Kelpie

Kelpie


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Gutt på hvit hest (Boy on white horse) by Theodor Kittelsen, depicting the nix as a white kelpie



The kelpie (each uisge, anglicised - i.e. water-horse - in Gaelic) is a supernatural shape-shifting water horse from Gaelic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland. In Orkney the creature was called the Nuggle, and in Shetland a similar creature was called the Shoopiltee. It was probably borrowed from the Norse mythology of the Viking settlers, since it also appears in Scandinavian folklore where it is known by the name Bäckahästen, the brook horse.
In Scandinavia, the brook horse was a transformation of the Nix, a water spirit in the shape of a man. It was often described as a majestic white horse that would appear near rivers, particularly during foggy weather. Anyone who climbed onto its back would not be able to get off again. The horse would then jump into the river, drowning the rider. The brook horse could also be harnessed and made to plough, either because it was trying to trick a person or because the person had tricked the horse into it.
The Nix as a brook horse by Theodor Kittelsen, another depiction of the nix as a white kelpie



The kelpie sometimes appeared as a rough hairy man who would grip and crush travellers, but it most commonly took the form of a beautiful tame horse standing by a stream or river. If anyone mounted it, it would charge into the deepest part of the water, submerging and taking the rider with it.
They would sometimes interbreed with humans' horses, and the foals were said to be fine fleetfooted horses.
The kelpie was also said to warn of forthcoming storms by wailing and howling.
Rarely, kelpies could be benign. The folktale The Kelpie's Wife tells of one in Loch Garve, Ross-shire, who had a human wife.
The Jethro Tull song Kelpie, from the 1988 album 20 Years of Jethro Tull, tells of a young woman tempted away by a kelpie. [1][edit]


External links

• Kelpie
  
• Water Horses and Other Fairy Steeds
  

Kelpie

by Micha F. Lindemans

In old Scotland, the Kelpie is a treacherous water devil who lurks in lakes and rivers. It usually assumes the shape of a young horse. When a tired traveler stops by a lake to rest or to have a drink, he would see a horse, apparently peacefully grazing. When he mounts the horse, the Kelpie dives into the water and drowns its victim. Occasionally is helped millers by keeping the mill-wheel going at night.