Dryad
Artwork by Benedetta Fiore. ArtStation | Instagram
Origin: Greek mythology
Other names: Tree nymph
The name “dryad” originally applied to nymphs of oak trees, but over time it became a name for woodland nymphs in general. Among the numerous types of dryads, the daphnaie inhabited laurel trees and the epimelides (or maliades) lived in fruit trees. The hamadryad lived not simply in the trees, but as part of them; it’s said that a hamadryad lived for as long as their tree lived. Among these three were even more subsets of dryads.
Many stories depict them as guardians. Cronus, a Titan and former King of the Gods, worries that one of his own children might overthrow him, so he did what any reasonable ruler would do—he ate them. All except one, that is. The infant Zeus was spared, and he was taken to the island of Crete to be raised by the meliai. These dryads lived in ash trees, and they were all sisters.
Today’s depictions of dryads are usually some form of human-tree hybrid. The spirit of a forest-dwelling guardian has mostly carried on through the ages.
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