| Sylph | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Other Names |
Sylph, Sylphid |
|
First Appearance |
A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits (1566) |
|
Created by |
Paracelsus |
Origin[]
A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. The other three elemental spirits named were Gnomes (earth), Salamanders (fire), and Undines (water).
Sylphs are described as rougher, coarser, taller, and stronger than humans. The elementals are said to be able to move through their own elements as human beings move through air. Because of this, sylphs are the closest to humans in his conception because they move through air like we do, while in fire they burn, in water they drown, and in earth, they get stuck.
Because of their association with the ballet La Sylphide, where sylphs are identified with fairies and the medieval legends of fairyland, as well as a confusion with other "airy spirits" (e.g., in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream), a slender girl may be referred to as a sylph.
"Sylph" has passed into general language as a term for minor spirits, elementals, or faeries of the air. Fantasy authors will sometimes employ sylphs in their fiction, for example creating giant artistic clouds in the skies with airy wings.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits (1566)
- Simplicius Simplicissimus (1668)
- Comte de Gabalis (1670)
- Rape of the Lock (1717)
- The Sylph (1778)
- Moral Tales (1765)
Public Domain Thearical Appearances[]
- La Sylphide (1832)
- The Mountain Sylph (1834)
- Les Sylphides (1909)
Notes[]
- The Silph Company, featured prominently within the Pokémon franchise, manufactures a device called the Silph Scope, which allows the user to view spectral entities otherwise unidentifiable to the naked eye. Some Pokémon are known for being inspired by the sylph such as Sylveon.