A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of
mythical
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
being or
legendary creature found in the
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 ...
of multiple European cultures (including
Celtic,
Slavic,
Germanic,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and
French folklore), a form of
spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
, often described as metaphysical,
supernatural, or
preternatural
The preternatural (or praeternatural) is that which appears outside or beside (Latin: '' præter'') the natural. It is "suspended between the mundane and the miraculous".
In theology, the term is often used to distinguish marvels or deceptive t ...
.
Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin, but are rather a collection of
folk belief
In folkloristics, folk belief or folk-belief is a broad genre of folklore that is often expressed in narratives, customs, rituals, foodways, proverbs, and rhymes. It also includes a wide variety of behaviors, expressions, and beliefs. Examples of ...
s from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s or
demons in a
Christian tradition, as deities in
Pagan belief systems, as spirits of the dead, as
prehistoric precursors to
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
s, or as spirits of nature.
The label of ''fairy'' has at times applied only to specific
magical creatures with human appearance, magical powers, and a penchant for trickery. At other times it has been used to describe any magical creature, such as
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on ...
s and
gnomes. ''Fairy'' has at times been used as an adjective, with a meaning equivalent to "enchanted" or "magical". It is also used as a name for the place these beings come from, the land of Fairy.
A recurring
motif of legends about fairies is the need to ward off fairies using protective charms. Common examples of such charms include church bells, wearing clothing inside out,
four-leaf clover
The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, though it is not clear when or how this idea began. One early mention of "Fower-leafed or purple grasse" is ...
, and food. Fairies were also sometimes thought to haunt specific locations, and to lead travelers astray using
will-o'-the-wisp
In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...
s. Before the advent of
modern medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, fairies were often blamed for sickness, particularly
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
and birth deformities.
In addition to their folkloric origins, fairies were a common feature of
Renaissance literature and
Romantic art
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, and were especially popular in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
during the
Victorian and
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
eras. The
Celtic Revival
The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...
also saw fairies established as a canonical part of Celtic cultural heritage.
Etymology
The English ''fairy'' derives from the Early Modern English ''faerie'', meaning '
realm of the ''fays'''. ''Faerie'', in turn, derives from the
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
form , a derivation from (from
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
, '
the fates'), with the
abstract noun suffix .
In Old French romance, a or was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs.
''Fairy'' was used to represent: an illusion or enchantment; the land of the Faes; collectively the inhabitants thereof; an individual such as a fairy knight.
became Modern English ''
fay'', while became ''fairy'', but this spelling almost exclusively refers to one individual (the same meaning as ''fay''). In the sense of 'land where fairies dwell', archaic spellings ''faery'' and ''faerie'' are still in use.
Latinate
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
is not related the
Germanic (from Old English ), meaning 'fated to die'. Yet, this unrelated Germanic word may have been influenced by Old French (fay or fairy) as the meaning had shifted slightly to 'fated' from the earlier 'doomed' or 'accursed'.
Various folklore traditions refer to fairies
euphemistically
A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...
as ''
wee folk'', ''good folk'', ''people of peace'', ''fair folk'' (
Welsh: ), etc.
Historical development
The term ''fairy'' is sometimes used to describe any
magical creature, including
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on ...
s and
gnomes, while at other times, the term describes only a specific type of
ethereal
Ethereal may refer to:
* Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001
*Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music
*Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pac ...
creature or
sprite.
[Briggs (1976) – ''The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature'' p. xi.]
Historical origins of fairies range from various traditions from
Persian mythology
Persian mythology or Iranian mythology ( Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the ori ...
to European folklore such as of
Brythonic (
Bretons
The Bretons (; br, Bretoned or ''Vretoned,'' ) are a Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, mo ...
,
Welsh,
Cornish),
Gaelic (
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
,
Scots,
Manx), and
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...
, and of
Middle French
Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which:
* the French language became clearly distinguished from ...
medieval romances.
According to some historians, such as
Barthélemy d'Herbelot
Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville (14 December 16258 December 1695) was a French Orientalist.
Bibliography
Born in Paris, he was educated at the University of Paris, and devoted himself to the study of oriental languages, going to Italy to pe ...
, fairies were adopted from and influenced by the of Persian mythology.
Peris were angelic beings that were mentioned in antiquity in pre-Islamic Persia as early as the
Achaemenid Empire. Peris were later described in various Persian works in great detail such as the
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...
by
Ferdowsi. A peri was illustrated to be fair, beautiful, and extravagant nature spirits that were supported by wings. This may have influenced migratory Germanic and Eurasian settlers into Europe, or been transmitted during early exchanges. The similarities could also be attributed to a shared Proto-Indo-European mythology.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, ''fairie'' was used adjectivally, meaning "enchanted" (as in ''fairie knight'', ''fairie queene''), but also became a generic term for various "enchanted" creatures during the
Late Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
period. Literature of the
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...
conflated elves with the fairies of Romance culture, rendering these terms somewhat interchangeable. The modern concept of "fairy" in the narrower sense is unique to
English folklore
English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the English region's mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, and folktales. Its cultural history is rooted in Celtic, Christia ...
, later made diminutive in accordance with prevailing tastes of the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, as in "
fairy tales" for children.
The
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
and
Edwardian era
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...
saw a heightened increase of interest in fairies. The
Celtic Revival
The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...
cast fairies as part of Ireland's cultural heritage. Carole Silvers and others suggested this fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization and loss of older folk ways.
[Silver, Carole B. (1999) ''Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness''. Oxford University Press. p. 47 .]
Descriptions
![Falero Luis Ricardo Lily Fairy 1888](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Falero_Luis_Ricardo_Lily_Fairy_1888.jpg)
Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having
magical powers. Diminutive fairies of various kinds have been reported through centuries, ranging from quite tiny to the size of a human.
[Briggs (1976) p. 98.] These small sizes could be magically assumed, rather than constant.
[Yeats (1988) p. 2.] Some smaller fairies could expand their figures to imitate humans. On
Orkney, fairies were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in
armour. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes. Some depictions of fairies show them with footwear, others as
barefoot
Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear.
There are health benefits and some risks associated with going barefoot. Shoes, while they offer protection, can limit the flexibility, strength, and mobility of the foot and can lead to h ...
. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artworks, are rare in folklore; fairies flew by means of magic, sometimes perched on
ragwort
''Jacobaea vulgaris'', syn. ''Senecio jacobaea'', is a very common wild flower in the family Asteraceae that is native to northern Eurasia, usually in dry, open places, and has also been widely distributed as a weed elsewhere.
Common names inc ...
stems or the backs of birds.
[Briggs (1976) p. 148.] Modern illustrations often include
dragonfly or
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...
wings.
Origins
Early modern ''fairies'' does not derive from a single origin; the term is a conflation of disparate elements from
folk belief
In folkloristics, folk belief or folk-belief is a broad genre of folklore that is often expressed in narratives, customs, rituals, foodways, proverbs, and rhymes. It also includes a wide variety of behaviors, expressions, and beliefs. Examples of ...
sources, influenced by literature and speculation. In folklore of Ireland, the mythic , or 'people of the fairy hills', have come to a modern meaning somewhat inclusive of fairies. The Scandinavian elves also served as an influence. Folklorists and mythologists have variously depicted fairies as: the unworthy dead, the children of
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
, a kind of
demon, a species independent of humans, an older race of humans, and fallen
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s.
The folkloristic or mythological elements combine
Celtic,
Germanic and
Greco-Roman elements. Folklorists have suggested that 'fairies' arose from various earlier beliefs, which lost currency with the advent of Christianity.
These disparate explanations are not necessarily incompatible, as 'fairies' may be traced to multiple sources.
Demoted angels
A Christian tenet held that fairies were a class of "demoted"
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s. One story described a group of angels revolting, and God ordering the gates of heaven shut; those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became demons, and those caught in between became fairies. Others wrote that some angels, not being godly enough, yet not evil enough for hell, were thrown out of heaven. This concept may explain the tradition of paying a "teind" or
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
to hell; as fallen angels, although not quite devils, they could be viewed as subjects of Satan.
King James I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
, in his dissertation ''
Daemonologie
''Daemonologie''—in full ''Daemonologie, In Forme of a Dialogue, Divided into three Books: By the High and Mighty Prince, James &c.''—was first published in 1597 by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) as a philosophi ...
'', stated the term "faries" referred to illusory spirits (demonic entities) that prophesied to, consorted with, and transported the individuals they served; in medieval times, a witch or sorcerer who had a pact with a
familiar spirit
In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to ...
might receive these services.
In England's
Theosophist
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
circles of the 19th century, a belief in the "angelic" nature of fairies was reported.
Entities referred to as
Devas were said to guide many processes of
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
, such as
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
of organisms, growth of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
s, etc., many of which resided inside the Sun (Solar
Angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
). The more Earthbound Devas included ''nature spirits'', ''
elemental
An elemental is a mythic being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent fo ...
s'', and ''fairies'', which were described as appearing in the form of colored flames, roughly the size of a human.
Arthur Conan Doyle, in his 1922 book ''The Coming of the Fairies''; ''The Theosophic View of Fairies'', reported that eminent theosophist
E. L. Gardner
E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet.
E or e may also refer to:
Commerce and transportation
* €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit
* ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the weig ...
had likened fairies to butterflies, whose function was to provide an essential link between the energy of the sun and the plants of Earth, describing them as having no clean-cut shape ... small, hazy, and somewhat luminous clouds of colour with a brighter sparkish nucleus. "That growth of a plant which we regard as the customary and inevitable result of associating the three factors of sun, seed, and soil would never take place if the fairy builders were absent."
For a similar concept in Persian mythology, see
Peri.
Demoted pagan deities
At one time it was thought that fairies were originally worshiped as deities, such as
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
s and tree spirits, and with the burgeoning predominance of the
Christian Church, reverence for these deities carried on, but in a dwindling state of perceived power. Many deprecated deities of older folklore and myth were repurposed as fairies in Victorian fiction (See the works of
W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
for examples).
Fairies as demons
A recorded Christian belief of the 17th century cast all fairies as demons. This perspective grew more popular with the rise of
Puritanism
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
among the
Reformed Church of England (See:
Anglicanism). The
hobgoblin
A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...
, once a friendly household spirit, became classed as a wicked goblin. Dealing with fairies was considered a form of witchcraft, and punished as such.
[Briggs (1976) "Traffic with fairies" and "Trooping fairies" pp. 409–12.] In
William Shakespeare's
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 ...
''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'',
Oberon
Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...
, king of the faeries, states that neither he nor his court fear the church bells, which the renowned author and Christian apologist
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
cast as a politic disassociation from faeries.
In an era of intellectual and religious upheaval, some Victorian reappraisals of mythology cast deities in general as metaphors for natural events, which was later refuted by other authors (See: ''
The Triumph of the Moon
''The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft'' is a book of History of religions, religious history by the English historian Ronald Hutton, first published by Oxford University Press in 1999. At the time, Hutton was a Reader ...
'', by
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Edmund Hutton (born 19 December 1953) is an English historian who specialises in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism. He is a professor at the University of Bristol, has written 14 b ...
). This contentious environment of thought contributed to the modern meaning of 'fairies'.
Spirits of the dead
One belief held that fairies were spirits of the dead.
[Lewis (1994) p. 136.] This derived from many factors common in various folklore and myths: same or similar tales of both ghosts and fairies; the Irish , origin of their term for fairies, were ancient burial mounds; deemed dangerous to eat food in
Fairyland
Fairyland (''Faerie'', Scottish ''Elfame'', c.f. Old Norse '' Álfheimr'') in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of fairies or ''fays''. Old French (Early Modern English ) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land ...
and
Hades; the dead and fairies depicted as living underground.
Diane Purkiss observed an equating of fairies with the untimely dead who left "unfinished lives". One tale recounted a man caught by the fairies, who found that whenever he looked steadily at a fairy, it appeared as a dead neighbor of his.
[Briggs (1967) p. 15.] This theory was among the more common traditions related, although many informants also expressed doubts.
[Briggs (1967) p. 141.]
Hidden people
![Brock Fairy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Brock_Fairy.jpg)
There is an outdated theory that fairy folklore evolved from folk memories of a prehistoric race: newcomers superseded a body of earlier human or humanoid peoples, and the memories of this defeated race developed into modern conceptions of fairies. Proponents find support in the tradition of cold iron as a charm against fairies, viewed as a cultural memory of invaders with iron weapons displacing peoples who had just stone, bone, wood, etc., at their disposal, and were easily defeated. 19th-century archaeologists uncovered underground rooms in the Orkney islands that resembled the Elfland described in
Childe Rowland
Childe Rowland is a fairy tale, the most popular version written by Joseph Jacobs in his ''English Fairy Tales'', published in 1890, based on an earlier version published in 1814 by Robert Jamieson. Jamieson's was repeating a "Scottish ballad", w ...
, which lent additional support. In folklore, flint arrowheads from the
Stone Age were attributed to the fairies as "
elfshot
In English folklore, elf-arrows, elf-bolts and pixie arrows were names given to discovered arrowheads of flint, used in hunting and war by the Pre-Indo-Europeans of the British Isles and of Europe generally. The name derives from the folklore be ...
",
[Froud, Brian and Lee, Alan (1978) ''Faeries''. New York, Peacock Press .] while their green clothing and underground homes spoke to a need for camouflage and covert shelter from hostile humans, their magic a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry. In a Victorian tenet of evolution, mythic cannibalism among
ogre
An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
s was attributed to memories of more savage races, practising alongside "superior" races of more refined sensibilities.
Elementals
A theory that fairies, et al., were intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels.
[Lewis (1994) p. 134.] An alchemist,
Paracelsus, classed
gnomes and
sylphs as
elemental
An elemental is a mythic being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent fo ...
s, meaning magical entities who personify a particular force of nature, and exert powers over these forces.
[Silver (1999) p. 38.] Folklore accounts have described fairies as "spirits of the air".
Characteristics
Much folklore of fairies involves methods of protecting oneself from their malice, by means such as cold iron, charms (see
amulet,
talisman
A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...
) of
rowan trees or various
herbs, or simply shunning locations "known" to be theirs, ergo avoiding offending any fairies. Less harmful pranks ascribed to fairies include: tangling the hair of sleepers into
fairy-lock
In folklore, fairy-locks (or elflocks) are the result of fairies tangling and knotting 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 ...
s (aka elf-locks), stealing small items, and leading a traveler astray. More dangerous behaviors were also attributed to fairies; any form of sudden death might have stemmed from a fairy kidnapping, the evident corpse a magical replica of wood. Consumption (
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
) was sometimes blamed on fairies who forced young men and women to dance at
revels
''Revels'' is a contemporary series of American seasonal stage performances, incorporating singing, dancing, recitals, and theatrics loosely organized around a central theme or narrative. The folk-tradition-based performances started in 1957, we ...
every night, causing them to waste away from lack of rest.
Rowan trees were considered sacred to fairies, and a charm tree to protect one's home.
Classifications
Various folklorists have proposed classification systems for fairies. Using terms popularized by W. B. Yeats, ''trooping fairies'' are those who appear in groups and might form settlements, as opposed to ''solitary fairies,'' who do not live or associate with others of their kind. In this context, the term ''fairy'' is usually held in a wider sense, including various similar beings, such as
dwarves and
elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...
of
Germanic folklore
Proto-Germanic folklore is the folklore of the speakers of Proto-Germanic and includes topics such as the Germanic mythology, legendry, and folk beliefs of early Germanic culture. By way of the comparative method, Germanic philologists, a variety ...
.
[Briggs (1976) "Traffic with fairies" and "Trooping fairies" pp. 409–12.]
In
Scottish folklore
Scottish folklore (Scottish Gaelic: ''Beul-aithris na h-Alba'') encompasses the folklore of the Scottish people from their earliest records until today. Folklorists, both academic and amateur, have published a variety of works focused specifically ...
, fairies are divided into the ''
Seelie Court'' (more beneficently inclined, but still dangerous), and the ''Unseelie Court'' (more malicious). While fairies of the Seelie Court enjoyed playing generally harmless pranks on humans, those of the Unseelie Court often brought harm to humans for entertainment.
Both could be dangerous to humans if offended.
Some scholars have cautioned against the overuse of dividing fairies into types. British folklore historian Dr. Simon Young noted that classification varies widely from researcher to researcher, and pointed out that it does not necessarily reflect old beliefs, since “those people living hundreds of years ago did not structure their experience as we do.”
Changelings
A considerable amount of lore about fairies revolves around
changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...
s, fairies left in the place of stolen humans.
In particular, folklore describes how to prevent the fairies from stealing babies and substituting
changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...
s, and abducting older people as well.
[Briggs (1976) p. 25.] The theme of the swapped child is common in medieval literature and reflects concern over infants thought to be afflicted with unexplained diseases, disorders, or developmental disabilities. In pre-industrial Europe, a peasant family's subsistence frequently depended upon the productive labor of each member, and a person who was a permanent drain on the family's scarce resources could pose a threat to the survival of the entire family.
Protective charms
In terms of protective charms, wearing clothing inside out, church bells,
St. John's wort
''Hypericum perforatum'', known as St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae and the type species of the genus ''Hypericum''.
Possibly a hybrid between ''Hypericum maculatum, H. maculatum'' and ''Hypericum attenuatum, H. ...
, and
four-leaf clover
The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, though it is not clear when or how this idea began. One early mention of "Fower-leafed or purple grasse" is ...
s are regarded as effective. In
Newfoundland folklore, the most popular type of fairy protection is bread, varying from stale bread to
hard tack or a slice of fresh homemade bread. Bread is associated with the home and the hearth, as well as with industry and the taming of nature, and as such, seems to be disliked by some types of fairies. On the other hand, in much of the
Celtic folklore Celtic folklore may refer to:
The Folklore in the modern Celtic nations:
* Hebridean mythology and folklore
* Irish folklore
* Scottish folklore
* Welsh folklore
Or the mythologies of ancient and modern Celtic peoples:
* Celtic mythology
* Irish ...
, baked goods are a traditional offering to the folk, as are cream and butter.
"The prototype of food, and therefore a symbol of life, bread was one of the commonest protections against fairies. Before going out into a fairy-haunted place, it was customary to put a piece of dry bread in one's pocket." In
County Wexford,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, in 1882, it was reported that: "if an infant is carried out after dark a piece of bread is wrapped in its bib or dress, and this protects it from any witchcraft or evil."
Bells also have an ambiguous role; while they protect against fairies, the fairies riding on horseback — such as the fairy queen — often have bells on their harness. This may be a distinguishing trait between the
Seelie Court from the Unseelie Court, such that fairies use them to protect themselves from more wicked members of their race. Another ambiguous piece of folklore revolves about poultry: a cock's crow drove away fairies, but other tales recount fairies keeping poultry.
While many fairies will confuse travelers on the path, the
will-o'-the-wisp
In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...
can be avoided by not following it. Certain locations, known to be haunts of fairies, are to be avoided;
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
reported hearing of a cottage more feared for its reported fairies than its reported ghost. In particular, digging in fairy hills was unwise.
Paths that the fairies travel are also wise to avoid. Home-owners have knocked corners from houses because the corner blocked the fairy path, and cottages have been built with the front and back doors in line, so that the owners could, in need, leave them both open and let the fairies troop through all night. Locations such as
fairy fort
Fairy forts (also known as ''lios'' or ''raths'' from the Irish, referring to an earthen mound) are the remains of stone circles, ringforts, hillforts, or other circular prehistoric dwellings in Ireland. From (possibly) the late Iron Age to ea ...
s were left undisturbed; even cutting brush on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act. Fairy trees, such as
thorn trees, were dangerous to chop down; one such tree was left alone in Scotland, though it prevented a road from being widened for seventy years.
![Fairychapeltoun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Fairychapeltoun.JPG)
Other actions were believed to offend fairies.
Brownies were known to be driven off by being given clothing, though some folktales recounted that they were offended by the inferior quality of the garments given, and others merely stated it, some even recounting that the brownie was delighted with the gift and left with it. Other brownies left households or farms because they heard a complaint, or a compliment. People who saw the fairies were advised not to look closely, because they resented infringements on their privacy. The need to not offend them could lead to problems: one farmer found that fairies threshed his corn, but the threshing continued after all his corn was gone, and he concluded that they were stealing from his neighbors, leaving him the choice between offending them, dangerous in itself, and profiting by the theft.
Millers were thought by the Scots to be "no canny", owing to their ability to control the forces of nature, such as fire in the kiln, water in the burn, and for being able to set machinery a-whirring. Superstitious communities sometimes believed that the miller must be in league with the fairies. In Scotland, fairies were often mischievous and to be feared. No one dared to set foot in the mill or kiln at night, as it was known that the fairies brought their corn to be milled after dark. So long as the locals believed this, the miller could sleep secure in the knowledge that his stores were not being robbed. John Fraser, the miller of Whitehill, claimed to have hidden and watched the fairies trying unsuccessfully to work the mill. He said he decided to come out of hiding and help them, upon which one of the fairy women gave him a ''gowpen'' (double handful of meal) and told him to put it in his empty ''girnal'' (store), saying that the store would remain full for a long time, no matter how much he took out.
[Gauldie, E. (1981) ''The Scottish Miller 1700–1900''. Edinburgh, John McDonald. p. 187.]
It is also believed that to know the name of a particular fairy, a person could summon it and force it to do their bidding. The name could be used as an insult towards the fairy in question, but it could also rather contradictorily be used to grant powers and gifts to the user.
Before the advent of modern medicine, many physiological conditions were untreatable and when children were born with abnormalities, it was common to blame the fairies.
Legends
Sometimes fairies are described as assuming the guise of an animal. In Scotland, it was peculiar to the fairy women to assume the shape of deer; while witches became mice, hares, cats, gulls, or black sheep. In "The Legend of
Knockshigowna", in order to frighten a farmer who pastured his herd on fairy ground, a fairy queen took on the appearance of a great horse, with the wings of an eagle, and a tail like a dragon, hissing loud and spitting fire. Then she would change into a little man lame of a leg, with a bull's head, and a lambent flame playing round it.
In the 19th-century
child ballad "
Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight
"Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (Child #4; Roud #21) is the English common name representative of a very large class of European ballads.
The most frequently collected variant, The Outlandish Knight or ''May Colvin'' tells the tale of a young w ...
", the elf-knight is a
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the s ...
figure, and Isabel must trick and kill him to preserve her life.
[Child, Francis ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads''.] The child ballad "
Tam Lin
Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also ...
" reveals that the title character, though living among the fairies and having fairy powers, was, in fact, an "earthly knight" and though his life was pleasant ''now'', he feared that the fairies would pay him as their
teind (tithe) to hell.
"
Sir Orfeo
''Sir Orfeo'' is an anonymous Middle English Breton lai dating from the late 13th or early 14th century. It retells the story of Orpheus as a king who rescues his wife from the fairy king. The folk song ''Orfeo'' ( Roud 136, Child 19) is based ...
" tells how Sir Orfeo's wife was kidnapped by the King of Faerie and only by trickery and an excellent harping ability was he able to win her back. "Sir Degare" narrates the tale of a woman overcome by her fairy lover, who in later versions of the story is unmasked as a mortal. "
Thomas the Rhymer
Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...
" shows Thomas escaping with less difficulty, but he spends seven years in Elfland.
Oisín
Oisín ( ), Osian, Ossian ( ), or anglicized as Osheen ( ) was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, a warrior of the Fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the demigod son of Fionn mac Cumhaill and of ...
is harmed not by his stay in Faerie but by his return; when he dismounts, the three centuries that have passed catch up with him, reducing him to an aged man. King Herla (O.E. ''"Herla cyning"''), originally a guise of Woden but later Christianised as a king in a tale by
Walter Map
Walter Map ( la, Gualterius Mappus; 1130 – 1210) was a medieval writer. He wrote '' De nugis curialium'', which takes the form of a series of anecdotes of people and places, offering insights on the history of his time.
Map was a court ...
, was said, by Map, to have visited a
dwarf
Dwarf or dwarves may refer to:
Common uses
*Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore
* Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
's underground mansion and returned three centuries later; although only some of his men crumbled to dust on dismounting, Herla and his men who did not dismount were trapped on horseback, this being one account of the origin of the
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
of
European folklore
European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the Western world, especially when discussed comparatively.
The history of Christendom during the Early Modern period has resulted in a number of traditions that are shared in many ...
.
A common feature of the fairies is the use of magic to disguise their appearance. ''Fairy gold'' is notoriously unreliable, appearing as
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
when paid but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves,
gorse blossoms,
gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other comparatively worthless things.
These illusions are also implicit in the tales of ''
fairy ointment''. Many tales from
Northern Europe[''Northumberland Folk Tales'', by Rosalind Kerven (2005) Antony Rowe Ltd, p. 532.] tell of a mortal woman summoned to attend a fairy birth — sometimes attending a mortal, kidnapped woman's childbed. Invariably, the woman is given something for the child's eyes, usually an ointment; through mischance, or sometimes curiosity, she uses it on one or both of her own eyes. At that point, she sees where she is; one midwife realizes that she was not attending a great lady in a fine house but her own runaway maid-servant in a wretched cave. She escapes without making her ability known but sooner or later betrays that she can see the fairies. She is invariably blinded in that eye or in both if she used the ointment on both.
There have been claims by people in the past, like
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
, to have seen fairy funerals.
Allan Cunningham in his ''Lives of Eminent British Painters'' records that William Blake claimed to have seen a fairy funeral:
'Did you ever see a fairy's funeral, madam?' said Blake to a lady who happened to sit next to him. 'Never, sir!' said the lady. 'I have,' said Blake, 'but not before last night.' And he went on to tell how, in his garden, he had seen 'a procession of creatures of the size and colour of green and grey grasshoppers, bearing a body laid out on a rose-leaf, which they buried with songs, and then disappeared.' They are believed to be an omen of death.
The are a race of supernaturally-gifted people in Irish mythology. They are thought to represent the main deities of pre-Christian Ireland. Many of the
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
modern tales of the refer to these beings as fairies, though in more ancient times they were regarded as
goddesses and
god
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
s. The were spoken of as having come from islands in the north of the world or, in other sources, from the sky. After being defeated in a series of battles with other otherworldly beings, and then by the ancestors of the current
Irish people
The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years ...
, they were said to have withdrawn to the (fairy mounds), where they lived on in popular imagination as "fairies".
They are associated with several Otherworld realms including ('the Pleasant Plain'), ('the place of apples'), and ('the Land of Youth').
The is the Irish term for a supernatural race in
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, comparable to the fairies or elves. They are variously said to be ancestors, the spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods.
[ Evans Wentz, W. Y. (1966, 1990]
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe Humanities Press A common theme found among the Celtic nations describes a race of people who had been driven out by invading humans. In old Celtic fairy lore the ('people of the fairy mounds') are immortals living in the ancient barrows and cairns. The Irish
banshee
A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name i ...
(
Irish Gaelic , previously , 'woman of the fairy mound') is sometimes described as a ghost.
[Briggs (1976) p. 15.]
Scottish
In the 1691 ''The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies'', Reverend
Robert Kirk, minister of the Parish of
Aberfoyle, Stirling, Scotland, wrote:
These Siths or Fairies they call or the Good People...are said to be of middle nature between Man and Angel, as were Daemons thought to be of old; of intelligent fluidous Spirits, and light changeable bodies (lyke those called Astral) somewhat of the nature of a condensed cloud, and best seen in twilight. These bodies be so pliable through the sublety of Spirits that agitate them, that they can make them appear or disappear at pleasure
In literature
![Johann Heinrich Füssli 058](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_058.jpg)
The word ''fairy'' was used to describe an individual inhabitant of Faerie before the time of
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
.
Fairies appeared in
medieval romances as one of the beings that a
knight errant
A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective ''errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric v ...
might encounter. A fairy lady appeared to
Sir Launfal
''Sir Launfal'' is a 1045-line Middle English romance or Breton lay written by Thomas Chestre dating from the late 14th century. It is based primarily on the 538-line Middle English poem ''Sir Landevale'', which in turn was based on Marie de Franc ...
and demanded his love; like the fairy bride of ordinary folklore, she imposed a prohibition on him that in time he violated.
Sir Orfeo
''Sir Orfeo'' is an anonymous Middle English Breton lai dating from the late 13th or early 14th century. It retells the story of Orpheus as a king who rescues his wife from the fairy king. The folk song ''Orfeo'' ( Roud 136, Child 19) is based ...
's wife was carried off by the King of Faerie.
Huon of Bordeaux
Huon of Bordeaux is the title character of a 13th-century French epic poem with romance elements.
''Huon of Bordeaux''
The poem tells of Huon, a knight who unwittingly kills Charlot, the son of Emperor Charlemagne. He is given a reprieve from d ...
is aided by King
Oberon
Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...
.
[Lewis (1994) pp. 129–30.] These fairy characters dwindled in number as the medieval era progressed; the figures became wizards and enchantresses.
[Briggs (1976). "Fairies in medieval romances". p. 132.]
The oldest fairies on record in England were first described by the historian Gervase of Tilbury in the 13th century.
In the 1485 book ,
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan ''n''a, Morgain ''a/e Morg ''a''ne, Morgant ''e Morge ''i''n, and Morgue ''inamong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a ...
, whose connection to the realm of Faerie is implied in her name, is a woman whose magic powers stem from study. While somewhat diminished with time, fairies never completely vanished from the tradition. ''
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of ...
'' is a 14th-century tale, but the Green Knight himself is an otherworldly being.
Edmund Spenser featured fairies in his 1590 book ''
The Faerie Queene
''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...
''. In many works of fiction, fairies are freely mixed with the
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
s and
satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...
s of classical tradition, while in others (e.g.,
Lamia
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
), they were seen as displacing the Classical beings. 15th-century poet and monk
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury (c. 1370 – c. 1451) was an English monk and poet, born in Lidgate, near Haverhill, Suffolk, England.
Lydgate's poetic output is prodigious, amounting, at a conservative count, to about 145,000 lines. He explored and estab ...
wrote that
King Arthur was crowned in "the land of the fairy" and taken in his death by four fairy queens, to
Avalon
Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
, where he lies under a "fairy hill" until he is needed again.
![Sir Joseph Noel Paton - The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania - Google Art Project 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Sir_Joseph_Noel_Paton_-_The_Quarrel_of_Oberon_and_Titania_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg)
Fairies appear as significant characters in
William 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 ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'', which is set simultaneously in the woodland and in the realm of Fairyland, under the light of the Moon and in which a disturbance of nature caused by a fairy dispute creates tension underlying the plot and informing the actions of the characters. According to Maurice Hunt, Chair of the English Department at Baylor University, the blurring of the identities of fantasy and reality makes possible "that pleasing, narcotic dreaminess associated with the fairies of the play".
Shakespeare's contemporary
Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton (1563 – 23 December 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He died on 23 December 1631 in London.
Early life
Drayton was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothin ...
features fairies in his ''Nimphidia'', and from these stem
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's sylphs of the 1712 poem ''
The Rape of the Lock''. In the mid-17th century the French literary style took up the oral tradition of such tales to write
fairy tales, and
Madame d'Aulnoy
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (1650/1651 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. When she termed her works ''contes de fées'' (fairy tales), sh ...
invented the term ('fairy tale'). While the tales told by the included many fairies, they were less common in other countries' tales; indeed, the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
included fairies in their first edition but decided this was not authentically German and altered the language in later editions, changing each ("fairy") to an enchantress or wise woman.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
described these tales as taking place in the land of Faerie. Additionally, not all folktales that feature fairies are generally categorized as fairy tales.
The modern depiction of fairies was shaped in the literature of
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
during the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
. Writers such as
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
and
James Hogg
James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...
were inspired by folklore which featured fairies, such as the ''
Border ballad
Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...
s''. This era saw an increase in the popularity of collecting fairy folklore and an increase in the creation of original works with fairy characters. In
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's 1906 book of short stories and poems, ''
Puck of Pook's Hill
''Puck of Pook's Hill'' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of ...
'',
Puck holds to scorn the moralizing fairies of other Victorian works. The period also saw a revival of older themes in
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
literature, such as C.S. Lewis's
Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...
books, which, while featuring many such classical beings as
faun
The faun (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology.
Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their c ...
s and
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies " oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved t ...
s, mingles them freely with
hag
HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Märk ...
s,
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
s, and other creatures of the folkloric fairy tradition. Victorian
flower fairies were popularized in part by
Queen Mary's keen interest in fairy art and by British illustrator and poet
Cicely Mary Barker's series of eight books published in 1923 through 1948. Imagery of fairies in literature became prettier and smaller as time progressed.
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...
, complaining of "the fairies of polyanthuses and gardenias and apple blossoms" in the introduction to ''
The Lilac Fairy Book
''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...
'' (1910), observed that: "These fairies try to be funny, and fail; or they try to preach, and succeed."
A story of the origin of fairies appears in a chapter about
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
in
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
's 1902 novel ''
The Little White Bird
''The Little White Bird'' is a novel by the Scottish writer J. M. Barrie, ranging in tone from fantasy and whimsy to social comedy with dark, aggressive undertones. It was published in November 1902, by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Scribn ...
'', and was incorporated into his later works about the character. Barrie wrote: "When the first baby laughed for the first time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies." Fairies are seen in
Neverland
Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live.
Altho ...
, in ''
Peter and Wendy
''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...
'', the 1911 novel version of
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
's famous
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
stories, and its character
Tinker Bell
Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play '' Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation ''Peter and Wendy''. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 ...
has become a pop culture icon. When Peter Pan is guarding Wendy from pirates, the story says: "After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose and passed on."
In visual art
Images of fairies have appeared as illustrations, often in books of
fairy tales, as well as in photographic media and
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
. Some artists known for their depictions of fairies include
Cicely Mary Barker, Amy Brown, David Delamare,
Meredith Dillman
Meredith Dillman is a fantasy artist and illustrator from Minnesota who specializes in fairies and fairy tale paintings. She has published multiple art books and illustrated the covers and interiors of art books and novels.
Biography Training and ...
,
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravin ...
,
Brian Froud
Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book ''Faeries'' with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films '' The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ' ...
,
Warwick Goble
Warwick Goble (22 November 1862 – 22 January 1943) was a British illustrator of children's books.
He was educated and trained at the City of London School and the Westminster School of Art. He specialized in fairy tales and exotic scenes fr ...
,
Jasmine Becket-Griffith
Jasmine Becket-Griffith (born June 4, 1979) is a freelance artist who specializes in fairy, fantasy, and gothic artwork. Her preferred medium is acrylic on canvas or wood and her designs appear on many lines of licensed merchandise, notably throug ...
,
Rebecca Guay,
Florence Harrison,
Kylie InGold
Kylie InGold (born September 1962) is an Australian artist, a painter of the fairy and fantasy genre. Her painting career began in the early 1980s and has endured as one of Australia's most popular contemporary fairy artists. She studied fashi ...
,
Greta James Greta may refer to:
*Greta (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Places
* Greta Bridge, village in County Durham, England
* Greta, New South Wales, town in Australia
** Greta railway station
** Greta Army Camp, form ...
,
Alan Lee,
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, Myrea Pettit,
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...
,
Suza Scalora, and
Nene Thomas.
The
Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor, MI
The Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor are a series of small doors that are a type of installation art found in the city of Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. The first one appeared in the baseboards of the home of Jonathan and Kathleen Wright in 19 ...
are small doors installed into local buildings. Local children believe these are the front doors of fairy houses, and in some cases, small furniture, dishes, and various other things can be seen beyond the doors.
The
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
was particularly noted for fairy paintings. The Victorian painter
Richard Dadd
Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalism, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre works, genre scenes, rendered w ...
created paintings of fairy-folk with a sinister and malign tone. Other Victorian artists who depicted fairies include
John Anster Fitzgerald,
John Atkinson Grimshaw
John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893) was an English Victorian-era artist best known for his nocturnal scenes of urban landscapes.Alexander Robertson, ''Atkinson Grimshaw'', London, Phaidon Press, 1996 H. J. Dyos and ...
,
Daniel Maclise, and
Joseph Noel Paton
Sir Joseph Noel Paton (13 December 1821 – 26 December 1901) was a Scottish artist, illustrator and sculptor. He was also a poet and had an interest in, and knowledge of, Scottish folklore and Celtic legends.
Early life
He was born in Woo ...
.
Interest in fairy-themed art enjoyed a brief renaissance following the publication of the
Cottingley Fairies photographs in 1917, and a number of artists turned to painting fairy themes.
See also
General
*
Fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale wit ...
*
Tooth fairy
The Tooth Fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood in Western and Western-influenced cultures. The folklore states that when children lose one of their baby teeth, they should place it underneath their pillow or on their bedside table and ...
*
Fairy ring § Cultural references
*
Fairy Investigation Society
*
Peri
*
Paristan
In Persian cosmology, Paristan, Peristan or Pariestan ( fa, پریستان ''Pariyestân'', ''Peristân'', "Land of the Peris"; also Koh-i-Qaf or Qafkuh) is the home of peris.
Muslim folklore
Although originating in pre-Islamic Persian liter ...
Popular culture
* – Sicilian fairy-like folklore and witch trials
*
List of fairy and sprite characters
* ''
Artemis Fowl
''The Fowl Adventures'' is a series of eleven fantasy novels written by Irish author Eoin Colfer revolving around various members of the Fowl family. The first cycle, ''Artemis Fowl'', follows elf LEP recon officer Holly Short as she faces t ...
'', book series
* ''
Carnival Row
''Carnival Row'' is an American neo-noir fantasy television series created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham, based on Beacham's unproduced film spec script, ''A Killing on Carnival Row''. The series stars Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, S ...
'', TV series
* ''
The Chronicles of Prydain
''The Chronicles of Prydain'' is a pentalogy of children's high fantasy Bildungsroman novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company. The series includes: ''The Book of Three'' (1964), ''The Black Cauld ...
'', book series
* ''
Disney Fairies
''Disney Fairies'' is a Disney franchise created in 2005. The franchise is built around the character of Tinker Bell from Disney's 1953 animated film ''Peter Pan'', subsequently adopted as a mascot for the company. In addition to the fictional fa ...
'', multimedia franchise
* ''
The Dresden Files
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are wr ...
'', book series
* ''
The Fairly OddParents
''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant him ...
'', animated TV series
* ''
A Little Snow Fairy Sugar
is a Japanese anime series developed by J.C.Staff. It premiered in Japan on TBS on October 2, 2001, and ran for 24 episodes until its conclusion March 26, 2002. A two-episode OVA was also released for the series. The series was licensed for ...
'', anime
* ''
Lost Girl
''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...
'', TV series
* ''
Rainbow Magic
''Rainbow Magic'' is a British children's fiction brand originally created by Working Partners and now owned by IoM Media Ventures. It is best known for the children's books published by Orchard Books. The books are ghostwritten by a number of ...
'', book series
* ''
Smile PreCure!
is a 2012 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation and the ninth installment in Izumi Todo's ''Pretty Cure'' metaseries, featuring the seventh generation of Cures. The series is written by Shōji Yonemura, who is best k ...
'', anime
* ''
The Spiderwick Chronicles'', book series
* ''
Supernatural'', TV series
* ''
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The ser ...
'', TV series
* ''
Winx Club'', animated TV series
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
D. L. Ashliman, ''Fairy Lore: A Handbook'' (Greenwood, 2006)
*
Brian Froud
Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book ''Faeries'' with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films '' The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ' ...
and
Alan Lee, ''
Faeries
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 ...
'' (Peacock Press/Bantam, New York, 1978)
* Nicola Bown, ''Fairies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Art'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)
*
Katharine Briggs, ''A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblings, Brownies, Bogies, and other Supernatural Creatures'' (Bungay: Penguin, 1977)
*
Katharine Briggs, ''The Fairies in Tradition and Literature'', 2nd edition (London: Routledge, 2020)
* Ronan Coghlan ''Handbook of Fairies'' (Capall Bann, 2002)
* Richard Firth Green, ''Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016)
*
Lizanne Henderson
Lizanne Henderson is a Senior Lecturer in history at the University of Glasgow in Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland ...
and Edward J. Cowan, ''
Scottish Fairy Belief: A History'' (Edinburgh, 2001; 2007)
* Ronald Hutton, "The Making of the Early Modern British Fairy Tradition", ''Historical Journal'' 57(4), 1135–57
*
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
, ''
The Discarded Image
''The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature'' is a non-fiction book by C. S. Lewis. It was his last book and deals with medieval cosmology and the Ptolemaic universe. It portrays the medieval conception of a ...
: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature'' (1964)
* Patricia Lysaght, ''The Banshee: the Irish Supernatural Death Messenger'' (Glendale Press, Dublin, 1986)
* Peter Narvaez, ''The Good People, New Fairylore Essays'' (Garland, New York, 1991)
* Eva Pocs, ''Fairies and Witches at the boundary of south-eastern and central Europe'' FFC no 243 (Helsinki, 1989)
*
Joseph Ritson
Joseph Ritson (2 October 1752 – 23 September 1803) was an English antiquary who was well known for his 1795 compilation of the Robin Hood legend. After a visit to France in 1791, he became a staunch supporter of the ideals of the French Rev ...
, ''Fairy Tales, Now First Collected: To which are prefixed two dissertations: 1. On Pygmies. 2. On Fairies'', London, 1831
* Diane Purkiss, ''Troublesome Things: A History of Fairies and Fairy Stories'' (Allen Lane, 2000)
* Carole G. Silver, ''Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)
* Tomkinson, John L
''Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and other Exotika,''(Anagnosis, 2004)
External links
*
Audio recording of a Scandinavian folktale explaining fairy origins(streaming and downloadable formats)
Audio recording of a traditional fairy story from Newfoundland, Canada(streaming and downloadable formats)
{{Authority control
European legendary creatures
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