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Bendith y Mamau

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Blessing of the Mothers
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Bendith y Mamau, meaning “Blessing of the Mothers,” were the fairies of Glamorgan. They were known as supernatural beings who rode horses, visited human houses, and stole children, leaving ugly changelings in their place. People left bowls of milk outside their homes for them, hoping to keep their favor. The fairies were especially feared for taking beautiful human children and replacing them with stunted, wizened creatures that would never grow properly. Their presence belonged to the hidden fairy world that existed alongside ordinary human communities.

One story tells of a mother whose three-year-old child had been taken by the Bendith y Mamau. In his place she found a strange little wizened boy who was clearly not her own child. A cunning man told her how to discover the truth. She removed the top of a raw egg, stirred its contents, and the changeling immediately spoke with the uncanny wisdom of an ancient being. He remarked that he had lived for an impossibly long time, revealing that he was not truly a human child. The mother then followed the next part of the instructions, going to a crossroads at midnight during the full moon. There she saw the Bendith y Mamau passing by in a great fairy procession and realized that her real son was among them.

Finally, the mother was told to roast a black hen over a wood fire without plucking it. She followed the instruction and continued heating the bird until every feather had fallen away. When she looked at the changeling, the creature suddenly disappeared. The mother heard the voice of her own son outside and rushed to the door, finding that her real child had been returned to her. The strange ritual had broken the fairies’ hold over him and driven their substitute away.

Sources

“Бендит и мамай (Bendit i Mamai).” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://www.bestiary.us/bendit-i-mamai/en

Elder Mother

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Tradition: English Mythology, Danish Mythology
Alternative Names: Hyldemoer, Hyldequinde, Old Lady, Old Girl
Category: Spirit

The Myth

The Elder Mother was a supernatural guardian of the elder tree, appearing in English folklore as the Old Lady or Old Girl and in Denmark as the Hyldemoer, or Elder-Mother. She was believed to dwell within elder trees and could punish people who cut their wood without first asking her permission. A woodsman was expected to politely request some of the tree’s wood and promise to give some of his own wood when he himself grew into a tree. Taking elder wood without permission could bring terrible misfortune. In one English tale, a child became dangerously ill after a cradle was repaired with elder wood without the Elder Mother’s consent. The mother believed that the spirit had pinched and tormented the child until the offending piece of elder was replaced with ash.

The Elder Mother could also appear as a witch closely associated with the elder tree. In Somerset, a farmer once saw a witch in the form of an elder tree milking his cow. He fired a silver bullet at her, but missed and was chased back to his farmhouse. His grandmother then seized a burning coal from the fire and threw it against the elder tree, setting it alight and killing the witch. In Northamptonshire, another man cut a stick from an elder and saw blood flowing from the wound in the tree. Later he encountered a local witch with a bloodied bandage on her arm, revealing the connection between the tree and the supernatural woman.

In another English legend, the elder-tree witch became the unlikely savior of England. A king and his knights marched toward Long Compton, and a witch told the king that if he could see the village after taking seven strides, he would become King of England. When the king confidently continued forward, a hill suddenly rose before Long Compton and blocked his view. The witch then declared that neither he nor his knights would become rulers of England. She transformed the king and his men into standing stones, while she herself became an elder tree. The legend was told as the origin of the Rollright Stones. In Denmark, the Hyldemoer or Hyldequinde was similarly regarded as a tree-dwelling spirit like a wood nymph or dryad, and those who built with elder wood without first seeking her permission risked being haunted or tormented by her.

Sources

“Elder Mother.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Mother

Yuda

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Tradition: Bulgarian Mythology, Macedonian Mythology
Alternative Names: Fairy wind, Samovila, Yuda Wind
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The fairy wind appears in a Macedonian Bulgarian folk song as three powerful gusts of wind that are not ordinary winds at all, but three yudi, supernatural fairy beings. They arrive quietly at first, but then seize Stoyna, a young bride, and carry her away through the air to the great village of the yudi. There, the fairies prepare their own horo, or chain dance, and force Stoyna to join them. She dances among them while weeping for what she has left behind.

An old yuda samovila notices Stoyna’s sorrow and asks why she is crying. She questions whether Stoyna misses her mother, father, brothers, sisters, companions, or beloved, but Stoyna tells her that none of these is the cause of her grief. What weighs upon her heart is her little child. She worries about who will wrap the child, rock it to sleep, and care for it while she is gone. Her longing for the child is the only thing that makes her weep among the supernatural dancers.

The old yuda promises to help. She tells Stoyna that she will send a powerful wind through the human world and pass by the child’s home. There she will rock the child’s cradle, wrap the child, and care for it. The fairy wind therefore becomes the means by which the yuda can cross between her own supernatural world and Stoyna’s distant home, turning a frightening force that carried the young mother away into an act of compassion toward the child she left behind.

Sources

Stefan Verkovich. “Chapter 2.” In Narodni pesni na makedonskite Balgari (Folk Songs of the Macedonian Bulgarians). Liternet.bg.
https://liternet.bg/folklor/sbornici/verkovich/2.htm

Fairy of Vallorbe

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Tradition: Swiss Mythology
Alternative Names: The White Lady
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The fairies of the Jura near Vallorbe were beautiful women who lived in a great subterranean grotto hidden among the steep cliffs. They were tall and graceful, wearing long white dresses that covered their feet, and their most remarkable feature was their abundant golden hair, which flowed around their shoulders like a cloak. They possessed beautiful voices and could sing the local songs of Vallorbe and Romainmôtier. One fairy could sometimes be seen on Palm Sunday leading a white lamb when the coming year would be prosperous, or a black goat when hardship and famine were approaching. Another bathed at midnight in the blue pool of the Orbe spring, guarded by two powerful wolves. During the cold winter months the fairies sometimes entered the deserted village smithy after the apprentices had gone home, warming themselves by the fire until a rooster’s crow warned them that the blacksmiths were returning.

Among the people of Vallorbe lived an eighteen-year-old blacksmith’s apprentice named Donat. He was handsome, skilled, and daring, but also boastful, cheeky, and unable to keep a secret. Having heard many stories about the fairies in the cliffs, he secretly decided to enter their grotto. One Sunday morning he climbed through the rocks and brambles and entered the cave, eventually reaching a second chamber where he found a simple bed of moss and bracken. He fell asleep there, only to awaken before a beautiful white-clad fairy with golden hair and two delicate greyhounds beside her. She offered him a place beside her and promised that she would make him happy for a hundred years, teach him the secrets of precious metals and healing herbs, and introduce him to her sisters in the caves of Montcherand. Donat accepted. She gave him two purses, promising to place a gold coin in one and a pearl in the other each day that he pleased her. At midday, a small locked tomb opened and allowed him into her hidden dining chamber, where she served him an extraordinary feast of trout, venison, cream, honey, wine, and mountain fruits. She entertained him with stories and songs, but after every meal she disappeared through a particular door and strictly forbade him from following her. She warned that if he entered the chamber without permission, she would be forced to send him away forever.

Donat’s curiosity eventually became stronger than his obedience. On the sixteenth day, after the fairy had been especially kind to him, he followed her through the forbidden door, which she had deliberately left slightly open. Inside he found her sleeping peacefully on a bed of red velvet. Her white dress had shifted slightly, revealing that one of her feet had no heel and was shaped like a goose’s foot. One of her greyhounds suddenly barked, waking her. The fairy saw Donat and sadly told him that he had failed her test. Had he remained faithful for the entire month, she would have made him her husband and shared her power, secrets, and riches with him. Instead, she ordered him to return to his life at the smithy, though she allowed him to keep the two purses and warned him never to reveal what he had seen. As he left the grotto, a voice called after him: “Donat, secrecy or punishment!” But when Donat returned to Vallorbe, he immediately boasted to the other apprentices about the fairy, her treasures, and even her strange foot. When they mocked him and demanded proof, he opened the two purses. The gold he had been given had become nothing but lingonberry leaves, while the pearls had turned into juniper berries. Overcome with shame, Donat left Vallorbe, and nothing more was ever heard of him.

Sources

“Feengrotte.” SAGEN.at – Traditionelle Sagen aus der Schweiz. Reproduced by SAGEN.at.
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/schweiz/allgemein/feengrotte.html

Zagorkinia

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Tradition: Serbian Mythology, Croatian Mythology
Alternative Names: Zagorkinia
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Zagorkinia was a female supernatural being belonging to the tradition of the Wiły, inhabiting remote and inaccessible mountain places. She appeared in human female form and kept her dwelling far from settlements, deep in the mountains where people rarely ventured.

Zagorkinia generally avoided humans and was usually hostile toward them. Despite this, she could show compassion toward people who became lost or suffered an accident in the mountains. Those in danger could receive her assistance, making Zagorkinia a strange and unpredictable mountain spirit: a dangerous being toward ordinary travelers, yet capable of helping those who were genuinely helpless or lost in her domain.

Sources

“Zagorkinia.” Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia (Polish Wikipedia). Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagorkinia

Oblakinia

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Tradition: Serbian Mythology, Croatian Mythology
Alternative Names: Obloučica
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Oblakinia was a slender female supernatural being belonging to the tradition of the Wiły. She was only about half the height of an adult human, yet had the proportions of a fully grown woman. Her delicate body was blue, as was her skin, and she moved effortlessly through the air as though gliding. She had a narrow face, a high forehead, long straight blue hair, and large eyes with a blue gaze. Around one ankle she wore a silver spiral decorated with a blue stone.

Oblakinia’s main occupation was sewing magical dresses. Rather than using ordinary cloth, she fashioned her garments from the materials of the sky and the natural world: snowflakes, dewdrops, fragments of clouds, mist, and strands of spider silk. These delicate materials were woven together into supernatural clothing and decorated with various objects, giving her dresses an ethereal appearance suited to a spirit of the clouds.

As a cloud-dwelling member of the Wiła tradition, Oblakinia belonged to the supernatural world of the sky, but the surviving description gives no further account of her behavior toward humans or of particular legends concerning her.

Sources

“Oblakinia.” Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia (Polish Wikipedia). Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblakinia

Yōsei

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 妖精, Fairy
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Yōsei is the Japanese term used for fairy-like supernatural beings, generally referring to small and mysterious spirits. In Japanese tradition, the word can describe beings resembling the fairies of Western folklore, while some older beliefs associate such creatures with supernatural powers that could affect the living and the dead.

One old belief from Iwate Prefecture held that yōsei could resurrect the dead, giving them an unusual and potentially frightening power over the boundary between life and death. Another tradition speaks of the small fairy-like people of Mount Hōrai, who were said to know nothing of great evil. Because they were untouched by such wickedness, their hearts never grew old, portraying them as beings of innocence and supernatural purity.

Japanese and neighboring traditions also contain several other small fairy-like peoples. Ainu folklore tells of the Koro-pok-guru, a race of small people, while Okinawan tradition has the Kijimunā, tree-dwelling spirits associated with banyan trees. Together, these traditions provide the wider Japanese folklore context in which yōsei can be understood as small, mysterious supernatural beings existing between the familiar human world and the realm of spirits.

Sources

“Yōsei.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Dsei

Wiła

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Tradition: Ukrainian Mythology, Russian Mythology, Belarusian Mythology
Alternative Names: Samowiła, Samodiva, Vila, Wila
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Wiły were beautiful supernatural spirits associated with the wild places of the natural world. They were believed to originate from the souls of young women who died, and could inhabit forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, and even clouds. Forest Wiły were called samowily, while others were associated with mountains, waters, or clouds. They could appear as beautiful winged girls with pale, almost transparent bodies, usually naked or lightly clothed, but were also able to take the forms of horses, swans, falcons, and wolves. They could transform themselves into whirlwinds and were sometimes associated with serpent-like forms. In groups, they moved through the wilderness and could even ride upon clouds or move them simply by fixing their gaze upon them.

The Wiły were capricious toward humans and could be either helpful or dangerous. They might assist young men in finding wives, warn people of approaching hailstorms, help farmers in need, or reveal knowledge of the future. Their favor could therefore bring protection and prosperity, but their anger was feared. When offended, they could unleash hail, powerful winds, or drought upon fields, destroying crops and bringing hardship to entire communities. They were especially dangerous to people who encountered them directly, as they could dance with men until they died, blind them, drive them mad, or fill them with overwhelming and impossible desires.

In Western Slavic tradition the Wiła could eventually become associated with a more sinister kind of supernatural being, particularly one that brought madness to humans. The old meaning of the word itself became connected with madness, reflecting the belief that encountering these spirits could drive a person out of his senses. Their nature therefore stood between the beautiful and the terrifying: they were alluring spirits of forests, mountains, waters, and storms who could aid mortals when treated well, but whose supernatural beauty concealed a dangerous and unpredictable power.

Sources

“Wiła.” Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia (Polish Wikipedia). Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi%C5%82a

Tylwyth Teg

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Tradition: Welsh Mythology
Alternative Names: Bendith y Mamau, Gwyllion, Ellyllon
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Tylwyth Teg, meaning the Fair Family, were the fairy folk of Wales. They were beautiful supernatural beings, often described as fair-haired and dwelling in an Otherworld hidden beneath the earth or beneath lakes and streams. They danced together in secluded places and left behind fairy rings where they had held their celebrations. They could appear in great fairy processions riding horses through the countryside, while households sometimes left bowls of milk outside for them. The Tylwyth Teg could be generous toward those they favored, granting them wealth and good fortune, but their gifts could disappear if the recipient revealed their existence to others.

The fairies could also form relationships with humans. Fairy maidens sometimes became wives to mortal men, but their marriages were governed by strict supernatural taboos. One important prohibition concerned iron: if the fairy woman was touched by iron, she would disappear from the human world and return permanently to her own realm. The Tylwyth Teg could also be dangerous toward human families, particularly because they were said to covet beautiful, golden-haired children. They might steal a human child and leave a changeling, known as a crimbil, in its place. In one tale, a mother whose three-year-old son had been taken sought the advice of a cunning man. Following his instructions, she performed a series of strange acts, including stirring the contents of a raw egg and roasting an entire black hen over a wood fire without plucking it. The changeling revealed his supernatural nature while watching her, and after the final ritual the false child disappeared and her real son was returned.

The Tylwyth Teg were also understood as a broad fairy population containing several kinds of supernatural beings. The Ellyllon were elf-like fairies living in groves and valleys, while the Coblynau inhabited mines, the Bwbachod served as household fairies, the Gwragedd Annwn lived around lakes and streams, and the Gwyllion were mountain fairies with a more hag-like nature. The Ellyllon were said to eat toadstools and fairy butter, wear foxglove flowers as gloves, and live under the rule of Queen Mab. Across these forms, the Tylwyth Teg represented a hidden supernatural people living alongside humanity, capable of bringing prosperity and wonder but also of stealing children, enforcing their own laws, and drawing mortals into the dangerous world of the fairies.

Sources

“Tylwyth Teg.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylwyth_Teg

Mooinjer Veggey

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Tradition: Manx Mythology
Alternative Names: Little People, Mooinjer Veggey
Category: Fairy

The Myth

The Mooinjer Veggey, meaning “little people,” were small fairy beings of Manx folklore, usually standing between two and three feet tall and otherwise resembling human beings. They were commonly described wearing red caps and green jackets and were often seen riding horses accompanied by packs of little hounds of many different colors. They lived in the green hills of the Isle of Man, particularly around ancient burial mounds and other old earthworks. On pleasant summer evenings, people wandering near these places might hear beautiful fairy music. The fairies could make themselves visible or invisible as they wished, and anyone who heard their music was warned not to remain too long, particularly musicians, who were especially vulnerable to being entrapped by them.

The Mooinjer Veggey were not uniformly benevolent. Some were helpful spirits who could cure illness and rescue people from misfortune, while others were spiteful and dangerous, stealing children, abducting adults, and bringing bad luck upon those who offended them. Because the fairies were believed to visit human homes, Manx households maintained customs intended to keep them satisfied. A fire was traditionally left burning through the night so that the fairies could warm themselves by the embers, especially during dark and stormy weather. Bread was left for them, fresh water was placed in the household water crocks, and after baking and churning, a small piece of dough and butter was left on the wall for them to eat.

The Mooinjer Veggey were also believed to take offense at certain kinds of household work. Manx women traditionally avoided spinning on Saturday evenings because it was thought to displease the fairies. Clean water left for them was never used for ordinary purposes and was thrown away the following morning. Against their more harmful magic, salt and iron were regarded as effective protections. Thus the Mooinjer Veggey occupied an important place in Manx folklore as a hidden fairy population living alongside human communities, capable of rewarding kindness and hospitality but equally capable of bringing misfortune when neglected or offended.

Sources

“Mooinjer veggey.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 5, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooinjer_veggey