Ralph and the Pixie

‘It is said that they share a common ancestor, a Dryad who was beguiled and seduced by a dioecious being that had befriended her, disguising itself as one of her Sisters. This being was none other than Chicane, illegitimate child of the forest god Sylvanus. The result of this union was the Mother of all Imps, She whom the Imps do not name.

‘When the Earth Mother became aware of this transgression, she was full of wrath, and banished Sylvanus for allowing Chicane to debauch a child of innocence. Fearing the Earth Mother’s retribution, Chicane fled, and has been in hiding ever since, living by crooked wits.

‘It is said that the Earth Mother refused to recognise the Dryad’s child, that the poor unfortunate was doomed to a life of wandering since birth. But to ensure her daughter’s survival, and to allow her to bring forth young from her own body, the Dryad taught her child the Lore that the Imps practice to this very day.

‘I do not for one moment believe in this tale myself. It comes down to us, not through the Imps themselves, but through old tales written about them. Most assuredly, Sylvanus, the forest god, is a fiction, for he figures in many folk-tales told by Men, and the authors of such tales, coming from a patriarchal society, imposed their beliefs on the world around them; therefore, in their eyes, Faeriekind must have been ruled by some sort of sylvan male deity- hence, Sylvanus the forest god. In the same breath, I think that there may well be an element of truth in these tales: that the Imps are descended from Dryads seems likely. But the rest of the tale is undoubtedly an allegorical fiction, referring to a lessening of magical efficacy through interbreeding with non-magical beings.’