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Name
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The Phynnodderee
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Description
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A fallen fairy, cast out of fairyland for falling in love with a mortal woman. Hairy, ungainly, enormously strong, and slightly tragic. He would gather sheep from the mountain in a single night, cut meadow grass, or move stones that no team of men could shift. He asked nothing in return except to be left alone. When a grateful farmer, meaning kindness, laid out clothes for him, the phynnodderee picked them up one by one, lamented in Manx over each piece, and departed forever. The old people mourned his going: there has not been a merry world since he lost his ground. In the book, the phynnodderee becomes a metaphor for the Revestment itself: the helpful spirit driven away by a gift of clothes, classification destroying the wild thing by trying to domesticate it.
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Manx Name
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Phynnodderee
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Type
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Creature
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Legend
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Source
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Moore, Folk-lore (1891)
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Train
