cold wind known as the Nemere is said to blow when the fairy in the cave feels cold. In one tale, when plague was raging in the neighborhood, the people ascribed it to the cold blast emanating from the cave, so they hung shirts before the cave mouth and it is said the plague ceased. Some say this is also the cave from which the children led away by the Pied Piper of Hamelin re-emerged.
The fairy mountain Ngongotaha stands on the North Island of New Zealand, overlooking the big blue lake of Rotorua. The peak is known as Te Tuahu a te Atua (the Altar of the God) and was said to be one of the principal homes of the patupaiarehe, the fairy people of New Zealand. The tribe that lived on Mount Ngongotaha were known as the Ngati-Rua, their chiefs were named Tuehu, Te Rangitamai, Tongakohu, and Rotokohu.
It is said that the Maori ancestor Ihenga became thirsty while exploring the mountain and a patupaiarehe woman offered him a drink from a calabash, which he accepted. However, when the fairy people began to crowd around him, curious at seeing a mortal, he became scared that they might attempt to capture him. Smearing himself with kokowai, a mixture of shark oil and red ochre, the stench of which offended the patupaiarehe, he repelled the inquisitive creatures and ran away down the mountain. Later, he went on to be on friendly terms with the patupaiarehe and named the mountain Ngongotaha, meaning “drink from a calabash.”
The Majlis al Jinn in Oman, “Meeting Room of the Spirits” or “Gathering Place of the Djinn,” is the second-largest cave chamber in the world. The colossal chamber is large enough to house over a dozen Boeing 747s or a 50-story skyscraper. Its name comes from the belief on the Arabian peninsula that djinn inhabit caves.
Trollkyrka (Troll’s Church) in Sweden is located in the heart of Tivden National Park. A trek up the trail to the “tower” of the church reveals a rocky outcrop where pagan fairy rituals took place in years gone by. A poem by folklorist Carshult describes the procession up into the troll hills, where a secret password was uttered, a fire was lit, and spirits summoned.
Abatwa
This race of tiny fairies from South Africa dwells with the ants. Small enough to ride an ant or hide behind a blade of grass, in all respects other than size, the abatwa resemble humans from the Zulu tribe. They are shy, elusive creatures, only occasionally seen by humans, most often wizards, children, or pregnant women. It’s believed that if a woman spies an abatwa in the seventh month of pregnancy she is sure to give birth to a boy.
Abbey Lubber
From the fifteenth century onwards, many British abbeys and monasteries gained a reputation for luxury and wantonness. Folk satires were spread about them, including stories of the abbey lubbers, mischievous spirits who tempted the monks and nuns into drunkenness, gluttony, and lasciviousness. They were most often to be found in the abbey wine cellar.
Absinthe
See Green Fairy, the.
Acalica
These Bolivian weather fairies have powers over the sun, wind, and rain. They live underground in caves and are rarely seen by humans. When they do appear, it is often as wizened old men.
Ad-hene
Manx name for the fairies, meaning “Themselves”—a name humans must get right and never take in vain.
Adlet
This mythical race is found in legends from Greenland and from Inuit tales of Labrador and northern Canada relating the union of a girl with a dog, from which the resulting ten offspring are five dogs and five Adlet, a creature half-dog, half-man.
In some legends the Adlet are sent inland for their safety and become the Native American tribes.
Adlivun
A. E.
“A. E.” was the pseudonym of George William Russell (1867–1935), an Irish poet, artist, and “seer”—one who had the “second sight” and was able to see fairies. A lifelong friend of W. B. Yeats, he was also an expert on agriculture and an eminent economist. His accounts of fairies in paintings and prose describe them as radiant, shining beings.
Aedh
In Irish mythology, Aedh was one of the sons of Dagda of the Tuatha de Danann.
Aeval
See Aibell.
Afanasyev, Aleksandr (1826–1871)
A Russian folklorist and collector of fairy tales.
After studying law at Moscow University, Afanasyev became a journalist and wrote about many of the literary figures of the seventeenth century. From 1850, he turned his attention to traditional folk tales and began making a systematic collection from oral testimonies as well as from the few publications available. He was familiar with the work of the Grimm brothers and applied the same methodology as they had done. Unlike the Grimms, however, he did not rework or embellish the tales and was committed to faithful reproductions of the original versions.
Narodnye russkie skazki (Russian Fairy Tales) was published in eight volumes between 1855 and 1863. Comprising 600 tales from various regions of Russia, it is one of the world’s largest collections of folk tales gathered by a single collector. Russian Fairy Tales for Children, which followed, contained a selection of humorous and magical tales from his collection suitable for children. Afanasyev’s collection of legends, Russian Folk Legends, was banned by Russian censors, who deemed the material to be blasphemous. The banned tales were eventually published anonymously in Switzerland under the title Russian Forbidden Tales.
Afanasyev’s work influenced many writers and composers, and is still in print today in numerous languages.
Agricultural Spirits
Traditionally, household spirits often watch over fields, crops, and animals as well as hearth and home, helping to gather the harvest or feeding up favorite beasts, especially cattle, although those of a more mischievous disposition have also been known to frighten cattle, causing
