In Welsh folklore, certain mines are haunted by coblynau. If treated with respect, these goblins will lead miners to precious ore and warn them of danger, but if treated with disrespect, coblynau will throw rocks at the miners or even collapse their shaft.
Alan Lee
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Though dividing fairies into a more benign Seelie Court and a more sinister Unseelie Court is prominent in modern fantasy, the only folklore it appears in is Scottish, and even then it's a later addition. Other legends don't divide fairies into such easy categories.
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"Tentazione" by Gerda Wegener
#FaustianFriday #FairyFriday #pan #satyr #fashion #art #GerdaWegener

"When the full light of the morning came, no signs of the wolves were to be found, and they looked in vain for the bodies of the dead.... 'It is as I feared,' said Gandalf. 'These were no ordinary wolves.'"
- J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Fellowship of the Ring"
Patrick McEvoy
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In Welsh folklore, King Arthur battles an army of "dog-heads" near Edinburgh. His champion Bedwyr lost a hand killing their leader Gwrgi Garwlwyd ("Man-Dog Rough-Grey"). It's debated whether these beings are meant to be werewolves or a species of dog-headed men.
​ Hartmann Schedel
#FaustianFriday #mythology #folklore #KingArthur #Arthuriana #Celtic #Wales #werewolf #monster #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

According to Greek folklore, a person that committed the sacrilegious act of eating a sheep that had been killed or wounded by either a wolf or werewolf would transform into a vampiric creature known as a vrykolakas upon their death. #FaustianFriday

: Jean-Baptiste Oudry

There's an old Greek belief that a dead werewolf can come back as a wolf or hyena that prowls battlefields, drinking the blood of dying soldiers. In some parts of Eastern Europe, a dead werewolf was said to return as a vampire unless its corpse is properly dealt with.
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In Wales, a dove being near a mine or a crow circling overhead were often considered omens that the mine had become too hazardous. Mysterious tapping or knocking underground were also bad omens, often coblynau (mine goblins) warning the miners of danger.
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The aderyn y corph ("corpse bird") of Wales sits outside the door or window of dying people, calling "Dewch! Dewch!" ("Come! Come!"). Though this bird is often described as having no feathers or even wings, it can still fly. Often it is totally invisible.
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#Celtic #FaustianFriday: „Sometimes, the influence of witchcraft helped to explain the unusual in the uncertain world around them such as a sudden blast or a whirlwind. These freak wind occurrences also played a part in forecasting the weather; a whirlwind was sometimes taken as an indicator of an impending rainfall that would last for three days and a whirlwind headed to the southwest or towards the sea was said to be fetching rain.  Sudden gusts of wind that carried away stalks of hay or straw were taken as a sign that the coming winter would be a harsh one; the straw being carried aloft to help God prepare for a cold winter.“
Source: The Wind-Charmers of Brittany – Bonjour From Brittany

The Irish folktale of ‘The Witches’ Excursion’ begins with a man named Shemus coming downstairs during the night to discover a half-dozen witches, including his own housekeeper, raucously drinking punch in his kitchen before flying off to England together. #FaustianFriday

: Scott Warman

Many authors depict the Minotaur sympathetically. For example, Borges presents a lonely, melancholy figure yearning to escape the Labyrinth while Jim Henson's "The Storyteller" presents a bestial child struggling to learn concepts such as "sunlight" or "family."

"My loneliness does not pain me, because I know my redeemer will finally rise above the dust.... What will he be like? ... A bull or a man? A bull with the face of a man? Or will he be like me, [a man with the face of a bull]?"
- Jorge Luis Borges, "The House of Asterion"

​ George Frederic Watts
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According to Dartmoor legend, Vixana was an evil witch that once resided inside a rock formation known as Vixen Tor. She would conjure up a thick fog to disorient those traveling through the area and lead them into the adjacent bog to drown. #FaustianFriday

: Martin Bodman

Though later fantasy inspired by Tolkien often makes dwarves anti-magic, in "The Hobbit" the dwarves cast spells to open doors, hide their buried treasure, and curse their enemies. They're also less mistrustful of Gandalf's magic than hobbits or humans are.
​ John Howe
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