Tylwyth Teg

Origins

The term tylwyth teg is first attested in a poem attributed to the 14th-century Dafydd ap Gwilym, in which the principal character gets perilously but comically lost while going to visit his girlfriend: "Hudol gwan yn ehedeg, / hir barthlwyth y Tylwyth Teg" ("(The) weak enchantment (now) flees, / (the) long burden of the Tylwyth Teg (departs) into the mist").

Attributes

In later sources the tylwyth teg are described as fair-haired and covet golden-haired human children whom they kidnap, leaving changelings (or crimbilion, sing. crimbil) in their place. They dance and make fairy rings and they live underground or underwater. They bestow riches on those they favour but these gifts vanish if they are spoken of, and fairy maidens may become the wives of human men.

As the Bendith y Mamau (the mothers blessing, a Southern Welsh name for fair folk),

According to the folklorist Wirt Sikes the Tylwyth Teg may be divided into five general types: the Ellyllon (elves), the Coblynau (fairies of the mines), the Bwbachod (household fairies similar to brownies), the Gwragedd Annwn (female fairies of the lakes and streams) and the Gwyllion (mountain fairies more akin to hags). The ellyllon (singular ellyll) inhabit groves and valleys and are similar to English elves. Their food consists of toadstools and fairy butter (a type of fungus) and they wear digitalis bell flowers as gloves. They are ruled by Queen Mab and bring prosperity to those they favour.

References

References

1. Briggs, Katharine. (1976). "An Encyclopedia of Fairies". Pantheon Books.
2. Walters, John. (1828). "An English and Welsh Dictionary". Clwydian-Press.
3. Parker, Sean B.. "On a Misty Walk / Ar Niwl Maith".
4. (2023-11-08). "Tylwyth Teg Are The Welsh Fairies From British Legend - Wales Culture".
5. Evans-Wentz, Walter. (1911). "The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries". Oxford University Press.
6. Sikes, Wirt. (1880). "British Goblins: Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions". Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington.