DreamerI'm just starting to put together the races I want to use in my novel, and I was going to use the fairy race, but they just aren't gelling with me. Everything I have come up with just feels a bit too Merry Gentry to me, and as much as I love those books I want to do something more original. So I was thinking of a race that isn't used too often. Possibly selkie, any other ideas would be very appreicated.
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Wanting to do something a bit different
- Thread starter Dakkle
- Start date
Graham Irwin
Sage
Make one up!!!! Use that imagination!
Ravana
Istar
One possibility: get away from Western European material. Find something from a less familiar culture, then "translate" the name–if it seems necessary–into something that is neither the original (thus disguising the source) nor a common English equivalent (thus avoiding preconceptions arising therefrom). You don't have to go too far afield: folklore from Russia and the Baltic states contains a number of "fairy"-like beings that are distinct from Western varieties. For that matter, even Greek mythology is loaded with beings that don't see heavy use in modern fantasy.
I would add, though, that you shouldn't be adding races just to add races. If you don't already have some notion of what they're going to do in your story, you're better off not using them… whereas if you do have such notions, that will largely determine what you end up using. What you call them is up to you–but selkie can't perform all the same functions as, say, dwarves or satyrs (and vice versa): it's a matter of their natures. So if what you want is fairies, don't use selkie.
I would add, though, that you shouldn't be adding races just to add races. If you don't already have some notion of what they're going to do in your story, you're better off not using them… whereas if you do have such notions, that will largely determine what you end up using. What you call them is up to you–but selkie can't perform all the same functions as, say, dwarves or satyrs (and vice versa): it's a matter of their natures. So if what you want is fairies, don't use selkie.
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- Thread starter
- #4
I'm not just adding them to add another race, they do have a reason for being in the story. It is a romance between a werewolf and a woman from a completely different race, I was thinking fairy (based on the old British fairy traditions) but I just thought I'd rather go for something completely different. I do like the idea of going away from the Western European material but now I'm struggling to find something that feels right. I'm going to head off to the library in a bit to see if I can find any inspiration.
Anders Ämting
Auror
Try Scandinavian trolls. Incredibly underrated creatures - lives for thousands of years, obscenely strong, usually knows illusion magic. The young females could actually be rather attractive, more or less resembling human women aside from a long lion-like tail.
But really, I don't think you should try to be original just for the sake of being original. To begin with, people these days get too hung up on originality. If you want to use fairies, the problem is that your current take on fairies just isn't interesting to you, so your approach should be to make them more interesting.
If fairies feels just plain wrong, then you need to take a step back and look at what kind of story you are trying to tell.
But really, I don't think you should try to be original just for the sake of being original. To begin with, people these days get too hung up on originality. If you want to use fairies, the problem is that your current take on fairies just isn't interesting to you, so your approach should be to make them more interesting.
If fairies feels just plain wrong, then you need to take a step back and look at what kind of story you are trying to tell.
- Thread starter
- #6
The only reason I didn't want to use faries was that they weren't quite grabbing me, they fitted, they just didn't feel right. The race isn't as important as the characters themselves. I do really like the Scandanavian tolls, I'll be researching them for something at a later date if not for this!
Ravana
Istar
I'm not sure the troll would make a good romantic lead anyway. 
A werewolf and a selkie? But what would the children look like? (And what would they turn into?)
Try: Russian vodyanoi (a selkie on steroids, with a bad attitude to boot) or leshi; Greek kallikantzaroi (or any of several variant spellings; ignore the emphasis most websites put on their Christmas-related activities); Hindu apsaras and gandharvas (female and male of the same thing) or yakshas… just to name a few I'm familiar with. Note that in most cases, you're going to want to adapt–and probably dial back on their traditional levels of power.
An interesting site I ran across, good for random browsing:
Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion.
Don't take the descriptions too seriously to heart: most are (too) brief, and don't necessarily reflect the full range of natures of a given being. But quite extensive in coverage (over 7k articles spanning the entire world–a note from last year says they're working on a "new edition" of over 17k articles), and a great place to begin research. Categories are broken down well, though it does help to have some idea what you're looking for, as even the categories are sometimes rather large–the Native (i.e. North) American section has almost 600 articles, the Polynesia one nearly 300, for instance. Find a few that sound good, and dig further.
A werewolf and a selkie? But what would the children look like? (And what would they turn into?)
Try: Russian vodyanoi (a selkie on steroids, with a bad attitude to boot) or leshi; Greek kallikantzaroi (or any of several variant spellings; ignore the emphasis most websites put on their Christmas-related activities); Hindu apsaras and gandharvas (female and male of the same thing) or yakshas… just to name a few I'm familiar with. Note that in most cases, you're going to want to adapt–and probably dial back on their traditional levels of power.
An interesting site I ran across, good for random browsing:
Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion.
Don't take the descriptions too seriously to heart: most are (too) brief, and don't necessarily reflect the full range of natures of a given being. But quite extensive in coverage (over 7k articles spanning the entire world–a note from last year says they're working on a "new edition" of over 17k articles), and a great place to begin research. Categories are broken down well, though it does help to have some idea what you're looking for, as even the categories are sometimes rather large–the Native (i.e. North) American section has almost 600 articles, the Polynesia one nearly 300, for instance. Find a few that sound good, and dig further.
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There's no reason you can't make any magical fairy-ish creature able to assume a human form. I have a dragon who turned himself human for love.... HA it's your world, and anything goes. She could just be a thought-to-be-extinct magical human race... that could be fun. Or I love the idea of taking something misunderstood, like trolls and reintroducing them. When a reader is reading... they will be wondering what she is. Actually, I read a book about a romance between a werewolf and fairy (the man was the fairy) it's called Master of the Moon, and I couldn't believe how wonderfully fitting I felt the fairy characters were. I used to be way into White Wolf gaming, and it's pretty hard to impress me with vampires and werewolves and fae.
Anyways, I think you sound like you know what you like, and what you want, and hope you find what you need. When in doubt.... make it up yourself! Good Luck!
Anyways, I think you sound like you know what you like, and what you want, and hope you find what you need. When in doubt.... make it up yourself! Good Luck!
SeverinR
Vala
Trolls need love too!I'm not sure the troll would make a good romantic lead anyway.
An interesting site I ran across, good for random browsing:
Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion.
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One grumpy anti-social troll eats a few goats crossing a bridge and we're all labeled as mean. :Q
Seriously, It could be a beauty and the beast twist. Mis-understood troll abused by the world.
Before Shriek, ogres had a bad name too.
Jk but look at every possibility from every angle before picking the right beastie...oh wait its beasty unless they're in a band.