Ep. 223 Creatures of the Forest

What separates a pixie from a sprite, a brownie from a hag, and a nymph from a siren — and why does any of it matter? In this episode of FGGGbT, we tackle one of the most ambitious taxonomy projects of the season: building a complete classification system for the Fey. Unlike the undead, who are defined by their deadness, the Fey are defined by their otherness — their deep, fundamental connection to nature and the feywild. Using six core classification categories — former mortality, degree of humanity, power hierarchy, corporeal vs. non-corporeal, elemental connections, and relationship to mortals — Daniel J. Glenn, Dr. Michael Dennin, and Ben Siepser work through the full roster: pixies, sprites, brownies, leprechauns, satyrs, centaurs, dryads, nymphs, treants, and hags. Along the way they debate whether satyrs are evil or just really fun at parties, why the centaur is nature’s original cyborg, whether hags are actually villains or just very aggressive conservationists, and how every Fey creature ultimately represents some aspect of nature brought to life. They also introduce a simple four-bucket framework for understanding the Fey: helpers, tricksters, enchanters, and corruptors — and how every bargain with the Fey falls into one of those categories.