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Description
watercolour (dangerous creatures from folklore series)

Beware maidens! (Although I doubt his insatiable appetite will stop at them...)

The Gancanagh, or Love-Talker, is a smooth-talking, handsome wight often found in lonely valleys. While some accounts have him as a rather amorous trickster, prone to gossiping about his conquests, more commonly he is portrayed as a much less seelie creature. The Gancanagh seduces his victims, to their delight, until he tires of them and disappears - literally. Lovestruck women (and men perhaps?) pine for him, growing weaker and weaker as they search for something they will never find again, refusing sustenance until eventually they fade away and die of their loss and lovesickness. One line of argument suggests his victims are literally addicted to him, and the withdrawal and craving kills them.

Yeats wrote of the Gancanagh that "he personated love and idleness, and always appeared with a dudeen in his jaw in lonesome valleys, and it was his custom to make love to shepherdesses and milkmaids."

Even some of the little tree sprites here are rather enamoured of him (except that one with the beak, she's had enough of this nonsense!)

At first glance the Gancanagh appears as a well-dressed young man, and there are no tell-tale signs of his eldritch origins (unlike the Baobhan Sith, whose hooves conveniently give her away). However, he is commonly found carrying a pipe, and some legends claim he casts no shadow. (So, you know, if you have any particularly suave, eloquent and good-looking friends who smoke a pipe, check their shadows!)

As a side note, when this was at the lineart stage I was told "he would look kind of grandfatherly... but his expression is absolutely filthy!" here's a little closeup of that expression...

Others in this series:

Description
watercolour (dangerous creatures from folklore series)

Beware maidens! (Although I doubt his insatiable appetite will stop at them...)

The Gancanagh, or Love-Talker, is a smooth-talking, handsome wight often found in lonely valleys. While some accounts have him as a rather amorous trickster, prone to gossiping about his conquests, more commonly he is portrayed as a much less seelie creature. The Gancanagh seduces his victims, to their delight, until he tires of them and disappears - literally. Lovestruck women (and men perhaps?) pine for him, growing weaker and weaker as they search for something they will never find again, refusing sustenance until eventually they fade away and die of their loss and lovesickness. One line of argument suggests his victims are literally addicted to him, and the withdrawal and craving kills them.

Yeats wrote of the Gancanagh that "he personated love and idleness, and always appeared with a dudeen in his jaw in lonesome valleys, and it was his custom to make love to shepherdesses and milkmaids."

Even some of the little tree sprites here are rather enamoured of him (except that one with the beak, she's had enough of this nonsense!)

At first glance the Gancanagh appears as a well-dressed young man, and there are no tell-tale signs of his eldritch origins (unlike the Baobhan Sith, whose hooves conveniently give her away). However, he is commonly found carrying a pipe, and some legends claim he casts no shadow. (So, you know, if you have any particularly suave, eloquent and good-looking friends who smoke a pipe, check their shadows!)

As a side note, when this was at the lineart stage I was told "he would look kind of grandfatherly... but his expression is absolutely filthy!" here's a little closeup of that expression...

Others in this series: