Lucy Cooper - THE ELEMENT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES - An A-Z of Fairies, Pixies, and other Fantastical Creatures

In a short story by Wyndham Lewis, The Death of the Ankou (1927), a tourist in Brittany perceives a beggar to be the embodiment of the Ankou. In fact, it is the tourist who acts as Ankou to the beggar, who subsequently dies.

From the Greek for ‘people-eater’, an anthropophage (plural anthropophagi) belonged to a mythological race of cannibals first described by Herodotus ( c. 440 B.C.). The word first appeared in English around 1552.

William Shakespeare brought these cannibalistic fairies into British public awareness in his plays The Wives of Winsdor and Othello . In Othello (Act I, scene iii), he famously described them as follows:

And of the Cannibals that each other eat,

The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads

Do grow beneath their shoulders.

In popular culture, anthropophagi are often described as headless, with their mouths in the center of their chests. This is likely due to a misinterpretation of the line about men whose heads grow beneath their shoulders, which in fact refers to a separate mythical race called Blemmyes. However, the popular picture of the anthropophagi as headless cannibals with faces on their torsos has endured. According to Naturalis Historia , one of the world’s earliest encyclopedias, the anthropophagi were in the habit of drinking out of human skulls, and placing the scalps, with the hair attached, upon their breasts, “like so many napkins.”

See Aibell .

A guardian of the orchard, Appletree Man dwells in the oldest apple tree, where the fertility of the orchard is supposed to reside. He chases away fruit raiders, but may also take umbrage with genuine harvesters. In the traditional English cider counties such as Somerset, apple-pickers could harvest the fruit only at certain times of day. Customs such as wassailing, involving singing to the apple tree and pouring cider at its roots, are still performed in parts of Somerset to placate the Appletree Man in the hope of bringing about a good harvest.

See also Old Roger .

(Also apsarasa .) From Buddhist and Hindu mythology, a female spirit of the waters and clouds. English translations of the Sanskrit name include “ nymph.” Aspsaras are described as beautiful, supernatural female beings. Known for their ability as dancers, they are often the youthful wives of the gandharvas , the court musicians of Indra, leader of the Devasand lord of Svargaloka, or heaven, in the Hindu religion. They dance in the palaces of the gods to the gandharvas’ music, entertaining, and sometimes seducing, gods and men. Sometimes compared to the musesof ancient Greece, each of the 26 apsaras at Indra’s court represents a specific area of the performing arts.

Like the Valkyriesof Norse mythology, apsaras are the carers of fallen heroes. They are also associated with fertility rites. Sky-dwelling ethereal beings, they are often depicted taking flight and can be compared to angels, as well as to the nymphs, dryads, and naiadsof ancient Greece, due to their association with water. Said to be able to shapeshift at will, they also rule over gambling and gaming. The best known are Rambha, Urvasi, Tilottama, and Menaka.

A forest spirit in the folk beliefs of Suriname. Described as a short, dark figure with backward-facing feet, he dwells in shrubs deep within the forest. He falls in love with human females and is prone to jealous outbursts if a woman he has developed an attachment to is pursued by other men.

In local tradition, if a man is unsuccessful in wooing a woman, he prepares a special herbal bath to “tame the apuku ” of the woman he desires.

Guardian or tutelary spirits in Cambodian folklore. Residing in the family home, or in a nearby tree, the árák sruk was regarded as an ancestor spirit whose advice could be sought in curing sickness. An annual festival honors the árák sruk spirits.

A spirit of the sky in the mythology of the Wonkamala people who inhabited the Lake Eyre region in South Australia. According to A. W. Howitt’s The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (1904), the arawotya was originally a spirit of the earth who created deep springs and other sources of water in the otherwise arid regions of southern Australia and parts of western Queensland.

A magical female in Welsh mythology, daughter of the goddess Don. The fourth branch of the Mabinogion , the ancient epic stories of Wales, relates the story of Arianhod, her son, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, and Blodeuedd, the Flower Maiden.

Arianhod dwells in a palace named Caer Arianhod, which today is associated with a rock formation off the coast of Gwynedd, northwest Wales.

Math, King of Gwynedd, has to have his feet held by a virgin when he is not in battle. Arianhod’s brother, Gwydion, proposes her for the task, but when Math places his magic rod on the floor for Arianhod to step across in a test of her virginity, she fails the test and immediately gives birth to two sons.

The first is named Dylan, “Ocean Wave.” Arianhod refuses to name the second son, but Gwydion tricks her into naming him Lleu Llaw Gyffes, “Light or Fair One with the Sure and Steady Hand.” Arianhod proclaims that he shall have no bride of this Earth, so Gwydion and Math construct a bride for him out of oak, broom, and meadowsweet, and she is named Blodeuedd, or “Flower Face.”

Lleu and the beautiful flower maiden are married and live in wedded bliss for a short time, but Blodeuedd falls in love with another man, Gronw Pebyr. The lovers decide that they must murder Lleu before he discovers their affair. Blodeuedd knows Lleu to be almost invincible, but on the pretext of concern for his safety, she discovers that he can be killed with a spear made over the duration of a year, thrust into him when he is bathing with one of his feet touching a billy goat.

Despite the complicated conditions, the flower maiden and Gronw conspire to bring about Lleu’s demise. However, he transforms into an eagle and escapes.

Hearing of all that has happened, Math and Gwydion seek out Lleu in eagle form. Gwydion puts his wand to the bird and returns him to his human form. Gwydion turns Blodeuedd into an owl.

Her lover, Gronw, offers compensation to Lleu, but Lleu deems it fair that the blow that was meant for him should be returned. Gronw is permitted to hide behind a rock for protection, but Lleu throws his spear so hard that it passes through the rock and pierces the adulterer’s back.

Lleu Llaw Gyffes goes on to become Lord of Gwynedd.

Arianhod is remembered in the name of a constellation of stars. The Corona Borealis , or Northern Crown, constellation is known in Wales as Caer Arianhod .