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List of supernatural inhabitants of England [1]
['Rob Beschizza']
Date: 2024-10-11
The startlingly extensive list of England's supernatural (or perhaps merely cryptid) inhabitants is viral again on social media. The vastness and diversity of the folklore boggles the mind, not least because it leaves much out (including some prominent locals where I grew up) and the English yet decided they needed an even more elaborate mythopoeia on top of it all. Tag yourself!
The origin of this is Michael Aislabie Denham, working between 1846 and 1859, drawing from sources dating as far back as the 1500s and collected in book form in 1895. Among various similar lists, it's noted for one particular obscurity—the word "Hobbits"—making it the likely subconscious source for J.R.R. Tolkien, who understood himself to have coined the word decades later. Here's British Fairies explaining the context.
Denham's list is a disorganised heap of names but, as can be seen, with a little effort it can be organised to reveal the richness of British faerylore and the many and varied categories of fairy being that have been recognised, with their different habitats and habits. Although confirmation probably wasn't wanting, all of this only goes to underline how complex British Faery is. One of the Manx witnesses interviewed by Evans Wentz, John Davies of Ballasalla, told him that "There are as many kinds of fairies as populations in our world." Even when it has been edited and ordered, Denham's list demonstrates how right Davies was.
Just imagine what it's like when the cousins come to visit.
[END]
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