Welsh Fairies

Descriptions of the unique characteristics that set the Welsh faeries, tylwyth teg, apart from the rest of the faery folk of Britain- issues such as their speech, their appearance, their music and their links to trees and mines. It examines every aspect of their lives: their food, clothing, homes, livestock, pastimes and- even- their funerals. Close attention is paid to the temperament and character of the tylwyth teg and the ways in which they interact with the human population of Wales. Sometimes these relationships can be harmonious- leading to marriages and gifts of money; on other occasions there can be antagonism and the need for magical protection. Two important points should also be stressed. Firstly, this is written for adults. The traditional Welsh faery is frequently selfish, antagonistic and cruel and, over the centuries, the Welsh population have found it necessary to respond in kind. Accounts of the tylwyth teg are definitely not children’s faery tales. Secondly, this is not a book on ‘folklore’ that tries to explain why individuals once thought such surprising and curious things. Welsh people in the past encountered beings that they knew to be the tylwyth teg; this book shows those individuals the respect they deserve and takes their accounts seriously. They knew that the faeries existed and they adapted their lives to cope with this fact; accordingly, the book accepts the tylwyth teg as being real and present around us- and proceeds on that basis.