Elementals in Folklore | The Faeries and Folklore Podcast
Episode 6: Small, Everyday Fae: Elementals
The folklore of elementals in a nutshell, how I reimagined them for my writing, and the faery translated into Afrikaans.
Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.
Copyright 2021 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.
Learn more about elementals here.
Get the transcript here.
Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com
Transcript
You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.
I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With nearly a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.
This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.
Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.
We’re continuing our exploration of small every day fae.
Today’s faery: elementals
Folklore in a nutshell by Ronel.
During the European Renaissance, the mythic being known as an elemental became known in occult and alchemical circles. Paracelsus, renowned Swiss alchemist, elaborated on this and four categories of elementals came to be known: gnomes, sylphs, salamanders and undines. These categories corresponded to the elements of antiquity: earth, air, fire and water. According to Paracelsus, each of the elementals can move through their own element as easily as humans move through air.
Eliphas Levi, prolific author of books about magic, Kabballah, alchemical studies, and occultism, named the sovereigns of each of these elemental groups: Necksa of the Undines, Gob of the Gnomes, Paralda of the Sylphs and Diju of the Salamanders. And because he could, he assigned them their kingdoms: undines to the west, sylphs to the east, salamanders to the south and gnomes to the north.
Robert Kirk described them as having light, changeable bodies. But if you’d prefer them to be beautiful and dangerous instead, that’s fine, too.
And now for my interpretation of the fae in an origin of the fae: elementals
They are tiny fae in charge of the four elements: fire, air, water, earth.
Elementals have light, changeable bodies, like condensed cloud, and best seen at twilight – just as Robert Kirk described them. They move as easily through their elements as humans through air.
Salamanders of fire. Sylphs of air. Undines of water. Gnomes of earth.
Each faction has its own ruler. Diju of the Salamanders. Paralda of the Sylphs. Necksa of the Undines. Gob of the Gnomes.
They all reside in Avenir Hollow, which they share with the Season Fae. Their kingdoms: Salamanders to the South, Sylphs to the East, Undines to the West, and Gnomes to the North.
As a little bonus, let’s look at the translation of elementals into Afrikaans: elemente feë
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.
Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!
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