Nature

General Term for Greek Nature Spirits

The Nymph (Greek Nymphē, English Nymph) is the decisive canonical collective term for female spirits dwelling in various aspects of nature in ancient Greek mythology. The etymology is the Greek nymphē ('young woman, bride'), and they are classified according to their dwelling environment — Dryad (tree), Hamadryad (specific tree), Naiad (fresh water), Nereid (sea), Oread (mountain), Limniad (lake), Auloniad (valley) — the decisive canonical iconography. The decisive textual canon is line 420 of Book 6 of the Iliad and lines 105-109 of Book 6 of the Odyssey of the c. 8th-century-BCE Homer (Hesiodos) — nymphs accompanying Artemis — and the list of fifty Nereids in lines 240-264 and the list of three thousand Oceanids in lines 346-370 of the Theogony of c. 700-BCE Hesiod (Hesiodos) is the decisive Greek-mythological canon. The decisive Latin-literary canon is the Metamorphoses of c. 8 CE Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE - 17 CE), and the decisive Victorian visual canon is the 1896 painting Hylas and the Nymphs (Hylas and the Nymphs) of the British painter John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) — in the collection of the Manchester Art Gallery.

Tree Nymph of Greek Mythology

The Dryad (Greek Dryas, plural Dryades, English Dryad) is the tree nymph (Greek nymphe) of Greek mythology who dwells in forests and trees, originally meaning the spirit dwelling in the oak (drys, drys) but later extended as the general name of the spirit dwelling in all trees — the decisive canonical iconographic figure of the Greek-mythological nature spirit. The etymology derives from the Greek drys (drys, 'oak'), and within the classification of nymphs — Naiad (freshwater), Oceanid (ocean), Nereid (salt sea), Dryad (tree), Oread (mountain) — the Dryad is the decisive canon of the tree. The special canonical figure Hamadryad (Hamadryas, 'with the tree') is the decisive adaptation of the Dryad, permanently bound to a single tree and sharing its life and fate. The decisive literary canon is the Erysichthon canon in lines 738-878 of Book 8 of the Metamorphoses (Metamorphoses) of the Roman poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE - 17 CE) of c. 8 CE — in which the Thessalian king Erysichthon cuts down the oak of Demeter's sacred grove, killing the Hamadryad, and Demeter sends the spirit of hunger Limos (Limos) to punish him with eternal hunger so that he ultimately eats himself — and the Dryad monster of the 1977 D&D Monster Manual by Gary Gygax (1938-2008) of TSR in the USA, consistent through to 5e (5th Edition) of 2014, is the decisive canon of the modern fantasy RPG tree spirit.

Greek Tree Spirit Bound to a Single Tree

The Hamadryad (Greek Hamadryas, plural Hamadryades, English Hamadryad) is the canonical tree-spirit iconography of Greek mythology — unlike the general Dryad, permanently bound to a single specific tree — sharing the lifespan and fate of that tree as the decisive canon. The etymology is the compound of the Greek hama ('with, together') and drys ('oak, tree'), meaning 'with the tree' — the decisive canonical vocabulary — and while the general Dryad (Dryas) is a free spirit dwelling in all trees, the Hamadryad is the decisive adaptation canon permanently bound to a single tree. The decisive textual canon is the fragmentary canon of the Precepts of Chiron of the c. 700 BCE Greek poet Hesiod (Hesiodos) — quoted by the c. 1st-century Greek writer Plutarch (Ploutarchos) in Chapter 11 of On the Decay of Oracles (De Defectu Oraculorum) — that the Hamadryad's lifespan equals nine generations of crows (about 9 years times 9 equals 81 years), and the canon of lines 476-485 of Book 2 of the Argonautica (Argonautika) of the 4th-3rd-century-BCE Alexandrian poet Apollonius Rhodius (Apollonios Rhodios, 295-215 BCE) — in which the Phrygian shepherd Laelaps does not cut down the Hamadryad's oak, and the Hamadryad blesses him — is the decisive canon. The decisive Latin-literary canon is the canon of lines 738-878 of Book 8 of the Metamorphoses of the Roman poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE - 17 CE) of c. 8 CE — the decisive canonical tragedy in which the Thessalian king Erysichthon (Erysichthon) cuts down a great oak of Demeter's sacred grove and kills the Hamadryad, and Demeter sends the spirit of hunger Limos (Limos) to punish him with eternal hunger so that he ultimately eats himself.

Lizardfolk · The Lizard People — Cold-Blooded Tribal Warriors of the Marsh

Lizardfolk (originally 'Lizardman') are a reptilian humanoid race with scaled skin, lizard-like heads and thick tails, introduced by Gary Gygax in 'Greyhawk: Supplement I to Dungeons & Dragons' (1972) and codified as a swamp-tribe warrior race in the AD&D Monster Manual (1977); the name was changed to the gender-neutral 'Lizardfolk' in the fifth-edition Monster Manual (2014). They stand 180 to 210 centimetres tall, weigh 120 to 180 kilograms with a muscular build, and bear green-grey, olive or teal scales, a lizard's head with yellow eyes and slit pupils, and a thick tail of one metre or more for balance and melee strikes. They live in swamps, wetlands and mangrove river basins in tribes of two hundred to four hundred members under a matriarch or shaman, hatch from eggs, and are cold-blooded — slowing in cold climates. Their psychology, most fully codified in 'Volo's Guide to Monsters' (2016), is that of the 'cold pragmatist': they prioritise survival, utility and resource efficiency over emotion, never breaking a promise but interpreting its terms in favour of their kind. The same lineage is recognisable in the Lizardmen army of Warhammer Fantasy (Games Workshop, from 1989) with its Slann, Saurus and Skink hierarchy, and in the Sleestak of the NBC television series 'Land of the Lost' (1974-1976), which directly influenced the AD&D design.

Elf · People of the Forest — Longevity, Magic, Guardians of Nature

The standard race of modern fantasy: long pointed ears, slender and graceful frames, lifespans counted in centuries or millennia, deep communion with nature, and mastery of bow and elven magic. The earliest direct attestation is the Old Norse álfar of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda (c. 1220) and the Codex Regius (c. 1270); through Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-96) and Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590-96) the figure entered English letters, and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954-55) and The Silmarillion (1977) recast the elf as the noble, near-immortal high race that has been the canon of modern fantasy ever since.

Firbolg · The Gentle Giant — A Reclusive Race of Giant Lineage Hidden in Forests

A giant-blooded but mild and retiring people who tend the deep forests, who tower over humans but never raise a hand in war, and who speak with beasts and spirits and hide themselves and their hamlets in illusions. The name comes from the Fir Bolg, the fifth invader tribe of Lebor Gabala Erenn (eleventh-century Ireland); but the modern fantasy firbolg is the work of Gary Gygax in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual II (TSR, 1983) and of Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford in Volo's Guide to Monsters (Wizards of the Coast, 2016), with Critical Role's Caduceus Clay in The Mighty Nein (2018-2021) fixing the modern popular image.

Wood Elf · Forest Elves — Wild Archers and Nature Tribes

The Wood Elf — Tolkien's Silvan Elves — is a wild forest-dwelling branch of the elven race, derived from the elf taxonomy of Appendix F of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954-55) and codified for tabletop play in the AD&D Monster Manual (1977) and 'Greyhawk Adventures' (1989). Wood Elves stand 165 to 180 centimetres tall with lithe builds, copper, olive or tawny skin, green-brown camouflaging clothing, long straight black or brown hair, and the long pointed ears common to all elves. Their tribal society maintains a simple hunter-gatherer life in contrast to the magical aristocracy of the High Elves, and they specialise in the longbow, tracking, stealth and communion with nature-spirits. In the fifth-edition 'Player's Handbook' (2014) the wood-elf subrace carries +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, the Elf Weapon Training (longsword, shortsword, shortbow, longbow), Fleet of Foot (+5 movement) and Mask of the Wild traits. The iconography runs from the Mirkwood Elves (Thranduil, Legolas) and the Galadhrim of Lothlórien in Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' (1937) and 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954-55) through the Wood Elf army of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy (from 1987), the Bosmer of Bethesda's 'The Elder Scrolls' series (from 1994), the Dalish of BioWare's 'Dragon Age' series, and the Night Elves of Blizzard's 'World of Warcraft' (from 2004).

Beastkin · Beastfolk — Half-Human, Half-Beast Race

A half-human, half-beast people whose human bodies bear the ears, tails, fur, and claws of an animal kin, divided into many subraces — catfolk, dogfolk, tigerfolk, wolffolk, bullfolk, and so on — by their animal lineage. They carry the senses, instincts, and physical gifts of their kin and usually live in tribal hunter or pastoral societies. The figure crystallises traditions that span the Egyptian therianthropic gods (Anubis, Bastet, Horus, attested in the Pyramid Texts c. 2400 BCE), Greek myth (Minotaur and Centaur, Hesiod Theogony c. 700 BCE), Indic myth (Hanuman in the Ramayana, c. 400 BCE), Japanese fox and tanuki shapeshifters, and European werewolf lore (Petronius, Satyricon ch. 62, c. 60 CE), and the fantasy template was fixed by Dungeons & Dragons (Monster Manual, TSR, 1977; Volo's Guide to Monsters, 2016) and Blizzard's Tauren in Warcraft III (2002).

Satyr · The Half-Beast — Forest Folk of Wine, Music, and Revelry

The satyr (ancient Greek Σάτυρος, Latin satyrus) is a half-human, half-beast nature spirit of Greek mythology, the riotous follower of the god of wine and madness Dionysos. The earliest attestations are in Hesiod's 'Catalogue of Women' fragment 10 (c. 700 BCE, which calls them 'a useless mischievous race') and the Homeric Hymn to Pan (number 19, late seventh century BCE); the visual canon is fixed in Attic black- and red-figure pottery of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, with the François Vase (Ergotimos and Kleitias, c. 570-560 BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Florence) and the Brygos Cup (c. 480 BCE, British Museum) as the standard sources. The earliest Greek satyr was originally a horse-tailed, horse-eared theriomorph, but in the Hellenistic period (late fourth century BCE) the satyr fused with the Roman Faunus (a forest and pastoral god from the cult of Numa Pompilius) and the goat-legged, horned, goat-tailed iconography came to prevail. In the fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons 'Mythic Odysseys of Theros' (Wizards of the Coast, 2020), satyrs stand 150 to 180 centimetres tall, with a human upper body, hoofed goat legs, short curled horns, a short goat tail and a wild curly head of hair and beard on the human portion. Racial traits are +2 Charisma, +1 Dexterity, Magic Resistance (advantage on saving throws against magic), Mirthful Leaps (double jump distance) and the signature Reveler trait that lets them play a syrinx or aulos with charm and fascination effects. They live in herds in woodlands and fields, accompanying the maenads in the Dionysian thiasos. The iconography is carried into the Renaissance through Botticelli's 'Venus and Mars' (1483, National Gallery, London) and Michelangelo's 'Bacchus' (1497, Bargello Museum, Florence), through Debussy's 'Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun' (1894), Disney's 'Fantasia' (1940), and Mr. Tumnus in C.S. Lewis's 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' (1950).

Yaksha · Nature Spirit of India and Buddhism — A Two-Faced Spirit Guarding Treasure

The Yaksha (Sanskrit Yakṣa; Pali Yakkha) is the canonical iconographic figure of an ambivalent spirit, originating in ancient Indian nature-and-treasure spirit belief, absorbed into both Hinduism and Buddhism, and transmitted to East Asia. The Yaksha is the guardian of forests, trees, ponds, and underground treasure, an attendant of the wealth-god Kubera (Sanskrit Kubera), both a benevolent guardian deity granting abundance and fertility, and a fierce demon that devours humans. The decisive textual canon is the Yakṣa Praśna (the Yaksha's Questions) of the Vana Parva (Book of the Forest) of the Mahabharata, compiled between the fifth and third centuries BC — in which the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhishthira, answers the questions of a Yaksha (revealed to be the god of justice, Dharma, in disguise) and revives his slain brothers — establishing the decisive canon of Yaksha iconography. The Yaksha and Yakṣī reliefs of the Bharhut stupa in Madhya Pradesh, India, of the second to first century BC — the oldest extant Yaksha visual canon — are the iconographic canon. After the transmission of Buddhism, the Yaksha was canonised as one class of the Eight Legions (Aṣṭasena) attendant on Vaiśravaṇa (the Buddhist identification of Kubera), and the character Xiao of miHoYo's video game Genshin Impact, released in September 2020 — as the sole surviving Yaksha of the Seven Yakshas of Liyue — settled the twenty-first-century global gaming canon.

Osiris · Egyptian King of the Afterlife — God of Resurrection and Abundance

Osiris (Egyptian Wsjr Asar or Usir, Greek Osiris, 'seat of the strong' or 'throne') is the god of the underworld, resurrection, fertility, and grain of ancient Egyptian mythology — the decisive canon, the son of Geb (Geb, earth) and Nut (Nut, sky) of the Heliopolitan Ennead (Ennead), husband of Isis (Isis), who was killed by his brother Seth (Seth), whose dismembered body was gathered and resurrected by Isis, and then became the king of the underworld Duat (Duat) judging the souls of the dead — the decisive canonical iconographic figure. The decisive textual canon is the Pyramid Texts (Pyramid Texts) of c. 2400-2300 BCE — Old Kingdom 5th dynasty — the decisive origin canon of about 200 of the about 759 spells of the pyramid texts of Unas (Unas, reigned 2375-2345 BCE) in Saqqara — and the Coffin Texts (Coffin Texts) of c. 2100-1700 BCE Middle Kingdom — and the Book of the Dead (Book of the Dead) of c. 1550 BCE New Kingdom, especially chapter 125 'Negative Confession (Negative Confession)' — the decisive canon of Osiris's 42 judges. The De Iside et Osiride (De Iside et Osiride) of the Greek Plutarch (Plutarch, c. 46-119) of c. 100 CE of the c. 1st century CE is the most complete decisive Greek-Latin mythological canon.

Emerald· 翠玉 The Emerald Tablet of Hermes

Emerald (English Emerald, Latin smaragdus, Greek smáragdos, Sanskrit marakata) is the gem of Hermes's tablet of the decisive canon — derived from Greek 'smáragdos (σμάραγδος, green gem)' — the decisive canonical vocabulary — the decisive mineralogical canon of beryl (Be3Al2Si6O18) with chromium (Cr) or vanadium (V) content as the green variety. Aliases — Emerald (Emerald), smaragdus (smaragdus, Latin), marakata (marakata, Sanskrit), tablet of Hermes, gem of Hermes, birthstone of May — are the decisive canonical vocabulary. The decisive natural history canon is the decisive canon of 'no color is more pleasing than the emerald' in Pliny the Elder's (Pliny the Elder, 23-79) Natural History (Naturalis Historia) Book 37 chapters 62-75 of the 1st century. The decisive Cleopatra canon is the decisive canon of Cleopatra's mines at Sikait in Egypt of the 1st century BCE. The decisive Tabula canon is the decisive canon of the Tabula Smaragdina (Tabula Smaragdina) of Hermes Trismegistus of the 8th-12th centuries.