Fairy

File:Fairfacefairy.jpg

Take the Fair Face of Woman... by Sophie Anderson

A fairy (fey or fae; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace and other euphemisms) is a spirit or supernatural being, based on the fae of medieval Western European (Old French) folklore and romance. Even in folkore that uses the term "fairy," there are many definitions of what constitutes a fairy. Sometimes the term is used to describe any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes, and at other times only to describe a specific type of more ethereal creature.

Many folktales are told of fairies, and they appear as characters in stories from medieval tales of chivalry, to Victorian fairy tales, and up to the present day in modern literature.

Description

Fairies are generally portrayed as humanoid in appearance and as having supernatural abilities such as the ability to fly, cast spells and to influence or foresee the future. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, females of small stature, they originally were depicted much differently: tall, radiant, angelic beings or short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned. Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Wings, while common in Victorian artwork of fairies, are very rare in the folklore; even very small fairies flew with magic, sometimes flying on ragwort stems or the backs of birds.

Etymology

The English word fairy is derived from the Old French faerie, which was derivative of the root fae (The English root form is fay). Originally, fae was the creature and faerie was the land of the fays. In modern times, both spellings, faerie and fairy, are commonly interchanged in English. The contemporary French term is feerie.

Origin of fairies

Because of the widespread account of faries, and the differing versions of their nature, the exact origin of fairy belief is unclear. There are numerous suggestions for both the cause of the tradition and the cultural stories of fairy origins. One theory for the source of fairy beliefs was that a race of diminutive people had once lived in the Celtic nations and British Isles, but been driven into hiding by invading humans. They came to be seen as another race, or possibly spirits, and were believed to live in an Otherworld that was variously described as existing underground, in hidden hills (many of which were ancient burial mounds), or across the Western Sea. Some archaeologists attributed Elfland to small dwellings or underground chambers where diminutive people might have once lived. In popular folklore, flint arrowheads from the Stone Age were attributed to the fairies as "elf-shot". The fairies fear of iron was attributed to the invaders having iron weapons, whereas the inhabitants had only flint and were therefore easily defeated in physical battle. Their green clothing and underground homes were credited to their need to hide and camouflage themselves from hostile humans, and their use of magic a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry. In Victorian beliefs of evolution, cannibalism among "ogres" was attributed to memories of more savage races, still practicing it alongside "superior" races that had abandoned it. Selkies, described in fairy tales as shapeshifting seal people, were attributed to memories of skin-clad "primitive" people traveling in kayaks. African pygmies were put forth as an example of a race that had previously existed over larger stretches of territory, but come to be scarce and semi-mythical with the passage of time and prominence of other tribes and races.

From a cultural standpoint, there are many origins for fairies. One theory is that the fairies were originally worshiped as gods, but with the coming of Christianity, they lived on, in a dwindled state of power, in folk belief. Many beings who are described as deities in older tales are described as "fairies" in more recent writings. Victorian explanations of mythology, which accounted for all gods as metaphors for natural events that had come to be taken literally, explained them as metaphors for the night sky and stars. Some believed that they were a class of "demoted" angels. One popular story held that when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates shut; those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became devils, and those caught in between became fairies. Others held that they had been thrown out of heaven, not being good enough, but were not evil enough for hell. This may explain the tradition that they had to pay a "teind" or tithe to Hell; as fallen angels, though not quite devils, they are subject to the Devil. Another belief was the fairies were devils, entirely. This belief became much more popular with the growth of Puritanism. The hobgoblin, once a friendly household spirit, became a wicked goblin. Dealing with fairies was in some cases considered a form of witchcraft and punished as such in this era. Disassociating himself from such evils may be why Oberon, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, carefully observed that neither he nor his court feared the church bells.

Some contributed fairies to a folkloric belief concerning the dead. This noted many common points of belief, such as the same legends being told of ghosts and fairies, the Sidhe mounds in actuality being burial mounds, it being dangerous to eat food in both Fairyland and Hades, and both the dead and fairies living underground. The banshee, with an Irish or Gaelic name that means simply, "fairy woman," is sometimes described as a ghost or as a harbinger of death. The Cauld Lad of Hylton, though described as a murdered boy, is also described as a household sprite, like a brownie. One tale recounted a man caught by the fairies, who found that whenever he looked steadily at one, the fairy was a dead neighbor of his. This was among the most common views expressed by those who believed in fairies, although many of the informants would express the view with some doubts.

Another view held that they were an intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels. In alchemy, in particular, they were regarded as elementals, such as gnomes and sylphs, as described by Paracelsus. This is uncommon in folklore, but accounts describing the fairies as creatures of the air have been found popularly.

Beliefs

Fairies of the meadow, by Nils Blommér

The question as to the essential nature of fairies has been the topic of myths, stories, and scholarly papers for a very long time. When considered as beings that a person might actually encounter, fairies were noted for their mischief and malice. Some pranks ascribed to them, such as tangling the hair of sleepers into "Elf-locks," stealing small items or leading a traveler astray, are generally harmless. But far more dangerous behaviours were also attributed to fairies. Any form of sudden death might stem from a fairy kidnapping, with the apparent corpse being a wooden stand-in with the appearance of the kidnapped person. Consumption (tuberculosis) was sometimes blamed on the fairies forcing young men and women to dance at revels every night, causing them to waste away from lack of rest. Fairies riding domestic animals, such as cows, could cause paralysis or mysterious illnesses.

As a consequence, practical considerations of fairies have normally been advice on averting them. In terms of protective charms, cold iron is the most familiar, but other things are regarded as detrimental to the fairies: wearing clothing inside out, running water, bells (especially church bells), St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers, among others. Some lore is contradictory, such as Rowan trees in some tales been sacred to the fairies, and in other tales being protection against them. In Newfoundland folklore, the most popular type of fairy protection is bread, varying from stale bread to hard tack or a slice of fresh home-made bread. The belief that bread has some sort of special power is an ancient one. 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, 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.”

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.

In County Wexford, Ireland, 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.”

While many fairies will confuse travelers on the path, the will o' the wisp can be avoided by not following it. Certain locations, known to be haunts of fairies, are to be avoided; C. S. Lewis 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 forts 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 being widened for seventy years. Good house-keeping could keep brownies from spiteful actions, and such water hags as Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth, prone to drowning people, could be avoided by avoiding the bodies of water they inhabit. It was believed that fairies could be made visible by bending a grass leaf into a circle and "by looking through nature one could see into the world of nature".^{[citation needed]}

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 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.

Changelings

A considerable amount of lore about fairies revolves about changelings, the theft of a human baby and the substitution of a fairy one or an enchanted piece of wood, and preventing a baby from being abducted. Older people could also be abducted; a woman who had just given birth and had yet to be churched was regarded as being in particular danger. A common thread in folklore is that eating the fairy food would trap the captive, as Prosperina in Hades; this warning is often given to captives who escape by other people in the fairies' power, who are often described as captives who had eaten and so could not be freed. Folklore differed about the state of the captives: some held that they lived a merry life, others that they always pined for their old friends.

Literature

"Prince Arthur and the Fairy Queen" by Johann Heinrich Füssli; scene from The Faerie Queen

Fairies appeared in medieval romances as one of the beings that a knight errant might encounter. A fairy lady appeared to Sir Launfal and demanded his love; like the fairy bride of ordinary folklore, she imposed a prohibition on him that in time he violated. Sir Orfeo's wife was carried off by the King of Faerie. Huon of Bordeaux is aided by King Oberon. These fairy characters dwindled in number as the medieval era progressed; the figures became wizards and enchantresses. Morgan Le Fey, whose connection to the realm of faerie is implied in her name, in Le Morte d'Arthur 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 is a late tale, but the Green Knight himself is an otherworldly being. Edmund Spenser featured fairies in The Faerie Queen. In many works of fiction, fairies are freely mixed with the nymphs and satyrs of classical tradition; while in others (e.g. Lamia), they were seen as displacing the Classical beings.

Study for The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania by Noel Paton: fairies in Shakespeare

The smaller but harmless sorts of fairies were used by William Shakespeare in A Midsummer's Night Dream, and Michael Drayton in his Nimphidia; from these stem Alexander Pope's sylphs of The Rape of the Lock, and eventually the Victorian flower fairies, with the fairies becoming prettier and smaller as time progressed.

The précieuses took up the oral tradition of such tales to write fairy tales; Madame d'Aulnoy invented the term contes de fée ("fairy tale"). While the tales told by the précieuses included many fairies, they were less common in other countries' tales; indeed, the Brothers Grimm included fairies in their first edition, but decided this was not authentically German and altered the language in later editions, changing each "Fee" (fairy) to an enchantress or wise woman. J. R. R. Tolkien described these tales as taking place in the land of Faerie. Additionally, not all folktales that feature fairies are generally categorized as fairy tales.

Fairies in literature took on new life with Romanticism. Writers such as Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg were inspired by folklore which featured fairies, such as the Border ballads. This era saw an increase in the popularity of collecting of fairy folklore, and an increase in the creation of original works with fairy characters. In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, Puck holds to scorn the moralizing fairies of other Victorian works. The period also saw a revival of older themes in fantasy literature, such as C.S. Lewis's Narnia books which, while featuring many such classical beings as fauns and dryads, mingles them freely with hags, giants, and other creatures of the folkloric fairy tradition.

Fairies in art

"Momentarily, she was trans-formed into a little, exquisitely beautiful fairy". Illustration from Alfred Smedberg's The Seven Wishes among Gnomes and Trolls by John Bauer.

The Cottingley Fairies series of photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths.

Fairies have been numerously depicted in books of fairy tales and sometimes as standalone works of art and sculpture. Some artists known for their depictions of fairies include:

• Alan Lee
• Amy Brown
• Arthur Rackham
• Brian Froud
• Cicely Mary Barker
• Warwick Goble
• Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
• Myrea Pettit
• Kylie InGold
• Jessica Galbreth
• David Delamare
• Richard de Chazal in his Four Seasons series of photographs
• Josephine Wall

The Victorian era was particularly noted for fairy paintings. The Victorian painter Richard Dadd created paintings of fairy-folk with a sinister and malign tone. Other Victorian artists who depicted fairies include John Atkinson Grimshaw, Joseph Noel Paton, John Anster Fitzgerald and Daniel Maclise. 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. Following in the footsteps of the Cottingley fairies and utilizing modern digital technology, fantasy photographers like artist J. Corsentino created a new sub-genre of "fairy photography".

Fairies in modern culture and film

Fairies are often depicted in books, stories, and movies. A number of these fairies are from adaptations of traditional tales.

Perhaps some of the most well-known fairies were popularized by Disney. Tinkerbell, from the Peter Pan stories by J.M. Barrie and the Disney adaptation. While in Carlo Collodi's tale Pinocchio a wooden boy receives the gift of real life from the a fairy described as the "lovely maiden with azure hair", who was dubbed the "Blue Fairy" for Disney's adaptation.

As would be expected, fairies appear in other media as well, including novels, video games, and music. A comprehensive list is beyond the scope of this article, but one recent and notable example is Susanna Clark's novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which revolved about two magicians with close connections to the fairy world; it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Clark drew heavily on British folklore for this work and her collection of short stories The Ladies of Grace Adieu, including retelling the story of Tom Tit Tot as her "On Lickerish Hill".

Bibliography

• D. L. Ashliman, Fairy Lore: A Handbook (Greenwood, 2006)
• Dubois, Pierre. 2000. The Great Encyclopedia Of Faeries. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0684869578
• Brian Froud and Alan Lee, Faeries, (Peacock Press/Bantam, New York, 1978)
• Eason, Cassandra. 2002. A Complete Guide to Faeries & Magical Beings: Explore the Mystical Realm of the Little People. Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN 1578632676
• L. Henderson and E.J. Cowan, Scottish Fairy Belief (Edinburgh, 2001)
• Keightley, Thomas. 2000. The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People. Gramercy. ISBN 0517263130
• C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: 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)
• Diane Purkiss, Troublesome Things: A History of Fairies and Fairy Stories (Allen Lane, 2000)
• Tomkinson, John L. Haunted Greece: Nymphs, Vampires and other Exotika, (Anagnosis, 2004) ISBN 960-88087-0-7

External links

• Academic discussion on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time, May 11, 2006 (streaming and podcast)
• Audio recording of a traditional fairy story from Newfoundland, Canada (streaming and downloadable formats)
• Creatures by Type: Fairies
• Fairies in Art
• Fairies World
• Fairy Images
• Free public domain images of fairies
• Galleries of 21st Century Fairy Artists
• Kalash Fae of Pakistan
• The Faerie Chronicles

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