Have the Babas Yaga kidnapped your character's child, or are they comforting her because of her loss? Perhaps your character has a hustle of brownies living with him. Are they helpful, or are they mischievous? What about that lawn of gnomes? Have they come to life?
The short little men who helped Santa Claus are not the only elven creatures around. Other eleven creatures include Babas Yaga, brownies, dryads, dwarves, and fairies. Learn more about each of these elven creatures and discover how you can use them in your writing.
Baba Yaga is a scary one-legged witch with iron teeth who kidnaps and eats children. The hut she lives in is held up by extra-large chicken legs, which leads me to believe it must not be a very large hut. How strong could chicken legs be? In spite of her voracious appetite, the many Russian folktales about her tell us that she is extremely thin and bony. She must have a fast metabolism to go along with her never-ending appetite.
There are also many Russian folktales about another Baba Yaga, one known as a wise woman that people would go to for advice. She helps those who need it and has the reputation of being all-knowing and all-seeing. A solace is something that makes you feel better when you are sad or upset, so I believe that a solace of Babas Yaga would be referring to a group of the nicer Babas Yaga.
A brownie is a hard-working little elf. Only about three-feet tall, he is said to come out only at night and complete the work that wasn't finished during the day. I have often wished that my home would be invaded by a hustle of brownies that would help me to clean house. These helpful little creatures can also have a mischievous side, though. Instead of cleaning, they help to mess things up that have been done and create more of a mess. A mischievous hustle of brownies have apparently been living with me for quite some time now.
Dryads are female spirits that watch over the trees. When a dryad is born, a tree is assigned to her. These existence of these beautiful ladies is closely connected to their tree. If their tree ceases to exist so will they. Each dryad will play around in the forest or grove, but never strays far from her tree. A group of these lovely ladies is known as a brace of dryads.
Anytime I hear about dwarves, I automatically think of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The dwarves, like the ones in the story, are a mythical race of short and stocky human-like beings. A knot of dwarves is what a group of seven dwarves would be called. Actually, it is what any group of two or more dwarves would be referred to as.
Elves bring J.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, as well as Santa's elves, to mind. Who would make all of the Christmas toys if his elves weren't around? The elves that most think of now are small in stature, but they have not always been so short.
The majority of people probably think of Santa Claus when elves are mentioned. A drove of elves load Santa's bags with the Christmas toys they made to be delivered all over the world.
Tinkerbell, the tooth fairy, and the Sugar Plum fairy come to mind when I think of fairies. Some of these little mythical beings are known for their kindness, gentleness, and good-will; others are not so nice and want to bring only harm. When someone is in a tizzy, they are in a nervous, excited, or distracted state of mind. A gathering of more than one of these creatures that have magical powers would be known as a tizzy of fairies. Can't you see fairies darting around through the flowers or trees like hummingbirds?
Gnomes are usually described as little old shriveled men. They live inside the earth and guard its treasures. Most often, we see them guarding the treasures of a person's yard. But what if these lawn gnomes were to suddenly begin breathing? What if they actually began scaring away the stray dogs, cats, and people who wondered by or through the yard? More than one of these creatures is referred to as a lawn of gnomes.
Have fun playing around with these elven creatures in your writing.
