Celtic fairy traditions
Fenodyree
The Fenodyree gathers sheep in snow and threshes grain while the household sleeps. The work makes him a welcome presence without bringing him fully into ordinary domestic society. A farmer offers clothes after seeing him naked. The helper responds with disgust and leaves for Glen Rushen, turning a seemingly generous gift into the end of the relationship.
Also known as Phynnodderee
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In the sources
Principal account
ReportedThe Fenodyree gathers sheep in snow and threshes grain while the household sleeps. The work makes him a welcome presence without bringing him fully into ordinary domestic society.
Further detail
ReportedA farmer offers clothes after seeing him naked. The helper responds with disgust and leaves for Glen Rushen, turning a seemingly generous gift into the end of the relationship.
Context & interpretation
Evans-Wentz combines named informants, manuscript narratives, and his own psychical theory in a 1911 survey. This entry preserves those distinctions: collected belief and literary tradition do not establish the physical existence of an Otherworld.
Original passages
Source 1
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
* During snowy weather, like this, the Fenodyree would gather in the sheep at night ; and during the harvest season would do the threshing when allOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 160
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0160
- Original scan leaf
- 161
- Recorded leaf number
- 161
- Current Reader position
- 156
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
merry Glen of Rushen.) ^ And off he went to Glen Rushen for good.' Testimony from the Keeper of Peel Castle From Mrs. Moore's house IOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 160
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0160
- Original scan leaf
- 161
- Recorded leaf number
- 161
- Current Reader position
- 156
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Banshee
A warning woman associated with family, mourning, and the dead.
Same subject and traditionBucca
A Cornish power that the survey distinguishes from ordinary fairies.
Same subject and traditionCornish Piskies
Fairy people whose presence is negotiated around Cornish homes and moors.
Same subject and traditionKorrigans
Breton fairy beings associated with dances, fountains, and ancient stones.