Vila (fairy)

Among Czechs, víla denotes a woodland spirit (15th century), and ancient place names such as Vilice near Tábor, Vilov near Domažlice, and Vilín near Sedlčany seem to indicate that she was known there as well.

In fairy tales, they may act with malice towards them (killing people, destroying crops), but may also help the hero by giving him magical objects and mounts.

[5] Vile are usually friendly to people, but they can take horrible revenge on those who insult them, disregard their orders, or approach their circle dances uninvited.

They are portrayed as beautiful women with long flowing hair, who primarily live in the woods, marches, or in forest clearings.

According to F. S. Copeland, in Slovene folklore, the vile (which she translated as 'White Ladies') are wise and benevolent beings from forests, water bodies and mountains who help women in childbirth and heroes in epic stories.

[8] Meyer's Konversationslexikon defines Wiles or Wilis as female vampires, the spirits of betrothed girls who die before their wedding night.

They can put men into trance with their singing and dancing, and when angered, they transform into horrific, bird-like creatures and can launch fireballs from their hands.

[10] In Heather Walter's Malice duology, the vila serve as a darker counterpart to other fae, based more closely on the Irish interpretations.

The wilis appear in Adolphe Adam's Romantic ballet Giselle, first danced in Paris in 1841, as the ghosts of young girls who were betrayed by their lovers and who died before their wedding days.

It had its debut in May 1884 at the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, and was revised for a more successful reception at the Royal Theater, Turin, that December.

In "The Vilia Song" (German: Das Vilja-Lied), from the 1905 operetta The Merry Widow (German: Die lustige Witwe) by Franz Lehár, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (and translated by Adrian Ross), a hunter pines for Vilia, "the witch of the wood", a fairy being who causes him to fall in love with her and then vanishes.