Fairies Around the World
A Global Compilation of Fey Creatures
An accompaniment to the 2010 Sirens Conference panel “Are There Faeries Outside Western Europe? Exploring Fey Folklore from Around the World,” consisting of Shveta Thakrar, Valerie Frankel, Andrea Horbinski, and Cindy Pon.
(Please note, this is not intended as an exhaustive list but rather as a starting point for your own research.)
Brownies
Chin Chin Kobakama: Japanese elderly helpers
Tiki: South Pacific house spirit carving
Zashiki-warashi: Japanese yōkai, childlike helper
Ancestor spirits from many cultures
Changelings
Aswang: Filipino ghoul who leaves behind plant-matter duplicates of its victims
Ogbanje: Nigerian “child who comes and goes”
Demons
Alan: Filipino deformed spirits with backward fingers and toes
Asuras: South Asian “non-gods” or enemies to the gods—demons, giants, and goblins
Chullachaqui: Brazilian shape-shifting demon
Djinni: Arabic Muslim creature of smokeless flame
Kappa: Japanese malicious water demon
Oni: Japanese ogre
Pombero: Argentinian hairy troublemaker
Popobawa: Tanzanian shape-shifting demon
Rakshasa: South Asian shape-shifting, flesh-eating night prowler
Shedim: Jewish demons, descendents of Lilith
Doppelgängers
Ka: Egyptian “spirit double” with identical feelings and memories
Nahua: Mayan personal-animal spirit
Spirits, forest
Aziza: “near to God”; West African protectors of hunters
Curupira: Brazilian forest guardian with backward feet and green teeth
Diwata, Anito, or Lambana: Filipino tree spirits
Duwende: Filipino playful hobgoblin who only reveals himself to children
Las Anjanas: Cantabrian animal-human blends
Jogah: Iroquois small spirit folk: Gahonga are the jogah of rocks and rivers, the
Gandayah make the earth fertile, and the Odhows control the spirits of the underworld
Orang Bunian: Malay invisible forest spirits
Menehune: Hawaiian tiny hidden craftspeople
Ngen: Mapuche Chilean nature spirits
Ton Mai: Thai tree spirits
Tukonee: Australian tiny cave-dwelling helpers
Spirits, sky
Apsara: South Asian Hindu and Buddhist celestial dancer
Dakini: South Asian Buddhist feminine sky messenger (adopted into Tibetan mythology)
Garuda: South Asian Hindu and Buddhist birdlike creature, consort of the apsara
Pani: South Asian aerial demon, inspirer of foolishness and neglect
Peri: Persian winged benevolent spirit
Spirits, water
Encantado: Portuguese dolphin shape-shifter
Jengu: Cameroon luck-giving mermaids
Nagas/Naginis: South Asian serpentine shape-shifters; fond of water and precious metals
Qalupalik: Alaskan sea people who steal disobedient children
Succubi/Incubi
Aumakua: Sandwich Islands helpful succubus
Ciguapa: Dominican seductive tricksters with backward feet
Deer Woman: Midwestern U.S. forest succubus
Fiura: Chilean hideous wife to the Trauco
Iara: Brazilian fish woman with a blowhole
La Llorona: Mexican slayer of children
Mulla: Sumerian will o’ the wisp
Patasola and Tunda: Columbian seductresses with deformed feet
Patupaiarehe: Māori pale ethereal seducers
Qarînah: Arabic invisible succubus
Trauco: Chilean tiny forest goblin and irresistibly seductive satyr
Wilis: Slavic spirits of betrothed girls who die before their wedding night
Xana: Spanish seductress
Tricksters
Coyote: Plains Indian cultural hero and trickster
Caipora: Brazilian fox-headed forest spirit
Kitsune/Kumiho/Huli jing: Japanese/Korean/Chinese fox spirits
Kushtaka: Alaskan “land otter man,” shape-shifting otter men
Pukwudgie: Wampanoag (Native American) short troll with enlarged nose, fingers,
and ears
Saci: Brazilian shape-shifter
Vampires/Ghosts
Adlivun: Inuit underworld spirits
Adze: West African firefly-shaped child killers
Asanbosam: West African tree-dwelling child-dwellers
Bhoot: South Asian ghost able to assume forms of animals and people
Cihuateteo: Aztec skeletal-faced spirits who died in childbirth
Dybbuk: Jewish possessing ghost
Ghouls: Arabian reanimated corpses
Jiāngshī: Chinese reanimated corpses
Patasola: South American “one foot” blood-drinking succubus
Ramanga: Madagascar living vampires
Sigbin: Filipino bloodsucking night-dwellers
Soucouyant: Trinidadian flying female bloodsucker
Tlahuelpuchi: Mexican bloodsucking shape-shifter
Tokoloshe: Zulu zombie created by vengeful shamans
Vetala: South Asian ghoul-like being that inhabits corpses
Wendigo: Algonquian cannibalistic spirit
Assorted Otherworld/Bright Court spirits
Bediadari: Malaysian “good people”
Mogwoi: Australian humanlike folk
Muan: South and Central American souls of the dead and ancestor spirits
Pillan: Chilean good spirits who live in Wenumapu, the Bright Court, or in volcanoes
Tuurngaq: Alaskan incorporeal “helping spirit” that aids or possesses people
Yakshas/Yakshinis: Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain treasure guardians/nature spirits
Yōkai: Japanese supernatural beings (kitsune, oni, and many others are subtypes)
Further Reading
Texts
1. Michael Ashkenazy, Handbook of Japanese Mythology. USA: ABC-Clio, 2003.
2. N. N. Bhattacharyya, Indian Demonology: The Inverted Pantheon. India: Manohar, 2002.
3. Leo Tak-Hung Chan, The Discourse on Foxes and Ghosts: Ji Yun and Eighteenth-Century Literati Storytelling. USA: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.
4. Daniel Cohen, The Encyclopedia of Monsters. USA: Avon Books, 1991.
5. Bob Curran, Encyclopedia of the Undead. USA: Career Press, 2006.
6. Anna L. Dallapiccola, Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. USA: Thames & Hudson, 2002.
7. George M. Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures. USA: ABC-CLIO, 2002.
8. Donald A. Mackenzie, “Chapter IV: Demons and Giants and Fairies.” Indian Myth
and Legend. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/iml/iml09.htm.
9. Pu Song Ling, Strange Tales of Liaozhai. http://academia.issendai.com/fox-chinese.shtml.
10. Chris McNab, Mythological Monsters. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2007.
11. John E. Roth, American Elves: An Encyclopedia of Little People from the Lore of 380 Ethnic Groups of the Western Hemisphere. USA: McFarland, 1997.
12. Richard E. Strassberg, A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas. USA: University of California Press, 2002.
13. Thomas G. Thrum, “Chapter X: Hawaii: The Original Home of the Brownies,” Stories of the Menehunes. http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hft/hft13.htm.
14. J. Vogel, Indian Serpent Lore or The Nagas in Hindu Legend and Art. USA: Kessinger Publishing, 2005.
15. Shveta Thakrar, "In Search of Apsaras" http://www.cabinetdesfees.com/2010/in-search-of-apsaras-by-shveta-thakrar/
Websites
1. eFairies.com: Fairy Lore (a listing of fey from all over the world): http://www.efairies.com/fairy_lore.htm.
2. The Internet Sacred Text Archive (has all the world’s holy books and many tale collections): http://sacred-texts.com.
3. List of Legendary Creatures (from Wikipedia): www.eons.com/uploads/8/4/84540104_List_of%20legendary%20creature-clean.doc
3. Marie Brennan’s List of Multicultural Fantasy Novelizations: http://www.swantower.com/marie/misc/settings.html.
5. Nin Harris, “The Myths, Folklore and Legends of South East Asia: An Annotated List.” http://www.cabinetdesfees.com/2010/the-myths-folklore-and-legends-of-south-east-asia-an-annotated-list/.
4. Sur La Lune Fairy Tales (online fairy tale collections from all over the world): http://surlalunefairytales.com.
Panelist Websites
Shveta Thakrar: http://shvetufae.livejournal.com
Valerie Frankel: http://vefrankel.com
Andrea Horbinski: http://ahorbinski.dreamwidth.org
Cindy Pon: http://www.cindypon.com
