changelings

Fairy-replaced children

Changelings are creatures from European folklore—fairy children secretly swapped for human infants.

The term extends to any child believed to have been exchanged, or more broadly, a person given to unpredictable change: She was a changeling, never the same from one day to the next.

In fantasy fiction, changelings are often shapeshifters who can assume different forms.

literary

Amber

English feminine name

shapeshifterBeing altering its form
fantasyImaginative mental wandering
mythologyBody of traditional tales

retelling · novel · paranormal · fae · transformation · identity · belonging · alienation · otherness · coming-of-age

folklore

fairies

Tiny mythical winged creatures

substitutionExchange of one for another
cribSmall bed with rails
stolenTaken unlawfully

supernatural · glamour · enchantment · Sidhe · elves · troll · fetch · stock · unbaptized · cradle

biological

cuckoo

Brood parasite bird

nestAnimal-built shelter for young
hostOne receiving guests
mimicryAdaptive resemblance to another

deception · egg · nestling · parasitism · cowbird · honeyguide · impostor · fledgling · adoption · instinct

metaphorical

outsider

One excluded from group

misfitOne who doesn't fit in
alienatedMade distant or hostile
differentNot the same

belonging · adopted · displaced · identity · estranged · other · unrecognized · strange · peculiar · disconnected

changelings

Amber

fairies

cuckoo

outsider

changelings

Opposites

Categories

Family