 Horror/Scary: July 22, 2015 Issue [#7111] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: The Horrors of Fairyland Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
"Up the airy mountain,
And down the rushy glen.
We dare not go a-hunting,
for fear of little men."
~ From "The Faeries" by William Allingham |
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What do you think of when you think of fairies? If you are like most people, you probably imagine a tiny girl with wings, such as Tinkerbelle of Peter Pan, or a grandmotherly woman who grants wishes with her magic wand, such as Cinderella's fairy godmother. However the fae folk of legends did not bear much resemblance to the Disney versions. Many of them would have been more at home in a horror story than a cute movie for children. Actually, the original versions of many of the stories we call "fairy tales" would scare the daylights out of most children and many adults! 
The words "fairy" and "fae" can be traced back to the Latin "Fata" which originally meant one of the goddesses that personified Fate, but also can be taken to mean any spirit or supernatural creature. Fairies come in many shapes and sizes, depending on the culture and the legend. Not all of them are beautiful, and some are not very nice. The Celtic sidhe (pronounced shee) are tall golden beings while trolls and gnomes are short, squat, and ugly. Some versions of fairies look exactly like humans, but have magical powers and can live for hundreds of years without appearing to age.
The earliest version of fae folk may have been nature spirits such as the Greek dryads and nymphs. These creatures were guardians of natural features such as trees, streams, forests, and lakes. In many cultures they may have been originally worshipped as minor gods, but were "demoted" with the influence of Christianity.
The home of the fae, sometimes also called Fae, is a wonderful but dangerous place where nothing is what it seems. People who visit there may think they were only gone for a few minutes, but when they return to the mundane world, they find that several years have passed. In fairyland, you may get whatever you want, but it comes with a price. For example, anyone who eats fairy food will not be allowed to return to the normal world. If the fairies invite you to a picnic, run!
Many stories involve fairies kidnapping humans. A changeling is a fairy child who has been exchanged for a human baby. The changeling will seem like a normal human baby unless the correct magic ritual is performed. When this is done, the changeling will begin talking and singing in its native tongue. Legends differ on the reason a fairy mother would exchange her child for a human. Some say that demons demand that a fairy mother give them her firstborn child as a tithe to hell. Rather than give her own child to the demons, she will exchange it for a human baby and use that child to pay her debt. (Demons apparently don't know the difference!)
Like Cinderella's fairy godmother, fairies have been known to grant wishes, but the recipients of their gifts don't always live happily ever after. Often the wish is granted with a twist that turns a dream come true into a nightmare. Fairies' gifts are seldom free. For example, brownies are helpful spirits that are known for cleaning houses and doing chores, but if they don't get an offering of milk or treats once in a while, they can be destructive and cause trouble.
Types and legends of fae are too numerous to list here. Legends also vary based on locality and time period. If you use them in a story, try to include some of the authentic folklore.
Something to try: Write a horror story that features fae folk. Don't forget to leave them a treat!  |
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