Fairies in Folklore

Fairies have long been associated with children. In India, fairies steal human children and then leave with tiger cubs. In Japan, fairies steal human children and then disappear with their wild brood. However, children stolen by fairies are rarely returned to the human world, and their parents often must find them before they eat fairy food. In English fairy tales, a farmer’s youngest son is stolen and replaced with a sickly imp of a boy. The farmer’s wife rears the queer child as her own, and when he returns, a piskie (changeling) has arrived at his door.

Although modern fairy images often resemble an elf or troll, the first fey were much more primitive and more pronounced than the fairies we know today. They were typically the size of children or young adults, though they could also reach adult heights. Their appearance ranged from the supernaturally beautiful to the hideously deformed. Fairies were often portrayed as small and childlike, but their appearance was often highly arbitrary and shaped by their environment. Generally, fairies were portrayed as small and childlike, but they could also be tall and handsome, and sometimes even be described as a bearded old man.

The origins of fairies are unclear. The word ‘fairy’ is derived from an old French word, though their existence is widely acknowledged as ancient. Fairies are thought to be descendants of ancient pagan deities, but their exact origins are not entirely clear. In many regions with rich oral traditions, the concept of fairies originated as a result of Christian missionaries driving fairies underground. While Christians portrayed fairies as demons, the fairies in those regions were revered as gods before their conversion to Christianity.

Other cultures, including Native Americans, have embraced fairies as a part of their culture. The Shoshone tribe, for example, believed in the existence of a race of fey in the Rocky Mountains. They hunted animals and humans, but shot poisoned-tip arrows at outsiders. The story was put to the test when a mummy was found on San Pedro Mountain. The body of the mummy was discovered in the 1950s and is believed to be an ancient fairy.

The belief in fairies dates back to ancient Greece and the Celtic era. Some stories even mention fairies in medieval times. The Breton version of the banshee, called korrigan, is a pagan druide. It was equated to the Welsh fairies of the lakes and streams. The korrigan would try to seduce mortals who drank her water. If they refused her advances, she would curse them.

Fairies live near us, but most people don’t see them. Fairies live in an alternate reality, with a different resonance than ours. The resulting vibrations prevent us from seeing or hearing the other realm. The fairies live in the “realm of the fey” and are often referred to as the “fairy realm.”