A

Alp

Aka : Mare, Trud

Origin : Germany

Element :  Air

Appearance : a rather invisible but demonic creature that can penetrate a house by sneaking into the smallest hole.

Friends/Foes : The Alp is an evil creature that may be attached to a witch who send it to cause mischief

Tricks : He presses upon sleeping people so that they cannot utter a sound. These attacks are called Alpdrücke (nightmares). Alps often ride your horses during the night, and the next morning you can see how exhausted they are. It is also believed that the alp crushes animals to death.

Magic : When an alp is pressing against you, you can put your thumb in your hand, and he will have to retreat. In Zwickau they claim that the alp will go away if one invites him for coffee the following morning. They can also be repelled with horse heads. When a nurse diapers a child, she must make the sign of the cross and open up a corner, otherwise the alp will re-diaper the child. There are some witches who can send an alp to those they hate or are angry with merely their thoughts. He comes out of their eyebrows, looks like a small white butterfly, and sits on the breast of a sleeping person.If you say to an alp that is pressing upon you, "Trud, come tomorrow, and I will lend you something!" then he will immediately retreat and come the next day in the form of a human, in order to borrow something. Or you can call out to him, "Come tomorrow and drink with me," then the person who sent him will have to come.

Alven

Aka : Ottermaaner

Origin : Netherlands

Element : Water

Appearance : Alvens have bodies that are so light that they are almost invisible. They can travel through the air by becoming encased in a water bubble. Occasionally they will show themselves while wearing the skins of otters.

Friends/Foes : They cherish night-blooming plants and will harm any human who attempts to pick or destroy them. Fish is their only known enemies, and they prefer to live in water enclosures where there are none

Lore : They are water faeries who live in ponds, lakes, and rivers, but the River Elbe is their principal home.

Ankou

Aka : Death, the Grim Reaper, Father Time

Race : Psychopump

Origin : Brittany, Ireland, Cornwall and Wales

Element : Fire

Appearance : He is male dark, wearing a black-robed costume pulled up high about his head and a large hat that conceals his face. He drives a black cart, though some say it is really a small coach or even a hearse, drawn by four black horses. When there are two many patrons, he is assisted by two skelettons who hurl the copses into the cart. He is always preceded by a cold gust of wind.

Function : collect the souls of passed-over humans

Friends/Foes : Ankou shows neither emotion nor personal interest in humans or their lives.

 

Arkan Sonney

Aka : Lucky Piggy

Race : Fairy pigs

Origin : Isle of Man

Element : Air

Appearance : pigs with long hairs

Friends/Foes : flee any human

 Magic : are supposed to bring good luck if one is to capture it.

Ashrays

Aka : Water Lovers, Asrais.

Origin : Scotland.

Element : Water.

Time : completely nocturnal

Appearance : They have almost translucent bodies, and are often mistaken for sea ghosts. When captured or exposed to sunlight they melt away into a pool of water.

Lore : underwater

Attorcroppe

Aka : Attocroppe literally means "little poison head"

Origin : England

Element : Earth.

Appearance : a small serpent with arms and legs who walks upright

Friends/Foes : very malevolent

Lore : in woodlands

B

Bendith y Mamau

Aka :ben-dith uh momay or Mother's Blessing

Race : cross-breed of Goblin and Twlwwyth Tegs

Origin :Carmarthenshire country in Wales

Appearance : have the ill-disposition and ugly appearance of goblins, but the glamour of faeries

Friends/Foes : do not enjoy the company of humans

Lore : live in clans in underground caverns

Magic : make people's lives unpleasant. Stealing cattle and children, killing farm animals

Ballybogs

Aka : Bogles, Peat Faeries, Mudbogs, Bog-a-boos, Boggies, Boggans

Origin : Ireland, England, Wales, Cornouailles

Element : Earth.

Function : guardian spirits of the bogs.

Appearance : solitary mud-covered creatures of very small size. Their bodies are almost completely round, and their long spindly arms and legs look too thin and weak to support the weight. They speak no known language and grunt and slobber instead of speaking.

Friends/Foes : harmless but unpleasant. The Bogle focuses the majority of its ill will upon those who are lazy, incontinent, or guilty of crimes. Like many of the fae kind, both manifestations enjoy leading unwary travelers astray.

Lore : near peat bogs or mud holes.

Bean-Fionn

Aka : Jenny Greentooth, the Greentoothed Woman, The Bean-Fionn, Ban-Shoan, Weisse Frau

Race : Water Woman

Origin : Ireland. Germany and England.

Element : Water.

Appearance : a white gown who lives beneath lakes and streams and reaches up to drag under and drown children at play or work near or in the water.

Lore : in dark lakes or on the banks of muddy rivers

Magic : drown those who displease her or hurt children but sometimes believed to be protective of children, gives directions to lost travelers

Banshee

Aka : Washer of the Shrouds, Washer at the Banks, Washer at the Ford, Cointeach, Cyhiraeth, Cyoerraeth, Gwrach y Rhibyn, Eur-Cunnere Noe, Beansidhe, Bean Chaointe, the Bean-nighe, Kannerez-Noz

Race : Washerwoman, death spirit.

Origin : Ireland, Scotland, Germany

Element : Water.

Origin: The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

Appearance : Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain. She has very long, flowing hair and wear green dresses with grey cloaks. In Cornwall she is said to have long black teeth. At times she is seen in lonely places, beside a pool or stream, washing the linen of those soon to die, and folding and beating it with her hands on a stone in the middle of the water. She is then known as the Bean-nighe, or washing woman; and her being seen is a sure sign that death is near. The Beansidhe's keening (mourning wail) can also be heard at night prior to a death. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, the keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone as "the sound of two boards being struck together"; and on Rathlin Island as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl". The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.

Lore : dark rivers around big cities

Magic : In Mull and Tiree islands in Scotland, she is said to have praeternaturally long breasts, which are in the way as she stoops at her washing. She throws them over her shoulders, and they hang down her back. Whoever sees her must not turn away, but steal up behind and endeavour to approach her unawares. When he is near enough he is to catch one of her breasts, and, putting it to his mouth, calls herself to witness that she is his first nursing or foster-mother. She answers that he has need of that being the case, and will then communicate whatever knowledge he desires. If she says the shirt she is washing is that of an enemy he allows the washing to go on, and that man's death follows; if it be that of her captor or any of his friends, she is put a stop to. She can also be caught and mastered and made to communicate her information at the point of a sword.

Bean-Tighe

Aka : Our Housekeeper, Ban-tee or Ban-Teeg

Race : faery housekeeper

Origin : Ireland.

Element : Earth.

Time : from Samhain to Bealtaine

Appearance : small elderly women in old-fashioned peasant clothing, with kindly, dimpled faces

Friends/Foes : very friendly to humans

Lore : human homes of their choice

Magic : Protection of home, children, and pet, and aid in household chores. They love fresh strawberries and crea

Black Angus

Aka : CuSith, Barguest, Cwn Annw

Race : fortellers of death

Origin : England and Scotland.

Element : Water.

Time : night

Appearance : a large black dog with yellow eyes, horns on his head and sharp fangs showing himself to those who will die within a fortnight.

Blue Hag

See Cailleac Bhuer.

Boggarts

Aka : Hobgoblins, Bogans, Bauchans, Gobelins, the Boogey Man, Boogies, Padfoot, Hobbers, Gobs, Blobs.

Race : Goblins, cousins of the Brownies

Origin : Scotland.

Element : earth

Appearance : a male dwarf with a squat and distorted form.

Friends/Foes : cousin of the Brownie but ill-tempered and greedy

Lore : squats sometimes houses that he utterly destroys. He especially loves to eat smooth wood like a termite and to torment children.One of the best ways to get rid of him is to ask the boggart to leave the house and stay out as long as 'the hollies are green'. It will mostly likely take at least two seasons for him to remember that hollies are always green and that he has been tricked. His resulting anger most likely needn't be feared as he will never be able to enter the house again.

Quote :

One wee little Hobgoblin
All dressed up in red,
Was spying on a farmhouse
With mischief in his head.
"this place," said the little Hobgoblin,
"It could be lots of fun,
Everything's so clean and tidy,
And begging to be undone."
So the wee little Hobgoblin
He went to work with glee,
He let the cattle out the gate
And set the piglets free.
He spilled some milk in the kitchen,
And overturned the butterchurn.
He yanked the laundry off the line
And caused the soup to burn.
He pinched the baby and scared the cat
And had the mostest fun.
And when his spree was over
He said, "That's a job well done!"

Mark Shapiro The Wee Little Hobgoblin

Brownies

Aka : House Brownie, Bogle, Hobs, Little Man, Nis, Domovoi, Dobie,  Killmoulis,Bookha, Bwca, the Highland Bodach, the Manx Fenodoree, Chin-Chin Kobakama, Yumboes, Tomtra, Tighe, Fenoderee,

Origin : Scotland, Denmark, Russia, Canada and the United States

Element : Earth.

Time : nocturnal

Appearance :tiny, shaggy-looking man with wrinkled brown skin about 25 inches in height. They wear little ragged suits of green, blue, or brown, and small caps made of felt. Their ears are slightly pointed and they have long, nimble finger.

Friends/Foes : their cousins are the Leprechauns. Roosters are the familiars of Brownies.

Lore : Brownies like to adopt houses which they look after. They come out at night to finish small chores, look over the cattle. If there is a lazy servant in the home, he might choose to plague him for it. All Brownies expect in return is a bowl of cream or good milk and a honey cake. Never leave clothes and never leave too much food. They find this offensive and will leave. Care should be taken not to criticize their work.

Magic : All household tasks and protection of home, family, and animals. They can lend their energy to prosperity spells. As with other faeries, should a human mistakenly offer them clothes in return for their labors, brownies will cease their efforts and disappear forever

In the islet of Cara, on the west of Cantyre, the old house, once belonging to the Macdonalds, was haunted by a Brownie that drank milk, made a terrific outcry when hurt, and disliked the Campbell race. In the old castle of Largie, on the opposite coast of Cantyre, which belonged to the same Macdonalds, there was also a Brownie, supposed to be the same as the Cara one. Since the modern house was built Brownie has not been seen or heard. In Cara he is still occasionally heard. It is not known exactly what he is like, no one having ever seen more than a glimpse of him. Before the arrival of strangers he put the house in order. He disliked anything dirty being left in the house for the night. Dirty bed-clothes were put out by him before morning. Dogs had to be put outside at night, as he often killed those left in the house. He was much addicted to giving slaps in the dark to those who soiled the house; and there are some still alive who can testify to receiving a slap that left their faces black. He tumbled on the floor water-stoups left full over-night. A man was lifted out of bed by him, and found himself `bare naked', on awakening, at the fire. A woman, going late in the evening for her cows, found Brownie had been before her, and tied them securely in the barn.

C

Cailleac Bhuer

Aka : The Blue Hag, Black Annis, the Stone Woman.

Origin : Scotland (Caillech is used when referring to the Crone Goddess)

Element : Water.

Appearance : an old woman who walks by night, wearing either black or blue-white tattered garments. She carries a staff made of holly topped with the head of a carrion crow.

Callicantzaroi

Origin : Greece, Albania, and Italy.

Element : Air

Appearance : small, skinny, and nude trooping fearies who ride chickens. They wear elaborate headgear on their rades and have the feet of various animals. Some said they are partially or totally blind.

Friends/Foes :

Lore : Yule

Magic : They like to foul fresh water, but a touch of hyssop is reputed to counteract this, burning an old show will drive them away. Pork is their favorite food.
 

Changelings

Aka : Callicanzaris, Kontsodaimonas, Hosentefel, Gremlins, Leurre

Origin : Greece, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, France

Appearance : an imbecilic or deformed offspring of dwarves, elves, or faeries

Function :The changeling is supposed to replace the human child abducted by the Faerie which explained why some babies borned as an idiot or a freak.

Lore : in the houses victims of such abduction

Magic : The return of the original child "may be effected by making the changeling laugh or by torturing it; this latter belief was responsible for numerous cases of actual child abuse".

The changeling was converted into the stock of a tree by saying a powerful rhyme over him, or by sticking him with a knife. He could be driven away by running at him with a red-hot ploughshare; by getting between him and the bed and threatening him with a drawn sword; by leaving him out on the hillside, and paying no attention to his shrieking and screaming; by putting him sitting on a gridiron, or in a creel, with a fire below; by sprinkling him well out of the maistir tub; or by dropping him into the river.

Churn Milk Peg and Melch Dick

Aka : Acorn Lady and Melsh Dick.

Origin : England.

Element : Earth

Appearance : Peg is a woman and Dick is a man. Both are small dwarf faeries that wear the peasant clothing of fifteenth century England. Their nature is very capricious and they hate lazy humans.

Function : guard orchards and can terrify nuts and fruit thieves.

Lore : Trees

Clurichauns

Aka : Monciello, His Nibs

Class : Leprechaun

Origin : Ireland. Italy.

Element : Earth

Appearance : The Clurichaun is always drunk, but is impeccably well-groomed and well-dressed. He also wears a red hat which may be made of plants.

Function : Guardian of the Cellar

Lore : a wine cellar

Magic : will prevent casks from leaking and wines from going bad, will chase away all those who come uninvited by the master of the house. Occasionally he can be heard singing Irish folk songs in the wine cellar. One of their favorite trick is to ride sheep and dogs like horses in the moonlight. f you ignore or mistreat him he will wreak havoc on your cellars and on your home, and he will most definitely spoil your wine stock.

Coblynau

Race : Welsh Mine Goblin, cousins to the Cornish Knockers

Origin : Wales

Element : Earth

Appearance : These creatures using mining tools, are seen working industriously at the seam faces.

Function : The knocking of their picks and hammers is lucky, a sign of heavy ore content.
 

D

Dracs

Aka : Nix Dracae

Race :

Origin : France,Germany, England

Element : Water.

Appearance : In their natural state Dracs appear as great floating purple blobs in the surface of the water. But more often they are seen in the form of a golden chalice or in female humanoid form.

Function : Dracs appear as beautiful women to lure human males. But more often, when they play on the surface of water, they take the shape of a golden chalice which they know will be highly attractive to avaricious humans. When unsuspecting men reach down to grab the prize, they are dragged under to the Drac kingdom.

Lore : They are sometimes found in damp, mossy caves and rocky outcroppings near bodies of water. They are most populous in the English Channel, but their former home of the Seine River, which was, until humans took it over, their sacred kingdom.

Drakes

Race : house spirits

(A drake is also a western fire dragon)

Origin : England.

Element : Fire

Time : Night

Appearance : Benevolent and helpful, the only drawback to a Drake is that they do not smell good at all. The odor they produce has been described as a cross between rotten eggs and a dirty chicken coop.

Function : Take care of the fireplace

Lore : In Wood Piles, at hearthsides, and in deep woods with very old trees.

Magic : Aside from helping provide you with dry firewood, a Drake can lend energy to any spell done in the fireplace

Duergarrs

Origin : France, England

Element :Earth.

Appearance : malicious dwarf faeries under two feet tall who wear lambskin jackets, moleskin shoes and green hats.

Function : guard faery paths and steer humans away from them, sometimes prey on travellers and remove all directional signposts from a road.

Dunters

See Red Cap.

 

E

Ellyllons

Race :Welsh elves.

Origin : Cornwall and Wales

Element : Water.

Appearance : small inland lake faeries who transport themselves by riding on eggshells. Their  food is toadstools and fairy butter, a fungoid substance found in the roots of old trees and in limstone crevices

Function : guardians of the Lady of the Lake

Lore : at the bottom of Dosmary Pool, a lake in Cornwall

The Erlkonig

Aka : Ellerkonge

Race : Death spirit

Origin : Germany. Denmark.

Element : Air.

Appearance : an Elf with a huge golden crown and expensively tailored clothing

Function : he appears only to the one about to die.

Lore : Valhallah

Source : Erlkonig by J.W. von Goethe; Franz Schubert

Erdluitle

Aka : The males are called Hardmandlene, the females are called Erbiberli.

Origin : Switzerland. Northern Italy, Western Austria.

Element : Earth.

Appearance : These dwarf faeries have webbed feet. They wear hoods, smocks, and long cloaks which always drape over their feet.

Friends/Foes : They used to be helpful to farmers, but now seem to dislike humans.
 Magic : control over the weather

Erdmanlein

See Gnome.