Daoine Sidhe

"*[T]here are those of us with cousins across the river whom we care for, very much, who are fighting to make sure it does not collapse. And we have been here longer than you have, and we have a much older agenda to fight. I don’t know that I care for you, young man, and nor do I know if it will be your reign that pulls us through this rocky time. But I have come to hope that it will.*"
―Marika[[The Court of Five Thrones, Chapter 21: Fracture]]
**Daoine sidhe** are a species of fae. The only named daoine sidhe in the *Fae Tales Verse* is Marika. The daoine sidhe are one of many types of sidhe. Daoine sidhe also dominated the town of Lavenna, and some resided in Arkhel.

## Physical Description

Gwyn ap Nudd said Marika was 'stunningly beautiful. She had a more refined face than even his mother.' Marika had pointed ears and fit the fairy stereotype better than most fae. She had grey eyes with pupils that were able to turn to slits like a cat's.

The daoine sidhe in Lavenna were described as tall and graceful.

Marika also tends to wear very elaborate clothing. At the last Wild Hunt, she wore small pearls on her ears, and '[d]iaphanous hunting attire, and strapped to her calf, a small hunting blade. Around her long fingers glittered rings, and Gwyn had no doubt that one of them housed a sharp little spike.' At the Coalition of the Classless, she wore a 'glittering gown [that] shone like the dawn'. When she arrived in Dharnam, she was 'dressed in hunting attire that managed to look both functional and gauzily stunning', and carried 'a longbow, at her side a quiver of arrows . . . Her fingers were decorated with beautiful rings, the gemstones an opaque white, with a lustrous iridescence. At her ears were pearls set in silver.'

## Abilities

Marika can use magic, though it's unclear if this is a daoine sidhe attribute, part of her being classless, or simply something unique to Marika. She is also quite skilled in archery.

## Characteristics (culture, habits)

Marika's home included 'light spilling on balustrades and a landing that looked as though it were made of blue and pink mother of pearl', which is normal for daoine sidhe aesthetics. Her home was quite opulent, and Gwyn noted that it was a bit dated.

In Lavenna, 'all the doorways were taller than what Mosk was used to, because the sidhe were so tall.' The town itself seemed themed around forests, with the inn Gwyn and his party stayed at there being 'built both next to and into a giant oak tree.' The inn also had a tendency for 'pearly' surfaces. The daoine sidhe also shared the town with aelves and Seelie dryads.

Marika cared deeply about her Unseelie cousins across the river. She came to Dharnam with archers to join Gwyn and a mixed alignment group of fae against Olphix.

## Folklore/Mythology

'The 'aos sí**'** . . . is the Irish term for a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology (where it is usually spelled Sìth, but pronounced the same), comparable to the fairies or elves.

They are said to live underground in fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans. This world is described in the *Lebor Gabála Érenn* as a parallel universe in which the *aos sí* walk amongst the living. In the Irish language, *aos sí* means "people of the mounds" (the mounds are known in Irish as "the *sídhe*"). In modern Irish the people of the mounds are also called *daoine sídhe* . . . in Scottish mythology they are *daoine sìth*. They are variously said to be the ancestors, the spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods.

In many Gaelic tales, the *aos sí* are later, literary versions of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("People of the Goddess Danu")—the deities and deified ancestors of Irish mythology. Some sources describe them as the survivors of the Tuatha Dé Danann who retreated into the Otherworld when fleeing the mortal Sons of Míl Espáine who, like many other early invaders of Ireland, came from Iberia. As part of the terms of their surrender to the Milesians, the Tuatha Dé Danann agreed to retreat and dwell underground. (In later interpretations, each tribe of the Tuatha Dé Danann was given its own mound.) Geoffrey Keating, an Irish historian of the early 17th century, equates Iberia with the Land of the Dead, providing a possible connection to the *aos sí.*

In folk belief and practice, the *aos sí* are often appeased with offerings, and care is taken to avoid angering or insulting them. Often they are not named directly, but rather spoken of as "The Good Neighbors", "The Fair Folk", or simply "The Folk". The most common names for them, *aos sí*, *aes sídhe*, *daoine sídhe* (singular *duine sídhe*) and *daoine sìth* mean, literally, "people of the mounds" (referring to the *sídhe*). The *aos sí* are generally described as stunningly beautiful, though they can also be terrible and hideous.

*Aos sí* are seen as fierce guardians of their abodes—whether a fairy hill, a fairy ring, a special tree (often a hawthorn) or a particular loch or wood. It is believed that infringing on these spaces will cause the *aos sí* to retaliate in an effort to remove the people or objects that invaded their homes. Many of these tales contribute to the changeling myth in west European folklore, with the *aos sí* kidnapping trespassers or replacing their children with changelings as a punishment for transgressing. The *aos sí* are often connected to certain times of year and hours; as the Gaelic Otherworld is believed to come closer to the mortal world at the times of dusk and dawn, the *aos sí* correspondingly become easier to encounter. Some festivals such as Samhain, Beltane and Midsummer are also associated with the *aos sí.'*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 August 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/82025380. Chapter 12: Come Back To Me.
2. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 2 September 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/83586277. Chapter 14: The King and the Hybrid.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 December 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/6186821. Chapter 21: Fracture.
4. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 24 July 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10022663. Chapter 53: Arrow.
5. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 14 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10409742. Chapter 56: Islands.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 May 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/97400118. Chapter 32: Our Better Natures.
7. ↑ "Aos Si". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aos\_S%C3%AD. Accessed 7 May 2021.