NAIAD

NAIAD

"The wide plain, the golden moonlight, the shadowy moving forms, and above all the shrill monotonous piping, produced an effect which almost paralysed me; yet I noted amidst my fear that half of these tireless, mechanical dancers were the labourers whom I had thought asleep, whilst the other half were strange airy beings in white, half indeterminate in nature, but suggesting pale wistful naiads from the haunted fountains of the bog."

"Half gliding, half floating in the air, the white-clad bog-wraiths were slowly retreating toward the still waters and the island ruin in fantastic formations suggesting some ancient and solemn ceremonial dance. Their waving translucent arms, guided by the detestable piping of those unseen flutes, beckoned in uncanny rhythm to a throng of lurching labourers who followed dog-like with blind, brainless, floundering steps as if dragged by a clumsy but resistless daemon-will."

"Then silently and gracefully the naiads reached the water and melted one by one into the ancient bog; while the line of followers, never checking their speed, splashed awkwardly after them and vanished amidst a tiny vortex of unwholesome bubbles which I could barely see in the scarlet light."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Moon-Bog

"This is the collective name of a group of water nymphs in the classical mythology of Greece and Rome. The Naiades presided over lakes, rivers, streams, and sometimes fountains. They are portrayed as beautiful maidens with a crown of rushes in their hair, leaning against an urn from which fresh water is flowing."
Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins