Skip to main content
kelpy

kelpy

1 9.9
A water spirit that often looks like a horse and drowns people who ride it
  • noun
  • /ˈkɛlpi/
  • Literature
translation icon : kelpie
  • In Scottish folklore, a kelpy is said to lure unsuspecting riders into the water, where they meet their doom.

Examples

Synonyms

kelpie
vskelpy
  • Literature
1 9.9

A Scottish water spirit that looks like a horse and tricks people into deep water to drown them

has identical meaning but is an alternate spelling variant used in some texts
water spirit
vskelpy
  • Literature
1 9.8

A magical being in stories that lives in rivers, lakes, or the sea

is a specific Scottish horse spirit known for drowning riders
nixie
vskelpy
  • Archaic
9.9

A water spirit in German and Scandinavian stories that lives in rivers or lakes

is Scottish and usually takes a horse form that drowns riders

Surface Forms

kelpy singular
kelpies plural

Etymology

Kelpy comes from Scottish folktales about a dangerous water horse and may be linked to the word kelp meaning 'seaweed' or to the Gaelic word capall meaning 'horse'. So a kelpy is imagined as a 'water horse' that lures people onto its back and drowns them.