Tehi Tegi - Lisa Lennon

Original watercolour by Lisa Lennon

Tehi Tegi is one of the Isle of Man’s darker legends (aka badass women legends).

She’s the enchantress, sometimes called a fairy queen, sometimes a witch, who was said to charm men so completely they’d abandon their work, their homes, their families and follow her without question.

In the old tellings, she leads them to a river. She appears to cross safely, then the water rises, the current turns, and the men are drowned.

She’s the reason we hunt the Wren on Boxing Day. After her banishment by Manannan, Tehi Tegi was allowed to return just once a year, on St Stephen’s Day. To escape being killed she transforms into a wren to get a quick get away.

For non-manxies, we don’t actually hunt wrens, but we do dance and sing to keep up the tradition.