folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, fairy-locks (or elflocks) are the result of

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

tangling and

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

ting the hairs of sleeping children and the manes of beasts as the fairies play in and out of their hair at night.

English tradition

The concept is first attested in English in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' in

Mercutio Mercutio ( , ) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is a close friend to Romeo and a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, Mercutio is one of the named characters in the p ...

's speech of the many exploits of

Queen Mab Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', where "she is the fairies' midwife". Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity i ...

, where he seems to imply the locks are only unlucky if combed out: :"She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes :In shape no bigger than an agate stone....... :That plaits the manes of horses in the night :And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs, :Which once untangled, much ''misfortune'' bodes." Therefore, the appellation of elf lock or fairy lock could be attributed to any various tangles and knots of unknown origins appearing in the manes of beasts or hair of sleeping children. It can also refer to tangles of elflocks or fairy-locks in human hair. In King Lear, when Edgar impersonates a madman, "elf all my hair in knots."(Lear, ii. 3.) What Edgar has done, simply put, is made a mess of his hair. See also ''Jane Eyre'', Ch. XIX; Jane's description of Rochester disguised as a gypsy: "... elf-locks bristled out from beneath a white band ..."

German tradition

German counterparts of the "elf-lock" are ''Alpzopf'', ''Drutenzopf'', ''Wichtelzopf'', ''Weichelzopf'', ''Mahrenlocke'', ''Elfklatte'', etc. (where alp,

drude In German folklore, a drude (german: Drude, pl. ''Druden'') is a kind of malevolent nocturnal spirit (an elf ( Alp) or kobold or a hag) associated with nightmares, prevalent especially in Southern Germany. Druden were said to participate in th ...

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

, and

wight A wight (Old English: ''wiht'') is a mythical sentient being, often undead. In its original use the word ''wight'' described a living human being, but has come to be used in fictional works in the fantasy genre to describe certain immortal bein ...

are given as the beings responsible). Grimm, who compiled the list, also remarked on the similarity to

Frau Holle "Frau Holle" ( ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (als ...

, who entangled people's hair and herself had matted hair.(Stallybrass tr.) The use of the word ''elf'' seems to have declined steadily in English, becoming a rural dialect term, before being revived by translations of fairy tales in the nineteenth century and fantasy fiction in the twentieth.

French tradition

Fairy-locks are ascribed in French traditions to the

lutin A () is a type of hobgoblin (an amusing goblin) in French folklore and fairy tales. Female lutins are called (). A ''lutin'' (varieties include the '' Nain Rouge'' or "red dwarf") plays a similar role in the folklore of Normandy to household ...

.Gary R. Butler, ‘The Lutin Tradition in French-Newfoundland Culture: Discourse and Belief’, in ''The Good People: New Fairylore Essays'', ed. by Peter Narváez, Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, 1376 (New York: Garland, 1991), pp. 5–21.

Eastern European tradition

In Poland and nearby countries, witches and evil spirits were often blamed for

Polish plait Polish plait (Latin: ''Plica polonica'', pl, Kołtun polski or ''plika'', ''Kołtun'' in Polish meaning matted), less commonly known in English as plica or trichoma, is a formation of hair. This term can refer to either a hairstyle or a medica ...

. This can be, however, a serious medical condition or an intentional hairstyle.

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairy-Locks Fairies Folklore Mythological knots Hairstyles