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Each Uisge. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Noggle, or Nuggle, or Nygel. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Noggle, or Nuggle, or Nygel

This creature, whose name is variously spelt, is the Shetland Kelpie. It appears like a beautiful little grey horse, about the size of a Shetland pony, bridled and saddled. It is less malicious than the Kelpie and much less dangerous than the Each Uisge, but it has two mischievous tricks. Its peculiarity is that it is much attracted by water-mills, and if the mill was running at night it would seize the wheel and stop it. It could be driven off by thrusting a burning brand or a long steel knife through the vent-hole of the mill. Its other trick was to loiter along the mill-stream and allure pedestrians to mount it. It would then dash away into the sea and give its rider a severe and even dangerous ducking; but it did not, like Each Uisge, tear its victim to pieces, it merely rose through the water and vanished in a blue flame.

Before mounting a stray horse it was wise to look well at its tail. The Noggle looked like an ordinary horse, but it had a tail like a half-wheel, curled up over its back.

Some people called the Noggle a Shoopiltee, but it seems to have shared this name with the merpeople (see Mermaids; Mermen).

Anecdotes and descriptions of the Noggle have been brought together from various sources by A.C.Black in County Folk-Lore (Vol.III, p.189-193).

[Motifs: F234.1.8; F420.1.3.3]

Tangie. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Tangie

So named because of the seaweed which covers it. It is one form of the Noggle of Orkney and Shetland; but in its horse form it is not sleek, but covered with rough hair and seaweed. In its human form it is an old man.

[Motif: B184.1.3]

Космач, Танги

Прозван так из-за водорослей, покрывающих все его тело. Это одно из обличий оркнейского и шетландского ноггля; но в облике коня он не гладкий и лоснящийся, а покрыт жесткой щетиной и водорослями. В облике человека он выглядит как старик.

[Мотив: B184.1.3]

Chol. Статья из «Призраки, чудовища и демоны Индии»

Chol

The Chol are a race of supernatural beings mentioned in anthropological accounts of the folklore of the Great Andaman archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. They are spear-wielding spirits of the air, associated with the racket-tailed drongo. “Chol” is the sound of this bird’s call: chol, chol, chol.

It is said that in the distant past, Maia Chol, the ancestor of these beings, stole a pig from another mythological figure named Maia Kolwot.

Maia Chol took his prize and climbed up into a tall gurjon tree to eat it.

Maia Kolwot, who was incredibly strong, was not ready to let this deed go unpunished. He set up sharp spikes in a circle all around the tree. Then he grabbed hold of the trunk and with mighty heaves started pulling the tree straight down into the ground.

Maia Chol felt his perch getting lower and lower. He realized that if he didn’t get off the tree soon, he too would be stuffed into the earth. So he jumped — only to be impaled on the spikes Maia Kolwot had set up around the tree.

Usually, when people die, their soul travels over an invisible cane bridge in the sky that connects our world with the world of the dead. But when Maia Chol died, his soul did not cross all the way over the bridge. Instead, it took up residence on the bridge itself, where it was joined by all his progeny, the racket-tailed drongos.

Sitting in the sky and looking down on us, the Chol sometimes take offense at certain human actions — for example, if someone does a shoddy job of butchering a pig. When this happens, they punish the person by hurling invisible spears at them. The Chol live so high above the earth, though, that they can’t hope to hit a moving target, nor can they see well enough to aim at night. They can only get a clear shot when someone is standing absolutely still in the daytime. Thus the spears of the Chol are blamed when people suffer from sunstroke.

Biasd Bheulach. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Biasd Bheulach [beeast veealuch]

The monster of Odail Pass on the Isle of Skye, and one of the Highland demon spirits. It is described by J.G.Campbell in Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Scottish Highlands (p.207-208). It seems to have been a nasty creature to meet.

Sometimes it bore the form of a man, sometimes of a man with only one leg; at other times it appeared like a greyhound or beast prowling about; and sometimes it was heard uttering frightful shrieks and outcries which made the workmen leave their bothies in horror. It was only during the night it was seen or heard.

It was not only horrible to see and hear, it seemed to be hunting for blood to appease it.

It ceased when a man was found dead at the roadside, pierced with two wounds, one on his side and one on his leg, with a hand pressed on each wound. It was considered impossible that these wounds could have been inflicted by human agency.

The distinction between demon spirits and demonic ghosts is hard to draw, and people might well have accounted for Biasd Bheulach as the ravening ghost of a murdered man, hungry for revenge.

Bells. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Bells

These had a dual use. In the first place they were used by mortals as a protection against fairies and other evil spirits. The church bells, the gargoyles and the weathercock — the symbol of sunrise and day — were popularly supposed to be the three defences against the Devil. The fairies were also repelled by the sound of church bells. Jabez Allies's anecdote of the fairy who was heard lamenting

Neither sleep, neither lie,

For Inkbro’s ting-tang hangs so high

Changelings. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Bendith y Mamau, or The Mother's Blessing. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Bendith y Mamau [bendith er mamigh], or The Mother's Blessing

Бендит-и-Мамай, или «Матушкино благословение»

Название эльфов в Гламорганшире. Они похищают детей, совершают конные выезды и навещают людские дома. Для них оставляли бочонки с молоком. Бендит-и-Мамай описываются как низкорослые и безобразные.

В «Кельтском фольклоре» (Т.I, с.262-269), Рис приводит подробное описание похищения ребенка, замены его на подменыша и трехэтапного колдовства, с помощью которого мать вернула себе свое дитя. История, рассказанная Рисом, произошла в те времена, когда многих детей забирали эти эльфы, и молодая овдовевшая мать берегла своего единственного прекрасного сыночка пуще глаза, потому что соседи были уверены, что эльфы позарятся на него.

Ben-Varrey. Статья из «Эльфийского словаря» К.Бриггс

Ben-Varrey [bedn varra]

Бен-Варри

Мэнское название русалки, о которой на берегах острова Мэн рассказывается много сказок. Она имеет характер в целом тот же, что у русалок других мест, очаровывает и зачаровывает мужчин до смерти, но иногда проявляет и большую душевную мягкость. В «Волшебных сказках с острова Мэн» Доры Брум русалка из Пурт-ле-Мюррей влюбляется в человека и почти заманивает его в море, но его товарищи спасают его при помощи заклинания-считалки. Здесь русалка предстает сиреной, но действует, очевидно, исключительно из любви. В той же книге рыбак, отнесший выброшенную на берег русалку обратно в море, вознаграждается сведениями о том, как найти клад. Он находит его, но клад оказывается старинным золотом, и рыбак не знает, как избавиться от него. Наконец, простак бросает непонятные монеты в море; но Бен-Варри навряд ли виновата в этом.

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