ELLEWOMEN

A question many Ringstetten Saga readers may have asked: what species is that plot-relevant Sidhe? Many Anglophone readers, who haven't read the Swedish version (available on Scribd), may have wondered about her species, but I hadn't found any English-language resources until now:

They were fair, fair and smiling; and, at first, such pleasant
 faces. 

But their pleasant faces never changed, and there was always the same smile on their lips.

When they turned their backs, they were hollow behind; they were, in truth, Ellewomen, who have no hearts, and can never pity any one. Their pleasant faces never changed, and there was always the same smile on their lips.

"their smiling faces..."

It is very sad to live among Ellewomen when one is in trouble.

"the smiling Ellewomen: 

 an Ellewoman, were they ever so free or happy."

The Sidhe is one such Ellewoman, and Swedish peasants and gentry used to give them offerings in exchange for good luck. Most querents gave the Ellewomen a few copper coins, a draught of brandy, or something else precious to them. The Ringstettens are wealthy gentry, so they offered their most precious valuable: their male heir. The idea was that the Sidhe/Ellewoman should receive Gustav Adolf's soul in payment. However, his parents and two older sisters managed to trick this fairy time after time, both before and after the child had been baptized (baptism weakens the powers of the fair folk, but does NOT render them powerless). This explanation lows a relevant question out: If the Sidhe is an Ellewoman, why would she fall for Gustav Adolf? The answer is that Ellewomen love to seduce young mortal males and strip them of their souls and life energy (spiritual vampirism) through intercourse, even through a kiss. The victim becomes "a soulless husk", without any willpower of his own, often mentally challenged and/or terminally ill. Such would have been young Ringstetten's fate without Katinka... if he hadn't pulled out his rapier or pistols. Or turned his coat inside out, which would have helped as well.

Picture of Ellewomen.