Pillywiggins are tiny goblins and fairies, guardians of the flora, mentioned in English and Irish folklore. Tiny in size, they have the antennae and wings of a butterfly or dragonfly, live in groups and spend their time frolicking among the flowers.
 Little fairies with butterfly wings, close to the description of pillywiggins. | |
| Grouping | Popular folklore |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Fairy and Goblin |
| Country | Great Britain and Ireland |
| Details | Very small size, habitat flora |
They are described by Nancy Arrowsmith, and later by Pierre Dubois and others in The Great Encyclopedia of Fairies and Lessons in Elficology.
Origin
editPillywiggins are fairies from English folklore,[1] associated with spring flowers[2] and personifying the "divine essence of plants".[3] They are mentioned in the folklore of Great Britain and Ireland.[4] Pierre Dubois cites the alvens of Holland and certain fairies on the border of the Belgian Ardennes, who play similar roles.[5]
The name "Pillywiggin" appeared in 1977 in the American Nancy Arrowsmith's Field Guide to the Little People,[6] who believes that the name of these creatures comes from the English county of Dorset.[7][8] It is also found in a collection by American folklorist Tristram Potter Coffin, dated 1984.[9]
Pillywiggins are also mentioned in the esoteric work of Faery Wicca author Edain McCoy (1994), who classifies them among the elemental fairies,[10] citing their preference for the shade of great oaks[11] (a characteristic also present in Bane's description),[2] and describing a very seductive pillywiggins queen, who goes by the name of Ariel and rides bats.[11][2]
Description
editAuthor Catherine Rager (2003) describes them as pixies,[4] while Theresa Bane associates them with fairies.[2] Winged,[2] they usually measure a centimetre,[4] but can change size.[4] Their food consists of dew and pollen.[4] They are trooping fairies, creatures that live in groups.[2] They have no particular interest in human beings, but may participate in some of their activities, such as wedding ceremonies and other celebrations.[2] Unlike other fairies in British folklore, they are not known for playing tricks on humans.[2]
According to Pierre Dubois, they are the tiniest of the elven gentry, along with Lincolnshire's Tiddy.[5] "Wonderfully beautiful" thanks to their butterfly-like attributes, they are fond of English parks and gardens, in all parts of the UK except the Midlands, as well as in Ireland.[5] There, they spend their time playing and frolicking.[5][2] They are the guardian spirits of small flora, living to the rhythm of the plants they protect.[5] They hibernate from November to April, until the cuckoo chirps.[5]
They are said to ignore humans, preferring to dance among the wildflowers in the shade of tall oaks,[2] where they are usually found.[12] Their popular representations show them riding bees from flower to flower, or themselves the size of a bee.[12][2]
According to gardening specialists Karan Davis Cutler and Barbara W. Ellis, English folklore mostly associates pillywiggins with the tulip.[13]
Mentions in fiction and video games
editPillywiggins gave their name to Julia Jarman's children's novel Pilliwiggins and the Tree Witch.[14] In Alexander of Teagos, Paula Porter describes pillywiggins as beings that are "silent, but speak to your heart".[15] They can also be found in fantasy novels, such as Rebecca Paisley's A Basket of Wishes,[16] Brian Cullen's Seekers of the Chalice,[17] Tiffany Trent's By Venom's Sweet Sting,[18] Tiffany Turner's The Lost Secret of the Green Man, which describes them as guardians of wildflowers,[19] and other works of fiction.[20]
The yellow pillywiggin and the red pillywiggin are notable enemies of the Final Fantasy XI game, akin to bees.[21][22]
In his children's book Leçons d'elficologie, Pierre Dubois presents a plate depicting the metamorphosis of a young pillywiggin into a butterfly fairy.[23] A nursery rhyme published in an Australian children's book describes singing Pillywiggin.[24] A modern Italian storybook evokes the proximity of Pillywiggins to foxglove and bellflower.[25]
Multicolored Pillywiggin is the title of a children's song on Pakita's album Viens vite... Je t'invite, released in 2007.[26]
References
edit- ^ Rose 1996, p. 261.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bane 2013, p. 275.
- ^ Heath 2000, p. 152.
- ^ a b c d e Rager 2003, p. 772.
- ^ a b c d e f Pierre Dubois (ill.Roland et Claudine Sabatier), La Grande Encyclopédie des fées (!st edition 1996), p. 128, 129.
- ^ "Guide de terrain du petit peuple. Une journée dans le royaume caché des Elfes, Fées, Hobgoblins et autres créatures pas si mythique – Nancy Arrowsmith". ActuaLitté.com (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-14..
- ^ Arrowsmith, Nancy (2009). Field Guide to the Little People: A Curious Journey Into the Hidden Realm of Elves, Faeries, Hobgoblins & Other Not-So-Mythical Creatures. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-7387-1549-0..
- ^ Nancy Arrowsmith et George Moorse (1977). A Field Guide to the Little People (1 ed.). Hill & Wang. ISBN 0-9659064-1-8..
- ^ Tristram Potter Coffin (1984). Fairies and Elves. Time-Life Books. ISBN 978-0-8094-5212-5. Retrieved 2023-06-14..
- ^ McCoy, Edain (1994). A witch's guide to faery folk : reclaiming our working relationship with invisible helpers. New Age Series. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-87542-733-1.
- ^ a b McCoy 1994, p. 195.
- ^ a b Brasey 1999, p. 74.
- ^ Cutler, Karan Davis; Ellis, Barbara W. (2006). Complete flower gardener. Burpee Series. Wiley Pub. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7645-4324-1..
- ^ Jarman, Julia (2011). Pilliwiggins and the Tree Witch. Andersen. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-84939-018-7..
- ^ Porter, Paula (2010). Alexander of Teagos. Trafford Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4269-2439-2..
- ^ Paisley, Rebecca (1995). A Basket of Wishes. Dell. p. 391. ISBN 978-0-440-21651-3..
- ^ Cullen, Brian (2009). Seekers of the Chalice. Tom Doherty Associates. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-7653-5362-7.
- ^ Trent, Tiffany (2007). By Venom's Sweet Sting. Vol. 2 de Hallowmere Series. Wizards of the Coast. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-7869-4230-5.
- ^ Turner, Tiffany (2009). The Lost Secret of the Green Man: Book 2. Trafford Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4269-2156-8.
- ^ For example Wilder, J. C.; Kelly, Isabo; Ivey, Carolan (2008). In the Gloaming. Samhain Publishing, Ltd. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-59998-639-5.
- ^ "Yellow Pillywiggins", accessed 2011
- ^ "Red Pillywiggin", accessed 2011
- ^ Dubois, Pierre (26 October 2006). Leçons d'elficologie: géographie, histoire, leçons de choses (in French). Paris: Hoëbeke. p. 119. ISBN 978-2-84230-264-1..
- ^ Harper, Julie-Ann (2007). Frolicking with the fairies. Pick-a-Woo Woo children's book series. Pickawoowoo Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-9803669-0-7..
- ^ Ravecca, Luana (2004). Natale in... rosa. La festa più festa dell'anno con Tinny (in Italian). Vol. 6 de Generazione G. Paoline. p. 73. ISBN 978-88-315-2737-8.
- ^ Pakita (2000). Viens vite...je t'invite / Pakita. Music 18. Retrieved 2023-06-12..
Bibliography
edit- Bane, Theresa (2013-09-04). Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7111-9. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
- Dunwich, Gerina (1990). The Concise Lexicon of the Occult. Carol Pub. Group. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-8065-1191-7.
- Brasey, Édouard (1999). Fées et elfes. L’univers féerique (in French). Pygmalion. p. 230. ISBN 978-2-85704-575-5.
- Heath, Jennifer (2000). The echoing green: the garden in myth and memory. Plume. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-452-28166-0.
- Rager, Catherine (2003). Dictionnaire des fées: et du peuple invisible dans l'Occident païen. Petits dictionnaires bleus. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN 978-2-503-51105-4.
- Rose, Carol (1996-12-31). Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes and Goblins: An Encyclopedia of the Little People. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-87436-811-6. Retrieved 2023-06-14.