
https://www.facebook.com/TheMissyShow/
Until then, here's to wishing everyone, a Marvelous Missy Monday, and a fantastic rest of the week!
This is your host J,
signing off...
https://www.facebook.com/TheMissyShow/
Until then, here's to wishing everyone, a Marvelous Missy Monday, and a fantastic rest of the week!
This is your host J,
signing off...
 |
| Fairy Girl (Classroom Clip Art) |
Comments
Post a Comment