'fairy lover';[1] Scottish Gaelic: leannan sìth, Manx: lhiannan shee; [lʲan̴̪-an ˈʃiː]) is a figure from Irish folklore.
[2] She is depicted as a beautiful woman of the Aos Sí ("people of the fairy mounds") who takes a human lover.
The leannán sídhe is mentioned by Jane Wilde, writing as "Speranza", in her 1887 Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland.
[5] W. B. Yeats popularized his own 'newly-ancient' version of the leannán sídhe, emphasizing the spirit's almost vampiric tendencies.
[6] As he imagined it, the leannán sídhe is depicted as a beautiful muse who offers inspiration to an artist in exchange for their love and devotion; although the supernatural affair leads to madness and eventual death for the artist:[7] The Leanhaun Shee (fairy mistress) seeks the love of mortals.