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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dogbrain" data-source="post: 1589382" data-attributes="member: 14980">They're also English.  Have people completely forgotten that English culture had any sort of myth and wonder?Two ways of spelling the same word, actually, also appeared a lot in southern German cultures.The "Four Elements" were far more Greek and Hellenistic (also Mesopotamian, maybe Egyptian, etc) and utterly inappropriate for northern European cultures before the Middle Ages.  Indeed, this is how one can easily spot a bogus pretender who claims to do some sort of "ancient Celtic" mumbletyjumbo:  They get into "four elements" of the Greek (earth, air, fire, water) variety.  Irish and Continental Celts seemed to prefer an ancient fivefold division.Which would be any giant--actually. I recall no mention of a whole race of two-headed giants in Norse tales.  Multi-headed giants are generally of Medieval or Renaissance storytelling.Except that the Norse troll was more of a "big hulking brute"--far closer to the D&D ogre than the D&D troll.This is quite a modern stretch.  Mephits are obviously from Renaissance European alchemy, likely with Arabic antecedents.  No apes nor tales of apes in Norse mythology.  Likewise, no big worms as distinct from dragons.The "unseelie" did not exist in Gaelic or other Celtic folklore.  The Unseelie were part of English folklore.  Contrary to the foolishness of low-grade fantasy authors, Celts (of whatever stripe) did not invent "fey" (even the word, "fey", by the way, is of purely Germanic origin, not in the least bit Celtic), nor is it exclusive to them.  If it's unseelie, it's English/Germanic.Except that the Bean Sidhe was considered to be a good spirit--a guardian who warned a family of impending danger.  Her wail FORETOLD misfortune--WARNED of it.  She did not CAUSE it.Elementals are a product of Greek philosophy filtered through Renaissance and post-Renaissance "natural philosophy.The Firbolg were just another set of human tribes in Ireland.  They were distinguished by having dark hair, sallow skin, and being much shorter than the Milesians.  They were also known as the Érainn, Euerni, Iverni, or Belgae (interesting, given the existence of a Celtic tribe of similar name on the Continent).  Current Firbolg septs include Ó Gorman, Ó Laighin (Lyons), Ó Driscoll.The Fomorians are similar.All cultures' myths are replete with creatures that resemble D&D "Hags".Most likely English origin.  Sprites and Pixies are only found in English folktales.Latin or English originMedieval French, if any source can be pinned down.  It also may have been a Latin or Greek legend.Probably of English or Scottish/English borderer (mixed culture) origin.  One tipoff is the extremely NON-Gaelic and NON-"Celtic" use of "o" for "of".  This is an English practice.  The "Ó" in Irish names like "Ó Brien" is NOT a contraction of "of", it is a variant spelling of "Ua", which means "descendents".  This, by the way, is also why "Ó Brien" is correct spelling and "O'Brien" is not.</blockquote>

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