Faeries and Folklore Podcast

The Faeries and Folklore Podcast by Ronel: Telkhines #podcast #faeries #folklore

Episode 48: Water Fae: Telkhines

The folklore of Telkhines in a nutshell, how I reimagined them for my writing, and this faery translated into Afrikaans.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2022 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about Telkhines 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.

This episode is brought to you by my book Once… Tales, Myths and Legends of Faerie available in eBook, audiobook and paperback. Learn more at ronelthemythmaker.com/my-books.

We’re continuing our exploration of Water Fae.

Today’s Faery: Telkhines

Folklore in a nutshell by Ronel

In Greek mythology, Telkhines are older than the pantheon as they were the metalsmiths who made the scythe with which Kronos castrated his father Ouranos, they raised Poseidon and made his trident, and they also apparently had a thing for Aphrodite as they kidnapped her at some point.

Most Greek writers thought that the Telkhines were siblings of the Furies, born of the blood of Ouranos’s genitals when Kronos castrated him – but this doesn’t line up with them having created Kronos’s scythe before that. Other ancient writers maintain that the Telkhines were the children of the titans Thalassa and Pontus.

The Telkhines originally lived on the island of Rhodes and used their brand of sorcery to imbue the artefacts they made with magic – which is why Poseidon’s trident and Kronos’s scythe are so powerful and lasted so long.

Before the catastrophe period – more commonly known as the great flood – the Telkhines were the original gods of Rhodes, linked to Atlantis, and the sea. They even had Kapheira, daughter of Oceanus, to aid them in the upbringing of Poseidon once Rhea entrusted her baby to them. There is even some speculation that Kapheira was a Telkhine herself, linking these creatures to Oceanus.

Besides being fantastic metalsmiths, artists and magicians, they could also affect the weather, bringing about snow, rain, hailstorms, and earthquakes at will. And apparently they also made a mixture of Stygian water and sulphur, which killed animals and plants. Unlike other jack-of-all-trades, they were masters of all.

They are known to have been able to shape-shift into any form. In some texts it is said that their very appearance – and especially their eyes – were destructive. Their appearance varies from account-to-account, but most believe that after they started to use their powers for evil, they were transformed by Poseidon into dog-headed creatures with flippers and fins as appendages, forced to live in the depths of the seas where they couldn’t do much harm – or Tartarus, with the same effect. It is also said that this happened after they kidnapped Aphrodite. In other accounts Zeus killed them with thunderbolts, or Poseidon with his trident, or Apollo who turned into a wolf when they started to use their powers for evil – or these sea-dwelling creatures were killed by the great flood.

Though they are rarely mentioned in surviving ancient texts, their destructive powers always far outweigh their technical capabilities, and they are almost always portrayed as malevolent.

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an origin of the fae: Telkhines

Telkhines are ocean-dwelling creatures with the heads of dogs and bodies similar to other ocean-dwelling creatures: some have the bodies of crustaceans, some of fish, some of seals. They always have human-like arms to perform their metalsmithing and other artistic works. Though they were able to shape-shift at some point, they were cursed by sea witches to remain in one form so all could recognise them. They have strong magic, but stuck in the ocean they are only a threat to other water fae, ocean-dwellers, and humans unfortunate enough to encounter them on a deep sea dive.

As a little bonus, let’s look at the translation of Telkhine into Afrikaans: Hond-kop-see-smid.

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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No-one writes about the fae like Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

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