Nymph

Nymphs are feminine nature spirits originating from Greek mythology. Beautiful, youthful, and divine, they are the offspring of gods, and often the lovers of gods and mortals.
Several types of Nymphs exist, each associated with a specific aspect of nature: Dryads of the trees, freshwater Naiads, oceanic Nereids, etc.
In "The White People", by Arthur Machen, a practitioner of magic claims that there are two kinds of Nymphs, one "bright" and the other "dark", both of which are described as "very lovely and very wonderful". While some people only see one kind or the other, there are also those who see both.
In H. P. Lovecraft's poem "To Pan", Nymphs and Satyrs dance to the music played by Pan.
Another Lovecraft poem, "Laeta; a Lament", tells of how "the shy Nymphs of the woodland, the fount and the plain" all tried in vain to equal the title character's beauty, yet bore no grudge or envy against her, as Laeta was so pure that the Nymphs loved her.
==In the Mythos==
===Sea Nymphs (Nereids)===
Thomas Olney saw Nereids and Tritons accompanying the procession of the gods Neptune and Nodens, and noted that the Nereids made a strange music "by striking on the grotesque resonant shells of unknown lurkers in black sea-caves". (: "The Strange High House in the Mist")
Dr. Makoto Yamada believes that legends of Nereids and Mermaids are actually inspired by the Sea-dwellers. (: "The Black Kiss")
===Wood Nymphs (Dryads)===
The ancient sculptor Kalos habitually spent his nights in the woods conversing with Fauns and Dryads, which provided inspiration for his art. (: "The Tree")
As a boy, Jervas Dudley often spent time in the woods and watched the Dryads dance under the moonlight. (: "The Tomb")
Prior to his correspondence with Henry Wentworth Akeley, a skeptical Albert Wilmarth dismissed the stories about winged crustacean creatures of the Vermont woods as being comparable to the legends of Satyrs, Fauns and Dryads. (: The Whisperer in Darkness)
A passage from the Necronomicon claims that when the time comes, the Spawn of Shub-Niggurath will "take dominion over all wood nymphs, satyrs, leprechauns, and the Little People". (: "The House on Curwen Street", "The Keeper of the Key")
In "The Moon-Lens", by Ramsey Campbell, it is suggested that satyrs, fauns and dryads are related to the Gof'nn hupadgh Shub-Niggurath: humans who have been transformed by Shub-Niggurath. Roy Leakey, after his transformation, was described by Dr. James Linwood as "half a dryad". Dr. Whitaker, who caught a glimpse of Leakey's hand, described it as clawed and looking like it was made out of wood.
Category:Earth-Native Species
Category:Species Incorporated From Folklore, Myth & Religion