Folklore: Your favorite and least known fairy

[Clarakore]

For me it is the Sluagh.

In 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 the underlying belief, they are almost always depicted as troublesome and destructive. They were seen to fly in groups like flocks of birds, coming from the west, and were known to try to enter the house of a dying person in an effort to carry the soul away with them. West-facing windows were sometimes kept closed to keep them out. Some consider the Sluagh to also carry with them the souls of innocent people who were kidnapped by these destructive spirits.

Lewis Spence writes in 'The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain':In the Western Isles of Scotland the Sluagh, or fairy host, was regarded as composed of the souls of the dead flying through the air, and the feast of the dead at Hallowe'en was likewise the festival of the fairies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sluagh

Does anyone have any more information about the sluagh?

What other fairy creatures are out there?

[spud the mackem]

For me it is the Sluagh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sluagh

Does anyone have any more information about the sluagh?

What other fairy creatures are out there?

The Leprechauns made them extinct.

[Ealdwita]

Ealdwita snippet alert....

According to the Book of Enoch fairies are the fallen angels. Fairies were among the angels loyal to Lucifer. They were cast out of heaven with him to plunge into hell, but suddenly God stopped them in mid-flight and condemned them to remain where they were. Some were in the air, some in the earth and some in the seas and rivers. Such belief is widespread in fairy lore of Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavia.

In his book 'The Little White Bird' (1902), J.M.Barrie wrote, "When the first baby laughed for the first time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies."

My personal favourite? As an Englishman, I'd have to go with the 'Lubber-fiend' aka 'Lob-lie-by-the-fire'. (A close relative of the Scots 'Brownie'). He is typically described as a large, hairy man with a tail, who performs housework in exchange for a saucer of milk and a place in front of the fire. His origin may be as 'Robin Goodfellow' aka Puck, a mischievous nature sprite.

[spud the mackem]

I guess Joan The Wad isn't too bad she is a Pixie that gets into mischief in Cornwall.

[docyabut2]

Celtic:

Heaven and Earth were great giants, and Heaven lay upon the Earth so that their children were crowded between them, and the children and their mother were unhappy in the darkness. The boldest of the sons led his brothers in cutting up Heaven into many pieces. From his skull they made the firmament. His spilling blood caused a great flood which killed all humans except a single pair, who were saved in a ship made by a beneficent Titan. The waters settled in hollows to become the oceans. The son who led in the mutilation of Heaven was a Titan and became their king, but the Titans and gods hated each other, and the king titan was driven from his throne by his son, who was born a god. That Titan at last went to the land of the departed. The Titan who built the ship, whom some consider to be the same as the king Titan, went there also.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html

[docyabut2]

opps sorry thought you meant your favorite myth:)

[docyabut2]

The banshee (pron.: /ˈbænʃiː/ BAN-shee), from Irish: bean sí [bʲæn ˈʃiː] ("woman of the sídhe" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee

[Celestae]

This is my first ever post on UM so hi there and congratulations for sparking my interest enough to comment lol.

I have an irish friend who once told me that Banshee are particular to certain irish families. his family being one of them.... i don't know anything about his history sorry. He says his grandmother was the last to see the family Banshee who came to her when her husband was about to pass.

Its an interesting story, I cant say I've ever done any research into Banshee directly but this may give some of you food for thought.

Oh and, my favourite fae is the spriggan, a private little tree dweller who is full of spikes, thorns and mischief. reputedly the one who launches pinecones etc at your head as you walk under trees or shifts the branches above your head... just for fun really.

bright blessings xx

[Crabby Kitten]

Light elves