Seelie
Encyclopedia
In mythology
and folklore
, fairies
are classified in a variety of ways.
Two of the most prominent categories, derived from Scottish folklore, are the division into the Seely Court and the Unseely Court. William Butler Yeats
, in Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, further divided them into the Trooping Fairies and the Solitary Fairies.
These categories are generally applied to any fairy
-type creature, from elves
, pixies and brownies to ogre
s and giant
s.
, Northern and Middle English
terms meaning "happy", "lucky" or "blessed" and "unhappy", "misfortunate" and "unholy" respectively. They are derived from the Old English sœl and gesœlig. The Modern
Standard English
word silly is also derived from this root and the term "seely" is recorded in numerous works of Middle English literature such as those by Geoffrey Chaucer
.
Many ballads and tales tell of "Seely wights"; a Lowlander term for fairies.
In Wales there were said to be two fairies or elves called Silly Frit and Sili go Dwt whose names represent a borrowing of the adjective silly (in this case meaning happy) as applied to fantastical beings from its usage on the English marches
bordering Wales
rather than the Anglo-Scottish border
; the former name being purely English
while the latter is a corruption of English fairy names featuring "tot" (such as Tom Tit Tot) as an element.
The Unseelie Court consists of the malicious and evilly-inclined fairies. Unlike the Seelie Court, no offense is necessary to bring down their assaults. 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.
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, Bogle
s, Boggars
, Abbylubbers and Buttery spirits.
The division into "seely" and "unseely" spirits was roughly equivalent to the division of Elves
in Norse mythology
, into "light" and "dark
" distinctions.
In the French fairy tale
s of précieuses
, fairies are likewise divided into good and evil, but the effect is clearly literary. Many of these literary fairies seem preoccupied with the character of the humans they encounter.
The Welsh
fairies, Tylwyth Teg
, and the Irish Sídhe
are usually not classified as wholly good or wholly evil.
noted that a third distinction might be needed for "domesticated fairies" who live in human households, but such fairies might join with other fairies for merry-making and fairs.
The trooping fairies contain the aristocracy of the fairy world, including the Irish Daoine Sídhe
. They are known as trooping faeries because they travel in long procession
s, such as the one from which Tam Lin
was rescued. But the trooping fairies also include other fairies of lesser importance; a trooping fairy can be large or small, friendly or sinister.
Unlike the trooping fairies, solitary fairies live alone and are inclined to be wicked and malicious creatures, except for beings such as the brownie
who is said to help with household chores.
On some occasions instead of a faerie child being left the faeries will leave a doll made of sticks and grass that is glamoured to look like a human child. These are called fetches and usually have a very short life span. Faeries will also sometimes take people who are older into their realm. Usually they do this if a specific quality about the person catches their eye.
Once in the faerie realm, humans are usually made servants. Since time passes differently in Arcadia, their faerie master determines how quickly they age. As children they usually just play while the faeries watch. When they are older they may be made a handservant, and entertainer, a lover, or even an ornament.
The magic of the faerie world changes the nature of the humans taken there so that, even if they do manage to escape, they are no longer fully human. The type of change that happens to them depends on who their master was and what they did while in the faerie realm. They almost always have a weak to intermediate grasp of faerie magic when they leave, with the ability to glamour and do other things.
Methods of supposedly repelling faeries included leaving an open pair of iron scissors on the baby's bed.
The symptoms of a changeling includes unpleasant traits in the body, paleness, a green tint, bad temper, and/or a voracious appetite. "Positive" traits include an extensive vocabulary at a young age, which signified the changeling's intelligence. Children suspected to be changelings were persecuted and/or murdered, and those responsible were rarely blamed or punished.
Some speculate that the reasons faeries want to swap their children with human babies is because they want to be baptized, and consequently possess protection from things like trolls.
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
are classified in a variety of ways.
Two of the most prominent categories, derived from Scottish folklore, are the division into the Seely Court and the Unseely Court. William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, in Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, further divided them into the Trooping Fairies and the Solitary Fairies.
These categories are generally applied to any fairy
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
-type creature, from elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
, pixies and brownies to ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
s and giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
s.
Etymology
The words "seely" (with other forms being seily, seelie and sealy) and "unseely" are ScotsScots
Scots may refer to:*The Scottish people, the inhabitants of Scotland*Scots language *Scotch-Irish*Scottish English*Scots pine, a Scottish tree*Short for Pound Scots...
, Northern and Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
terms meaning "happy", "lucky" or "blessed" and "unhappy", "misfortunate" and "unholy" respectively. They are derived from the Old English sœl and gesœlig. The Modern
Modern English
Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, completed in roughly 1550.Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern...
Standard English
Standard English
Standard English refers to whatever form of the English language is accepted as a national norm in an Anglophone country...
word silly is also derived from this root and the term "seely" is recorded in numerous works of Middle English literature such as those by Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
.
Many ballads and tales tell of "Seely wights"; a Lowlander term for fairies.
In Wales there were said to be two fairies or elves called Silly Frit and Sili go Dwt whose names represent a borrowing of the adjective silly (in this case meaning happy) as applied to fantastical beings from its usage on the English marches
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
bordering Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
rather than the Anglo-Scottish border
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
; the former name being purely English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
while the latter is a corruption of English fairy names featuring "tot" (such as Tom Tit Tot) as an element.
Seelie and Unseelie Courts
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 fairy belonging to this court will avenge insults and could be prone to mischief. The most common time of day to see them is twilight.The Unseelie Court consists of the malicious and evilly-inclined fairies. Unlike the Seelie Court, no offense is necessary to bring down their assaults. 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.
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, Bogle
Bogle
A bogle, boggle or bogill is a British term for a ghost or folkloric being, used for a variety of related folkloric creatures including Shellycoats, Barguests, Brags, the Hedley Kow and even giants such as those associated with Cobb's Causey .The name is derived from the...
s, Boggars
Boggart
In Englishfolklore, a boggart is a household fairy which causes things to disappear, milk to sour, and dogs to go lame. Always malevolent, the boggart will follow its family wherever they flee...
, Abbylubbers and Buttery spirits.
The division into "seely" and "unseely" spirits was roughly equivalent to the division of Elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
in Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, into "light" and "dark
Dark elf
Dark elf may refer to:* Dökkálfar or dark elves, a type of elf in Norse mythology* Svartálfar or dark elves, a type of elf in Norse mythology* Moriquendi, a fictional race of elves in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium...
" distinctions.
In the French fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s of précieuses
Précieuses
The French literary style called préciosité arose in the 17th century from the lively conversations and playful word games of les précieuses , the witty and educated intellectual ladies who frequented the salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet; her Chambre bleue offered a...
, fairies are likewise divided into good and evil, but the effect is clearly literary. Many of these literary fairies seem preoccupied with the character of the humans they encounter.
The Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
fairies, Tylwyth Teg
Tylwyth teg
The Tylwyth Teg is the common term in Wales for fairies. A synonym, Bendith y Mamau, means "Blessing of the Mothers". Until the early 19th century it was commonly believed that the Tylwyth Teg, described as ethereal, beautiful and fair-haired, dwelt in a number of places in Wales as genii loci...
, and the Irish Sídhe
Sídhe
The aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. 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...
are usually not classified as wholly good or wholly evil.
Trooping and Solitary Fairies
Yeats divided fairies into the solitary and trooping fairies, as did James Macdougall in Folk Tales and Fairy Lore. Katharine Mary BriggsKatharine Mary Briggs
Katharine Mary Briggs was an English writer, who wrote The Anatomy of Puck, the 4-volume Dictionary of British Folk-Tales, and various other books on fairies and folklore.-Biography:...
noted that a third distinction might be needed for "domesticated fairies" who live in human households, but such fairies might join with other fairies for merry-making and fairs.
The trooping fairies contain the aristocracy of the fairy world, including the Irish Daoine Sídhe
Sídhe
The aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. 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...
. They are known as trooping faeries because they travel in long procession
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
s, such as the one from which Tam Lin
Tam Lin
Tam Lin is the hero of a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies...
was rescued. But the trooping fairies also include other fairies of lesser importance; a trooping fairy can be large or small, friendly or sinister.
Unlike the trooping fairies, solitary fairies live alone and are inclined to be wicked and malicious creatures, except for beings such as the brownie
Brownie (folklore)
A brownie/brounie or urisk or brùnaidh, ùruisg, or gruagach is a legendary creature popular in folklore around Scotland and England...
who is said to help with household chores.
Changelings
A Changeling is said to be a faerie that is exchanged for a human child, although the term can refer to the child who was taken. Usually (though not always) as a prank or an act of vengeance. Fairies are said to make this exchange if the human child's parents have caused the faerie world a serious offence, or if the fae have been attacked in some way by the parents. Rarely are children taken because the faerie is in love with it, though that is a possibility. Most modern stories indicate that the exchange is performed as a means of vengeance, and it is almost never depicted as a generous act.On some occasions instead of a faerie child being left the faeries will leave a doll made of sticks and grass that is glamoured to look like a human child. These are called fetches and usually have a very short life span. Faeries will also sometimes take people who are older into their realm. Usually they do this if a specific quality about the person catches their eye.
Once in the faerie realm, humans are usually made servants. Since time passes differently in Arcadia, their faerie master determines how quickly they age. As children they usually just play while the faeries watch. When they are older they may be made a handservant, and entertainer, a lover, or even an ornament.
The magic of the faerie world changes the nature of the humans taken there so that, even if they do manage to escape, they are no longer fully human. The type of change that happens to them depends on who their master was and what they did while in the faerie realm. They almost always have a weak to intermediate grasp of faerie magic when they leave, with the ability to glamour and do other things.
Methods of supposedly repelling faeries included leaving an open pair of iron scissors on the baby's bed.
The symptoms of a changeling includes unpleasant traits in the body, paleness, a green tint, bad temper, and/or a voracious appetite. "Positive" traits include an extensive vocabulary at a young age, which signified the changeling's intelligence. Children suspected to be changelings were persecuted and/or murdered, and those responsible were rarely blamed or punished.
Some speculate that the reasons faeries want to swap their children with human babies is because they want to be baptized, and consequently possess protection from things like trolls.
See also
- ElfElfAn elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
- Elphame
- FairylandFairylandFairyland commonly refers to the land of fairies, in folklore.Fairyland may also refer to:* Álfheimr, the abode of the elves in Norse mythology* Elfhame or Elfland, the abode of the elves in English and Lowland Scottish folklore...
- OtherworldOtherworldOtherworld, or the Celtic Otherworld, is a concept in Celtic mythology that refers to the home of the deities or spirits, or a realm of the dead.Otherworld may also refer to:In film and television:...
- PixiePixiePixies are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed...
/ Pysky - Puck (mythology)Puck (mythology)In English folklore, Puck is a mythological fairy or mischievous nature sprite. Puck is also a generalised personification of land spirits. In more recent times, the figure of Robin Goodfellow is identified as a puck.-Etymology:...
- SídheSídheThe aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. 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...
- SluaghSluaghIn Irish and Scottish folklore, the Sluagh 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...