Sidhe

The Sidhe (pronounced "Shee") are an immortal race of Avalon, the Island of Youth and they appear as small blue humanoid winged creatures. Gaius describes them as "masters of enchantments and a cruel race of beings." The Sidhe had kings who were called Sidhe elders and they were served by Pixies and could live for 1000 years.

History
A Sidhe elder started a 20 year plot using the daughter of Lord Godwyn, Princess Elena. A short time after she was born a Sidhe elder came and cast a spell on her. He then had his Pixie servant, Grunhilda disguise herself as a Human and become her nurse. Grunhilda regularly sprinkled her with Pixie dust as she slept so that when the time was right, the Sidhe inside her would completely possess her. The right time would be when she married Arthur Pendragon (The Changeling).

They banished Aulfric and Sophia from Avalon giving them human bodies and a mortal existance. Aulfric wished to allow Sophia access to return to Avalon and convinced her to enchant Arthur Pendragon so that they might sacrifice him to the Sidhe, who required the soul of a mortal prince. Merlin turned up at the last minute and saved Arthur by attacking and killing both Aulfric and Sophia with Sophia's Sidhe staff (The Gates of Avalon).



When Elena was 20, Godwyn and his old friend Uther Pendragon organised an arranged marriage between Arthur and Elena. Merlin soon discovered the truth, when Grunhilda informed the Sidhe elder of this he went to kill Merlin in his sleep but Merlin destroyed him using the sidhe staff that previously belonged to Sophia. Gaius then created a tonic to get the Sidhe out of Elena, Merlin then killed Grunhilda and the Sidhe (The Changeling).

Myth
Sidhe (pronounced 'shee') literally means "people of the (fairy) hills". It is the Gaelic name for the fairies in both Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Usually these fairies are attracted to those who are beautiful as well as wealthy.

Appearances

 * Series 1
 * The Gates of Avalon


 * Series 3
 * The Changeling

Abilities
Sidhe are very powerful creatures, capable of casting very strong spells, and are described as "The masters of enchantments", many of their kind use staffs, to help focus their powers, when casting spells. This can range from enchantments to bolts of energy and other wilders of magic can also use these staffs for the same purposes.

They practice their own kind of magic, known as Sidhe magic.

They also have the ability to implant one of their own kin inside a human, during the human's infancy. The Sidhe would continue to live inside of the person, till about twenty years later, when it would emerge and possess the person, taking complete control over them.

They can also fly, and are able, with enough speed, to keep their true form hidden to normal eyes, thus appearing only as a glowing sphere. They can also curse members of their own kind to have a mortal existance, and a mortal body, but they do not appear to be able to remove there powers.

Although not truly immortal the sidhe are very close, they live for thousands of years, and can apparently only be killed by strong magic, as one cursed to a mortal existence, found the experience of almost dying through a consensual method, unnerving.

Historicity
In Gaelic (Irish and Highland Scottish) mythology and folklore the Sídhe are also known as Aos Sí, and sometimes as the Túatha De Danann. They are similar to the Elves of Norse mythology (and as, to some extent, those portrayed in Tolkien's works on Middle Earth), and are not at all like the small pixie-like creatures depicted in Merlin. They inhabit the Otherworld (which is similar to the Otherworld of Welsh mythology known as "Annwn" and may well be linked to "Avalon") and are immortal, but not necessarily evil. However, they do tend only to care about themselves even when dealing with Men, and iron and steel are traditionally inimical to them.