FERRALS (The Official Ferry's Tale Fandom)

Worldbuilding: Tenalach

Tenalach is the land of the Sun Fairies where there's always perpetual twilight, everyone lives in peace and harmony and has a deep connection with nature. 

'Tenalach' (Irish) is a word used in the hills and mountains in the west of Ireland. It points to a relationship one has with the land/air/water, a deep connection that allows one to literally hear the earth sing.

The history of Tenalach is long, but one of the most important events was the Great Banishment when humans began to destroy nature, causing the death of the Sun Fairies. That's why the fairies started to kidnap people and bring them to their land where, in the end, they lived as their own. The world of the Sun Fairies is a reflection of our own. So when a tree is cut in our world, it ceases to exist in the land of the fae, as well. 

When I created the inhabitants of Tenalach, and especially the Wandering Fays (Oona is one of them) I always had in mind the Iele (to be spelled Yelleh), the fairies of Romanian folklore. They are said to be beautiful girls with great magical powers who give the plants healing powers, make the trees bear fruit, sing, and dance otherworldly. But they are also very feared by humans. If disturbed or mocked, they can become very vengeful and evil. They are so feared, that people can't even speak their names.

 On the night of the 23rd of June, the night when, according to legends, our land communicates with one of the fairies, people can take a glimpse at their world, but with terrible repercussions. On this magical night, these beautiful young girls dance in a circle under the moonlight in clearings or by the waters. People who accidentally see them are doomed to lose their mind, lose their speech, or simply vanish from the face of the Earth. 

On June the 24th, Romanians celebrate the Sanziene, a solar celebration that has the name given to the good fairies. On this day, young girls dress in the traditional costume, with Lady's bedstraw flowers braided in their hair, and do ritual dances to bring prosperity, good weather, and peace over the land.

I first heard about the Iele as a child during the summer holidays I spent at my grandparents', in the countryside. During the summer nights, when there was no Internet and no modern technology, people used to gather around campfires and tell stories about the living dead, vampires, demons, and Iele. It was during one of those gatherings that I found out about how dangerous the Iele were. About their habit of stealing young, attractive men and beautiful babies and take them to their world from where they never returned. About how beautiful they were when they needed to allure men to their land, and how hideous they turned if you didn't show them respect.

In Romania, there are many legends about the Iele, especially in the rural areas. This is an interesting article about them: https://www.imperialtransilvania.com/2020/10/04/read-more/argomenti/events-1/articolo/ielele-the-magic-beings-of-the-romanian-folklore.html

The Iele were last seen in Romania in the 1950s, so not very long ago. I read an interesting article about their disappearance, a while ago. The protagonist was an old woman from a remote village in the mountains. She said she saw the fairies as a child and that they were dressed in white dresses, sang amazing, otherworldly songs, and were as tall as a house. The reason they were no longer seen is as simple as it is credible -- because they used to fly over the village, when the electrical system was introduced in the rural areas, they risked being caught in the electrical wires and get electrocuted. So they left over the hills and never came back...

Now... if you happen to pass by a deserted road near the forest during the night and hear a song like you never heard before or the sound of bells coming out of nowhere, do yourself a favor and run. Otherwise, you might never see this world again...