Korrigan of the Spring

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A Korrigan is a female fairy from Breton folklore. According to Thomas Keightley, Korrigans were princesses who rejected the preachings of the Apostles and in turn were cursed by God. Korrigans possess a great hate for anything religious like garments worn by Roman Catholic priest, the sound of bells, and the Virgin Mary. Korrigan can predict the future, change forms, and cure diseases or ailments with the help of charms. Korrigan seek handsome mortal lover to renew their race. If a  man refuses her, she will cause his demise. Korrigan live near a stream in the forest of Broceliande (Joe) awaiting a man while combing their long hair. Korrigans are beautiful at night or at dusk. They are rarely seen in the day because their beauty fades, their eyes turn red, their hair turns white, and their faces appear aged (Keightley). In the ballad, Lord Nann and The Korrigan, Lord Nann's wife asked him for a roebuck's flesh. During his ride into the forest he comes upon a deer and begins to chase the deer. Lord Nann becomes thirsty and stops to drink from a spring. At the spring Lord Nann encounters a Korrigan combing her long hair. The Korrigan requested that Seigneur of Nan sleep with her. Lord Nann refused her advances, choosing to stay faithful to his wife despite his fate of dying in three days. Lord Nann rode to the church and told his mother not to tell his wife. Lord Nann died three days later. His mother finally disclosed what caused his death to his wife. His wife died after hearing the news and was buried next to her husband (Keightley). Jim Joe author of the website Timeless Myths, compares figures in legend, like the Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend as antecedents to Korrigan. It was thought that the Korrigan fairies stole babies to raise them becoming foster mothers. Jim Joe thought "The Lady of the Lake exhibited the closest characteristics to the korrigan," since she abducted Lancelot from his mother and raised him. 

Joe, Jimmy. "Faeries." Timeless Myths. 27 Sept. 2000. Web. 07 Nov. 2010.

      <http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/faeries.html>.

Keightley, Thomas. "Brittany." The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of ... London: G. 
      Bells and Sons, 1850. 431-36. Google Books. 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2010.  
     <http://books.google.com/books?id=mUVLAAAAYAAJ&dq=the+fairy+mythology,+lord+nann&

      source=gbs_navlinks_s>.