Tylwyth Teg

Tylwyth Teg is a general name for the fairies in Wales, it means the ‘fair folk’. Like the Bendith y Mamau the flattering name was thought to appease them.

In appearance the Tylwyth Teg were small in stature with golden hair, a common trait in many fairies. They were thought to live under hollow hills and in deep crevices, and to frequent ancient places such as Bronze Age Barrows or cromlechs.

Like other fairy folk they often interacted with mortals in the past, and it was possible to gain a fairy wife, although they always longed to return to their own people.

According to many stories time in their realm passed much slower than in ours, a day in their realm could be a year or a hundred years in ours.

This difference could prove disastrous for any mortals returning from the fairy realm.