Modern Fiction
In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, the Veela are stunningly beautiful and magically captivating women who put men into a trance when singing or dancing and can turn into hideous bird-like creatures capable of throwing balls of fire when angered. They first appear in book 4 of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which they accompany the Bulgarian Quidditch team to the Quidditch World Cup. It is unclear if any male counterparts of these veela exist, or if they are rather a kind of nymph, but they can and do interbreed with human men, from which often come daughters and granddaughters who are stunningly beautiful blondes. In the series, four of these part-veela in person are introduced: Fleur Delacour, who is a Triwizard Tournament champion from France's elite magic school, Beauxbatons; and her younger sister, Gabrielle, both of whom inherited veela blood from their half-veela mother, Apolline Delacour, who is introduced in the last book along with Victoire Weasley (Fleur's daughter mentioned in the Epilogue, snogging Teddy Lupin). This would suggest that the Delacour line migrated from areas adjacent to Bulgaria into France.
C. J. Cherryh has written several novels set in a world inspired by Russian folktales, called Rusalka, Chernevog and Yvgenie.
In Changes, a novel in the Dresden Files Series by Jim Butcher, the fairy Toot-Toot, a Polevoi, is enraged when he is mistakenly called a Domovoi by Sanya, the Russian Knight of the Cross.
In Tim Burton's Corpse Bride the woman can be considered a Wili, given that she died the day before her wedding and can't therefore rest in peace.
The videogame Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, set in the Slavic countryside of a fictional east-European valley, features several Slavic fairies including the Rusalka, Domovoi and Leshy.
In Mercedes Lackey's Fortune's Fool there are mentions of wilis, bereginais, rusalkas, and many other Russian folktale entities.
Read more about this topic: Supernatural Beings In Slavic Folklore
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or fiction:
“However far modern science and technics have fallen short of their inherent possibilities, they have taught mankind at least one lesson: Nothing is impossible.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)