Back in 1985, Mythland Explorer Purity Marby wrote her famed book, ‘the Enchanting Folk of Yule Town’. Admittedly, she got a lot of stuff wrong, – especially the unflattering tosh about Polar Bears being grumpy first thing in the winter. But grabbing together a load of info about Yule Town is hard work, so I’ve nicked some of her text and bunged it here.
I should probably have asked her permission, but she disappeared 20 years back, in a freak accident involving an oversized bowl of custard and a bad-tempered badger, called Brian. So she probably can’t mind.
Elves
Even before Santa, the Ice Elves roamed the Windy Wilds, the forever storm that screams between the world and the Mythlands. At last they came to the Isle of Utter North and built their home in and around the Tree that lies at the root of all the magical realms.
There are some that say elves are long forgotten children, who fell through dark cracks in eternity. There are others who say they are the abandoned dreams of the sky-angels, those peculiar, illuminated creatures that flocked through the Raw when the world was born.
And there are some who say it doesn’t really matter, provided you spot the pesky rascals before they tie your shoelaces together and push you into a pond.
Elves – you’d better watch out – that’s all I’m saying.
“Elves – you’d better watch out, that’s all I’m saying!”
Purity Marby
Goblins
After the Goblin Wars, goblins in Yule Town are often disliked and distrusted. It’s claimed they’re violent, stupid and that they have slippery hands. It’s also rumoured they eat worm and beetle sandwiches, fried in lumpy bogey sauce.
In fact goblins are nimble-fingered and at least as clever as elves. And though it’s true they eat worm and beetle sandwiches, so do yetis and no one minds that.
No one eats lumpy bogey sauce though, because, y’know, ewww!
Fairies
Although most fairies are born clutching their wands, other fairies’ wands don’t emerge until they’re a few years old. However, some fairies remain forever wandless. These magicless creatures are considered quite embarrassing to their families.
Wands themselves are powered by different emotions, which can sometimes be guessed from their wand tips. Most are star-tipped, some have phases of the moon, others flowers, birds or rainbows. I even heard of one fairy whose wand was tipped by an enormous slug, that though slobberous and foul, was also a marvellous opera singer.