World of Fairies
Folk wisdom offers a variety of suggestions for averting fairy abduction. Travelers out walking at night in known fairy turf who begin to experience confusion are advised to turn their clothing inside out to reverse the fairy spell which could lead them astray. Fairies avoid iron and salt, so carrying some of those substances can [...]
Certain times of day and certain days on the calendar offer a greater likelihood of catching a glimpse of fairies. At these times, the veil between our world and theirs may become more permeable, making it easier to experience at least a hint of fairy magic. A large number of reported fairy sightings occur during [...]
Fairy lore links certain types of places with “the good people.” High places such as hills and mountains have reputations as fairy haunts; in fact some stories speak of fairies living inside of hills. The notion of fairies as elementals sees fairies as connected to their homes, specific rivers and streams, forests and rock outcroppings. [...]
Fairy lore has an abundance of stories of attractive men and women either abducted or choosing to live among the fae, often as the consort of a fairy man or woman. One of the best known tales is the Scottish ballad Thomas the Rhymer. The ballad relates how Thomas, a young man relaxing in the [...]
Some types of fairies seem to specialize in seduction. Smooth-talking, sharp-dressing male fairies known as ganconers (or glanconers) lure unwary human women into trysting with them, usually less densely populated areas where trees outnumber people. In most ganconer tales, the seduced and then abandoned woman goes mad, and/or kills herself or simply exists in misery [...]
Fairy lore shows that while fae may use their powers to aid someone, their rules of gift giving differ from ours. In some cases, fairies give aid to a human who is shunned by his peers for some reason, but the recipient of the gift must also earn favor with the fae in some way. [...]
A persistent theme in European folklore tells of fairies stealing children, usually unbaptized babies. In place of a kidnapped child, the fairies might leave one of their own children, or a mock-child made of wood, which would briefly give the appearance of life before seeming to sicken and die. According to some experts in fairy [...]
What do fairies look like? Most of the popular conceptions of fairies fall into one of two categories. Many artistic renderings of fairies depict delicate beings of small stature with wings like those of a butterfly or dragonfly. This type of fairy seems to have a strong connection to the plant world, particularly flowers. In [...]
Fairies inspire the artistic imagination, making appearances in many works of literature as well as visual art. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare used fairies as agents of trickery for comic effect and to smooth the way for the human lovers to unite at the end of the play. The appearance of fairies in [...]
Myths, legends, tall tales, fables, and folktales sometimes mistakenly receive the appellation of fairy tale. Fables point to a moral or lesson, something fairy tales rarely do. Legends and myths often have a strong connection to specific places and religions, while fairy tales take place in the land of once upon a time. Tall tales [...]
