L is for Lilies (and fairies)

Again, short post. It's that time of the semester.

I grew up in the northwestern part of Hungary, a world of rivers, lakes, streams, marshes and islands. Even though many people find other parts of the country more attractive, I believe that it is one of the prettiest places you can visit in Hungary. Also, we have a lot of unique stories, and many of them are about water, and water creatures.

Most of all, fairies.


Hungarian fairies (tündér), at least in my neck of the willow woods, are water creatures. They live in the lakes and rivers, or on the islands where the woods are thick and flowers are like an endless carpet. They look like humans, except a lot more beautiful; sometimes they even marry mortal men. They laugh, they dance, they sing, and they have their own queen, Tündér Ilona, who rules over them from her palace that has a crystal dome.
There is a story that tells us that water liles (or, as we call them, fairy roses) used to be a fairy girl called Rózsa. Her queen turned her into a flower so she could stay and watch over mortals after all the fairies were gone...
Another story, which doesn't cease to amuse me, tells us that when fairies pee in the water, their pee turns into gold. People used to wash gold from these rivers and streams. I guess no one would tell a fairy not to pee in the pool...