About Fairies

by [Jitter]

Fairies are supernatural tiny beings, usually with human form with fragile insect-like wings on their shoulders. (_{{input by [Lord Dog]}} They however, did not start being described with smaller sizes until around the 13th century, when all fantasy races were being "downsided". This is correlated by the descriptions of Lugh Son of Morning (Setanta's Birth father) in Setanta legends and inthe Legends of the Milesans / Amerigan the Bard were the Tuatha de Daana are only described as fair and slight but are also referred to as being taller than some of the Sons of Mil.) They possess the art of enchanting and charming and are playful, mischievous and love to dance. They like flowers and mushrooms and their presence can be hinted by fairy circles.

They hate becoming centre of attention and abhor any interception in their lives. Those who make the mistake to bother a fairy, is sure to receive appropriate punishment from the little winged people. They prefer tidy and clean places and avoid cold iron as it can harm them. Iron and Rowan has been widely used in folklore to prevent fairies from stealing human babies and replace them with changelings. They're usually referred to with flattering names like the good people so as to earn their liking and avoid them being targeted by fairy tricks.

A shiny mist can be a fairy presence sign. Fairies usually appear in it semi-hidden after they create it with their fairy magic. Sometimes they like to help humans by appearing in front of them when they're in discord, solving their problems magically. They're, however, not visible to all humans! Only few have the gift of seeing them and according to tradition those people are usually born on a Saturday or had contact with the Fairy World when they were babies.

Sometimes travelers who go by through deep forests meet fairies who usually force them to dance with them, leaving them mentally damaged for ever after they've gone. Fairies appear in many folklores but they're especially present in the Irish folklore.

Word etymology and different names in folklores

The English word fairy comes from the old French faie and the Latin fata which in English means fate.

In Scottish folklore fairies have many names with which they can be referred to like: The Still Ones, Pixies, The Wee Ones, The Silent Moving Folk, Prowlies, in Irish folklore Wee Folk, The Little Folk, The Gentry, The Good Folk, The Blessed Ones and Them Who Prowl, Daoine Maith (The Good People) and Daoine Sidhe (The Fairy People.), in welsh Them Who Be, The Fair Folk, and The Night Walkers and in English along with most of the above, also Little People Addlers and Menters.

In Greek folklore they also have many names, usual and flattering ones: Aerika, Neraides, Aetheries, Kalomoires (Bringers of good luck), Xothies or sometimes even as Xotika (which is a name closer to elves)
In Scandinavian folklore they're refered to as Nixen (water spirits), Light Elves and Dark Elves (or Huldafolk) and Alfar.

In Japanese they're met as Kami (but that word refers to spirits in general), in Egypt Hathor, in Italy Fada and fata, in Polynesia Menehuna, in Russia Domovoi or Φe and in France fee.

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