Fairy Mounds
for all she gives, this fairy lives off of and drains the life force of her human lover, who remains her slave until he can find someone else to take his place. The Irish leipreachain, or lepracaun (a name which means shoemaker), is another solitary fairy who sometimes plots mischief against humans; they are also known as Cluricauns (a drunk leprechaun) and Far Darrig (red man or practical joker). Yeats describes leipreachains as "withered, old, and solitary" and badly dressed, "slouching, jeering, mischievous phantoms" who are known to play practical jokes on humans. The leprechaun is very skilled at his craft of shoemaking and in consequence he is very rich. Still, he seldom spends his money, but keeps it buried in a crock or cauldron in a field, which may account for the belief of finding a leprechaun's pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
Celtic Mythology" href="/mythology/sliabh-namban-slievenamom-a-towering-mountain-on-a-ridge-of-low-hills-in-county.html">Welsh mythology and folklore include many types of fairies as well. These range from the gentle and curious Ellyllon, tiny creatures who live on miniature islands and herd tiny cattle, to formidable warriors and ghosts like Gwynn ap Nudd, who is the king of fairies and has a pack of dogs known as the CWn Annwfn, or hounds of hell. Nudd leads a group of ghosts on The Wild Hunt through the countryside. Other gentle fairies include the Fair Family, or Tylwyth Teg, and the beautiful water fairies called the Gwragedd Annwn, who live in lakes in underground dwellings and reward curious men who venture into their world with feasts and celebrations. Less benign Welsh fairies include the Bwaganod, a shape-shifting goblin, the trickster elves known as the Bwbach, and the grumpy, rude, mountain fairies called Gwyllion, whose intentions towards humans are generally good but who find enjoyment in annoying people as they pass through their lands.
In English literature many famous poems, books, and plays involved fairies. William Shakespeare incorporated the old fairy stories into many of his plays, including the fairies that cause romantic chaos in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mercutio's Queen Mab speech in Romeo and Juliet and the magician Prospero and his sprite Ariel in The Tempest were also influenced by Celtic lore. Scottish author J. M. Barry immortalized the world of fairies in his play Peter Pan, which features the fairy Tinkerbell.
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