What do fairies look like

Male kelpies are thought to be shapeshifters. They can turn into handsome men to lure young women into the water and either trap them or consume them.

You can find kelpies in the ocean as well as rivers and streams. Some kelpies are even though to be the classic scary monsters that have created huge legends, such as the Loch Ness Monster. Merfolk are very beautiful both the men and women and are half human, half fish creates who live in the oceans and seas. There are stories about Merfolk that paint them in both a positive and a negative light.

Some tales sale that Merfolk lured ships to the rocks and sailors to the deaths, while others say that Merfolk rescued drowning men. These types of fairies do not live in homes. Instead, the swim throughout the oceans and frequently migrate.

They tend to live in family units, although these can grow quite large. Merfolk protect everyone within the group. Although the Merfolk generally hide from humans, they have become more visible as the ocean gets polluted. They will sometimes reach out to humans to try and stop further pollution.

Nymphs are a type of fae from Greece. There are many different types of nymphs, including tree nymphs, water nymphs, wood nymphs, etc. In some legends, nymphs have the reputation for being hyper-sexual. They are generally known as beautiful females, but unlike Sirens, they are relatively harmless. Sometimes, they even fall in love with humans and will be quite committed.

They appear as fiery lizards in red and orange tones, although they are also known to show up as a classic fire fairy or even a ball of fire or light. Salamanders are some of the strongest elementals. They embody the spirit of fire. They come to the aid of humans or witches in the areas of passion and revenge as well as the physical manifestation of fire. They can get quite upset if they feel that they have been slighted and wreak havoc. The Seelie Court is one of the most well-known aspects of fairy-lore.

The Seelie Court is typically seen at twilight when they conduct their courtly processions. Most members of the Seelie Court enjoy beautiful things. The Seelie Court is made of the most beautiful types of fairies. The Seelie Court types of fairies are known to be somewhat friendly to humans.

They are said to seek help from humans if needed and return human favors with kindness. However, like any other types of fairies, the Seelie Court has mischievous fairies, too. They can easily play tricks on you or get revenge if they feel slighted. Some legends say that they fight each other, while others say that they are simply polar opposites and avoid each other. Selkies occupy the seas near Ireland, although their exact location is fluid.

They take the form of grey seals or great seals while in the sea, but they can also appear as human women or classic fairies. Legend says that Selkies occasionally mate with human men.

Some tales say that a man can wed a Selkie if he finds her seal skin on the beach and hides it from her, but she will return once she finds it. They will look like a small firefly or flickering orb of light. They will typically appear in groups, so keep your eyes out for a bunch of flickering lights. Some legends say that these types of fae only appear as lights, while other stories say that the lights are from the lanterns these fairies carry as they revel.

The Unseelie Court is the darker counterpart to the Seelie Court. The Unseelie Court is thought to be ugly or even hideous and more than a bit scary. The court can be made up of dark fairies as well as lost spirits, so they tend to be most active during autumn Halloween and winter.

Dark magic is often the work of the Unseelie Court. In fact, humans would do well to stay far away from the Unseelie Court. There is virtually no way to get along with them, but there are many ways to make them angry. The court travels at night on the winds. According to legend, travelers going through woodsy areas at night should be careful and avoid the Unseelie Court.

A Boggart is generally thought to be a Brownie turned bad. Similar to Boggarts in Harry Potter J. Rowling seriously got a lot of her info from fairy-lore , modern-day Boggarts will haunt a home or an area, such as a trunk or a closet, and cause general issues. Typically, a Boggart is a Brownie who was treated badly. Alternatively, a Boggart can be a Brownie who stayed with a home after the family left.

Other Boggarts are Brownies who are simply mischievous in nature. Although most Brownies are helpful and social, there are always a few who are just naturally pranksters. These Boggarts delight in playing tricks on humans or scaring them.

A Guide To All 22 Types. Sign up up to get your free, high quality, downloadable moon phases pendulum chart straight to your inbox. There are many different legends that try to explain the origination of farieis.

Brownies Brownies are your typical household spirit. Brownies will make friends with your pets and love being in a household with animal friends. Brownies love cozy houses, so try to make your home as warm and happy as possible. Some Pixies dress only in green while others prefer other colors of nature, like blue or yellow.

Her cry is typically an omen. According to mythology, there are both light elves and dark elves in the fairy kingdom. Kobolds Kobolds are types of fae who live in mines. Changelings Changelings are a rather scary part of fairy legend. Devas Devas are small fairies that look almost like fireflies. Dryad Dryads are types of fairies that are tied to trees.

Kelpie Kelpies are ugly, scary water fairies that are thought to be cannibalistic and carnivorous. Nymphs Nymphs are a type of fae from Greece. Seelie Court The Seelie Court is one of the most well-known aspects of fairy-lore. They were often thought only to be another race of beings who lived alongside humans. Others considered them to be prehistoric precursors to humans, spirits of nature, or even spirits of the dead.

Fairy powers can also include the ability to make others lucky or unlucky, and they often are so nimble they are able to dodge anything and never be hit. Some are able to grant humans the temporary gift of being able to see the hidden realm of fairies or see into the future.

They are also nearly invulnerable and heal within one day. Finally, most fairies have enhanced senses. One of the main differences between fairies and pixies is that fairies have wings and pixies generally do not.

Fairies tend to have more magical abilities and can be as tall as humans. They are also able to fly. In many cultures, fairies are actually mean or evil.

They are also similar in ways too. They are both elusive to humans, and also both have a magical aura about them. The wife died of broken heart and was buried beside the Seigneur. In Breton folklore, she was the most likely suspect in the abduction of mortal infants. As foster-mother of the baby, she would raise it as if the child was her own. The korrigan has been compared to several figures in mythology and legend.

These were most likely antecedents of the korrigan. One of them is the Welsh goddess Ceridwen or Keridwen. She was wife of the giant Tegid Foel and reside Lake Tegid. There are two other notable antecedents to the korrigan, but within the Arthurian legend, where they reside either near a fountain or within the lake itself at Broceliande. Owain or Yvain actually married the Lady of the Fountain after slaying her husband. He roamed the forest as a naked wild man.

Eventually his wits was restored and he was reunited with his wife, after many heroic adventures. See Yvain and the Lady of the Fountain. Whatever her original name was, by the time of Chretien de Troyes died in c. The Lady of the Lake exhibited the closest characteristics to the korrigan, but the Lady was more benevolent than the korrigans. She abducted the infant from Queen Elaine or Helen of Banoic and raised the infant Lancelot to manhood.

See Lancelot. Merlin was infatuated with the lovely Lady of the Lake. Though, Merlin was gifted with divination, he was helpless to prevent his doom. He taught her all his skill in magic in the hope of winning her love, which included hiding her palace and domain either under the lake or in illusionary lake.

But Lady of the Lake had no intention of sleeping with the wizard, and she used the last magic he had taught her, to confine or entomb Merlin in or under the large stone.

See Legend of Excalibur, Death of Merlin. Both the Lady of the Fountain and the Lady of the Lake were thought to be originally goddesses of the water.

And due to the connection of these lady to a bodies of water within the forest of Broceliande, there is a striking resemblance to the korrigans. Related Information Name Korrigan, Corrigan. Ozegan, Ozeganned. Culture Breton. In Irish folklore, the leprechaun was one of the best known male solitary fairy. They have a lot in common with two other male solitary fairies — cluricaune and far darrig.

Like these other two fairies, they are mischievous and known for playing practical jokes upon mortals. The leprachaun could be spelt lepracaun. In Irish, it is leith bhrogan or leith phrogan. They dressed in a homely style clothes that looks very ordinary compared to other solitary fairies. The leprechaun was a tiny male figure, with an old, withered face.

He was the shoemaker. Yeats says that he was one-shoemaker, because he was only seen making a single shoe. Related Information Name leprechaun, leprecaun. According to Yeats, whom he listed T. Croker as one of his sources, the pooka was either mischievous or malevolent, often taking the shape of horse, offering unsuspecting traveller a ride that was dangerous if not deadly.

Other shape it favoured is the ass. Yeats says that Lady Wilde believed that the pooka was benevolent and helpful like the Scottish brownie.

They appeared most frequently on Novemeber Eve night of October 31 , which is Samhain eve or the moderen Halloween , in which the pooka would spoil blackberry. English, Shakespearean. Contact us. Faeries: An Overview. Looking for someone or something in particular? Search for:. Follow us on: Facebook Twitter Contact us. There are other traditions such as that found in English, German and Slavic folklores. So, what are these fairies? Where do they come from? Related Information. See also Tuatha De Danann.

Most of the information that I have about Irish fairies, comes from 19th century poet, Williams Butler Yeats. He wrote two works, which is of interests: The Celtic Twilight , Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry In Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry , is not only description of fairies; it is a collection of works, poems and prose, from other authors, such as T. In this work, he divided the fairies into two broad categories: Trooping Fairies or Social Fairies Solitary Fairies Social or trooping fairies are those who lived in large company, like in a clan.

While in the Welsh traditions there are: the ellyllon , or the elves; the coblynau , or the mine fairies; the bwbachod , or the household fairies; the gwragedd annwn , or the fairies of the lakes and streams; the gwyllion , or the mountain fairies. Here are the list and descriptions of faeries. The various spelling or pronounciation of the word for fairy mound referred to the Otherworldly realm, which the Irish referred to as shee , sid , sidh or sidhe.

A Scottish version of a female vampire or a succubus. Baobhan Sith are found in Scottish Gaelic oral tradition. Bean nighe was a Scottish Gaelic name for the Washer at the Ford. The Washer or Washerwoman can be found in almost every Celtic cultures. Bean nighe is just one of the different forms of the Irish banshee , a female wraith figure. In the Scottish Gaelic tradition, the washer is the harbinger of death.

See also Banshee. In Scottish Gaelic folklore, the brownie was household elf, who would make sure their home was tidy at night, while the family are sleeping. According to folklore, a fairy would secretly exchange a mortal infant with that of the fairy kind. The fairy baby was called changeling.

Sometimes, the stolen babies were returned to the families, especially when a person can expose the true nature of the changeling. The changeling existed in all folklore and fairy tales. The Dullahan were usually accompanied by the banshee, wailing as if in the funeral. Sometimes, this banshee is also headless.

Feast of Bricriu. The elf or alf was derived from Teutonic origin. Description of the elves varied from author to author and from one period to another. The elves were introduced into the Celtic folklore in the later tradition. According to the Norse myths, there are two groups or tribes of elves. Elf, Alf Norse. They are sometimes seen wiser than their masters. Just like the names fairy and elf, goblin has different meaning and different usage for different people.

Only several creatures are seen as goblins in Celtic folklore. But goblin is probably not the right description. Some goblins can appeared benevolent, while others are mischievous or malevolent creatures. The most common female fairies in the Breton tradition are the korrigans that resided in the woods, especially at Broceliande, often near a stream, spring or fountain. She was fairy that seeks a mortal lover.