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Overview
glaistig
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[green maiden]. Usually malevolent solitary female fairy haunting lonely pools in Scottish Gaelic tradition. Sometimes half-woman, half-goat, she may take the form of a beautiful woman, especially one already known to the male victim; after offering sexual favours like a camp follower, she leaves her male victim with his throat cut, every drop of blood sucked from him. Often compared to the Russian baba yaga, the glaisting none the less conflates characteristics of other Highland imaginary creatures, such as the banshee (bean s'dhe, etc.), fuath, and ùruisg. In some variant stories the glaistig may be seen as benevolent, fond of children and a protector of old people.
