Aibell
(Also Aoibheall or Aeval.) The Irish fairy queen of north Munster, County Clare, part of the Tuatha de Danann, and guardian spirit of the O’Brien clan. Her name probably derives from the Gaelic aoibh, meaning “beauty,” or the proto-Celtic Oibel-a, literally meaning “burning fire.” She lived at Craig Liath (Gray Rock), where she held a midnight court to determine if husbands were satisfying their wives’ sexual needs. If found to be lacking, the man in question would be ordered to overcome his prudishness. The lover of Dubhlainn Ua Artigan, a young warrior from Munster, Aibell played a magic harp and it was said that whoever heard its music would not live long afterward. She appears in many works of Irish literature, including the eighteenth-century comic poem Cúirt an Mheáin Oíche, or “Midnight Court,” by Brian Merriman.
Aigamuxa
Demons in the Saan mythology of Namibia and South Africa. Cannibalistic and with eyes on the soles of their feet, they inhabit sand dunes and chase the unwary.
Aiken Drum
A name best known in the Scottish nursery rhyme:
There cam’ a man to oor tounTo oor toun, to oor toun,There cam’ a man to oor tounAn’ his name was Aiken Drum.
In more recent versions, the words have changed to “There was a man lived in the moon …” and Aiken Drum wears edible clothes: a cream cheese hat, a roast beef coat, and penny loaf buttons.
Aiken Drum is also the name given to the “Brounie [Brownie] of Blednoch” in the ballad by William Nicholson (1878). This fairy is naked except for a kilt made out of green rushes.
Aitahqa-a-nukumaitore
(Or Nuku-mai-kore.) Tree fairies of Maori mythology, whose name means “Not inclined this way.” Described variously as having large chests and waists and small heads, having no head at all and very short arms and legs, or as all hands, elbows, and shoulders, they dwell in trees and parasitical plants such as wharawhara and kiekie and are said to subsist on uncooked food, namely kumara, a type of sweet potato, and whale meat.
Aitvaras
A fiery household spirit in the folklore of Lithuania. The aitvaras is a shapeshifter who manifests in different forms according to his environment. He appears as a cockerel when inside the house and as a dragon when outside. Sometimes only his fiery, comet-like tail is visible. He brings prosperity to his owner, often at the expense of the neighbors, from whom he steals gold, milk, and food. In exchange for his endeavors, he requires only to be fed on a diet of omelets. However, employing the services of an aitvaras comes at a price: it is said that an aitvaras is obtained from the Devil, hatched from the egg of a seven-year-old cockerel, in exchange for one’s soul.
Here is one tale of an aitvaras:
A newly wed bride was given the task of grinding corn for her mother-in-law. No matter how much she ground, the corn basket remained full and her work was never done.
By the light of a consecrated candle from the church, she saw an aitvaras in the form of a cockerel spewing forth a constant stream of grain into the basket.
However, the aitvaras perished in the holy light of the candle, much to mother-in-law’s horror, for she not only lost her source of wealth but her soul went to the Devil in exchange for the loss of the “luck-bringer.”
Aka
(Or Akari.) According to Carib folklore in Guyana, Akari resides in the head and is one of many spirits inhabiting the body. Dreams and nightmares are considered to occur when the hairy bush spirit Yurokon captures Akari from the head of a sleeping person and takes him for a walk into the forest. As long as he remembers to return Akari to his rightful place, the person will experience it as a dream; if he forgets and leaves Akari in the forest, the person will die.
Akari
SeeAka (#ulink_d7031ccd-0dc2-5a2b-89ad-0a41782f3e54).
Akakasoh
Tree spirits, or nats, in Burmese folk beliefs. Similar to the hamadryads of Greek mythology, the akakasoh dwell in trees. They inhabit the uppermost branches and their presence can be detected by the rustling of a tree’s leaves.
Other types of tree-dwelling nat, such as the shekkasoh and the boomasoh, make their homes in other parts of the tree.
Alan
Part-bird, part-human spirits in the folklore of the Tinguian people of the Philippine Islands. Described as a human–bird hybrid with backward-facing fingers and toes, the alan dwell in the jungle, where they hang, batlike, from the trees to rest. When not suspended from the trees, they reside in houses made of gold.
According to Mabel Cook Cole in Philippine Folk Tales (1916), the Tinguian people often slighted or mistreated lesser spirits such as the alan.
In one tale, two hunters enlist the help of an alan to provide them with a fire over which to cook a swine. When the alan asks one of them to take the swine’s liver to feed her baby, he eats it on the way and throws the alan’s baby into a cauldron of boiling water.
The two hunters hide up a tree. When the furious alan comes looking for them, she tries to climb up a vine, but they slash it and she falls to her death.
The hunters then go to the alan’s house, where they find a jar of beads and jar of gold and return to the village with their bounty.
Alven
Also known as Otteermaaner, Alven are water sprites who dwell in the river Elbe. Light and wingless, they wrap themselves in bubbles in the water to move around. As the name Otteermaaner suggests, they are sometimes said to show themselves as otters. They are believed to be the protectors of night-blooming water flowers.
Alp Luachra
(Also Alp-luachra or Alpluachra.) Also known as Joint-eater or Just-halver, an Alp luachra is a greedy fairy from Irish mythology. When a person falls asleep beside a stream or a spring, the Alp luachra appears in the form of a newt and crawls into their mouth, feeding on the food that they have eaten.
In Robert Kirk’s Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies (1691), the Joint-eater is described as a kind fairy that sits invisibly next to its victim, sharing their food, thus accounting for how someone with a large appetite—a Great-eater—can remain skinny:
They avouch that a Heluo, or Great-eater, hath a voracious Elve to be his attender, called a Joint-eater or Just-halver, feeding on the Pith or Quintessence of what the Man eats; and therefore he continues Lean like a Hawke or Heron, notwithstanding his devouring appetite.
Douglas Hyde’s Beside the Fire (1890) tells of how one poor soul was infested by a pregnant Alp luachra and her children. To get rid of the mother and her brood, he ate a large quantity of salted meat without drinking anything, then lay down by a stream with his mouth open. After a while the Alp luachra were forced to leap out into the water to quench their salt-induced thirst.
Amesha Spentas
The “Bounteous Immortals” in the Zoroastrian belief of Iran. They are the attendants of the Creator, Ahuru Mazda. Similar to the Muses of Greece, each of the six amesha spentas spirits ruled over a specific earthly quality: achievement, inspiration, wisdom, intellect, sensitivity, and love.
The six spirits are: Ameretat, “Long Life,” guardian of the Earth’s plants and trees, spirit of immortality; Aramaiti, “Holy Harmony,” guardian of the Earth’s fruitfulness; Asha, “Righteousness,” “Truth,” guardian of earthly fire and the sun; Vohumanah, “Good Thought,” guardian of the Earth’s benign creatures, especially the cow; Kshathra, “Rulership,” “Dominion,” symbol of the triumph of good over evil, guardian of the Earth’s metals; and Haurvatat, “Wellbeing,” “Wholeness,” guardian of the Earth’s water and the afterlife.
Ana
Queen of the Fairies in Romany gypsy folklore.
Ana lived in a mountain castle with her entourage, the keshalyi, the benevolent Romany fairies, until the king of the loçolico, evil earth-dwelling spirits, fell in love with her. When she spurned his advances, he sent his horde of minions to devour the keshalyi.
In order to save them, Ana agreed to marry him. She suffered many years of degradation and gave birth to a succession of monstrous offspring.
Eventually, she succeeded in negotiating her freedom. The loçolico king set her free on the condition that whenever a keshalyi reached a certain age, she must be given to his minions.
It is said that Ana retreated to her castle in shame, only occasionally venturing out in the form of a golden toad.
Andersen, Hans Christian (1805–1875)
Best remembered for his fairy tales, the Danish author Andersen was also a prolific writer of novels, plays, poems, and accounts of his many travels.
He was born in Odense to a family of meager means. He was to remain an only child. His father was keen to give him an education that nurtured the imagination and read many books to him, including The Arabian Nights. When his father died in 1816, Andersen’s formal education, albeit basic, was disrupted due to the need to find work to support himself and his mother. Ever since his first visit to the theater, aged seven, he had been hooked on the world of the stage, and at the age of 14 he traveled, alone, to Copenhagen, looking for employment as an actor. He was successful in the Royal Theatre as a soprano singer until his voice broke, and the theater’s director, Jonas Collins, took him under his wing and funded his university education.
Andersen wrote a few plays and novels, without much success to begin with, but soon his writing career took off. His first book of tales, Fairy Tales, Told for Children, was published in 1835. It was a compilation of tales from his boyhood memories and stories of his own invention. Further books followed and, as their popularity gradually grew, they were translated into numerous languages.
