Folklore: Sprites
A Faeries and Folklore by Ronel post
Welcome to Faeries and Folklore by Ronel.
You can listen to this post in English or Afrikaans at the end of this post.
Folklore in a Nutshell
Sprites are tiny creatures from European folklore. It can also be spelled as spright or spriggan. They are depicted as faery-like creatures. In some circles, sprites refer to air elementals while in others they refer to water elementals. I’ve already covered elementals and, as we know, sprites aren’t part of that classification of fae.
In other circles, sprites are the size of large insects with dazzling colour and glistening membranous wings. They live in forests, bathe in dew and eat pests that bother the gardens of the fae.
Shakespeare’s Ariel in The Tempest is a sprite.
Irish folklore holds that sprites love water and can be found near lakes and rivers. As long as you don’t threaten them, they won’t be aggressive. Though beautiful and elegant, their feelings towards humans are ambivalent.
In JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, Tinker Bell is everything a sprite is said to be: capricious, mischievous, quick to anger and spite, but also helpful and loyal to friends and loved-ones. And the author claims that because of her small stature, she can only feel one emotion at a time.
Completely green and dressed in foliage or more reminiscent of colourful insects, sprites are everything small and whimsical we were led to believe about the fae.
Origin of the Fae
Tiny, green, winged faeries who live in Mag Mell on the same heath as the Galno.
They can change size at will.
They embody the style and mannerisms of the court of Henry the eighth of England.
When they feel hate they turn black, when they feel bloodlust they turn red, when they are happy they turn golden. They struggle to feel more than one emotion at a time.
They have always been solitary Fae.
They are led by their Lady – Juno, the strongest of their kind.
They also have power over the four elements: fire, water, wind and earth.
You can read the full folklore post with loads of references on my blog.
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