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