Dryads

From BiblePortal Wikipedia

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]

(from Δρύς , An Oak), female deities of an inferior rank, who presided over woods. They were much more fortunate than the Hamadryads, having the liberty of walking about, and even surviving the destruction of the trees over which they presided. They also had the liberty of marrying. The poets frequently confound the Dryads, Hamadryads, and Naiads.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]

Nymphs of forest trees, which were conceived of as born with the tree they were attached to and dying along with it; they had their abode in wooded mountains away from men; held their revels among themselves, but broke them off at the approach of a human footstep.

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