These Hollow Vows draws upon faerie folklore, or legends about mythical creatures, that originate from various European cultures, including Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, and French. These narratives are often anthropomorphic and use different species within the overarching realm of “faerie” as symbolizing different qualities. Different faerie lore presents fae creatures as alternately benevolent or malevolent, though even good-hearted faeries are commonly associated with a love of mischief. Puck from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is sometimes presented as an iconic mischievous faerie figure. Different faerie folklore traditions include figures such as witches, sorcerers, goblins, gnomes, or sprites.

These Hollow Vows pulls particularly from Irish faerie folklore. For example, Brie and Sebastian celebrate the summer solstice; Celtic or pagan feasts including the solstice are considered, in this tradition, times when the fae are more powerful or able to play tricks on humans. The Banshee figure, who presages first Jalek’s death and later Brie’s in the novel, comes from this tradition as a harbinger of death.

Celtic folklore traditions, though passed down for centuries, came into frequent conflict with Christian traditions in Ireland and Scotland. Some fae symbols became taboo anti-Christian imagery, while others were reconsidered and their histories reevaluated (Rainbolt, Dawn. “Irish Folklore, Myth & Legend: The Fairies.” Wilderness Ireland, 20 Jan. 2022). Saint Brigid, the patron saint of Ireland, for example, has been varyingly framed as a faerie, a Catholic saint, and a goddess in her own right. This led her to be removed from the Catholic saint canon in 1969 when Pope Paul VI cited lack of evidence that Saint Brigid of Kildare ever existed (“Brigid, Ireland’s Antiestablishment Saint.” New Lines Magazine, 31 Jan. 2025).