Asrai
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- This article is about the type of fairy called Asrai. For the band, see Asrai (band). For the Wood Elves of the fantasy setting, Warhammer, see Wood Elves (Warhammer)
In Brythonic mythology an Asrai is a type of aquatic fairy, similar in some ways to mermaids, nixies, selkies, sirens or morgens. Some sources describe them as timid and shy, standing only between 2 and 4 feet tall, while others depict them as tall and lithe.[1] They are said to look like beautiful young maidens, sometimes as young as children, while actually being hundreds of years old.[2] They may have webbed hands and feet, resembling some descriptions of selkies.[2]
If an Asrai is seen by a man, her beauty is so great that, according to folklore, the man will instantly wish to capture her. The Asrai are as deathly afraid of capture as they are of the sun, for if captured or if even a single ray of sunlight touches them, it is said that they die and turn into a pool of water.[3]
The tale told of one fisherman who caught an Asrai claims that the touch of her skin was so cold, that where the Asrai touched his arm while pleading for her freedom -- and her life -- the flesh has never been warm since.[2]
Their inability to survive daylight is similar to that of the Scottish Fuath.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Froud, Brian; and Alan Lee (2002) Faeries. Pavilion Books ISBN 1862055580
- ^ a b c d The Asrai
- ^ Asrai at Encyclopedia Mythica
[edit] References
- Arrowsmith, Nancy (1977) A Field Guide to the Little People
- Tongue, Ruth L. (1970) Forgotten Folk-Tales of the English Counties Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. ISBN 0710068336
