Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 34 - Water Nymphs

Jul 22, 201019 min read

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Published: Jul 22, 2010

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Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 34 - Water Nymphs

Welcome to the thirty-forth issue of my weekly news article! I hope you enjoy it, and please, show the featured artists some love and recognition through pageviews,

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This week's creature feature is: Water Nymphs

Note: This week's feature covers a VERY broad term. Included here are Naiads, Undine, The Lady of the Lake, and several different kinds of other, less specific water dwellers.  For simplicity's sake, I think it's fairly safe to refer to them all as various kinds of Water Nymphs (just as house cats, tigers, ocelots and lions are all kinds of "cats").

From Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymph en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_ny… and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondine_(… :

Nymphs are personifications of the creative and fostering activities of nature, most often identified with the life-giving outflow of springs.  The Greek word νύμφη has "bride" and "veiled" among its meanings: hence a marriageable young woman.
In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks.  Naiads were associated with fresh water, as the Oceanids were with saltwater and the Nereids specifically with the Mediterranean, but because the Greeks thought of the world's waters as all one system, which percolated in from the sea in deep cavernous spaces within the earth, there was some overlap.
The essence of a naiad was bound to her spring, so if a naiad's body of water dried, she died.  Naiads could be dangerous: Hylas of the Argo's crew was lost when he was taken by naiads fascinated by his beauty. The naiads were also known to exhibit jealous tendencies. Theocritus's story of naiad jealousy was that of a shepherd, Daphnis, who was the lover of Nomia; Daphnis had on several occasions been unfaithful to Nomia and as revenge she permanently blinded him.
Ondines or undines are elementals, enumerated as the water elementals in works of alchemy by Paracelsus. They also appear in European folklore as fairy-like creatures; the name may be used interchangeably with those of other water spirits. Undines are said to be able to gain a soul by marrying a man and bearing his child.  They are usually found in forest pools and waterfalls. They have beautiful voices, which are sometimes heard over the sound of water.  In 18th century Scotland, undines were also referred to as the wraiths of water. Even then, they were not feared as other wraiths.

Now, for the features!  Works are featured from various categories, in no particular order:

Viviane, Sword from the Lake by DeDorgoth

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Virgin Blossoms : Water Lily by rinaswan

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Mature Content

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Commission : Voice Of Undine by kaskianioh

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Thank you so much for viewing, and come back next time for a different inhabitant of the Realms of Fantasy and Myth!