Dark Fairies - The Best Of Fairy Folklore & Legends

At a time when people thought they might actually run into fairies, it was generally accepted that these dark fairies were mischievous and often dangerous. Tangling a sleeper's hair, stealing little items, or leading a traveler down the wrong path, were considered harmless pranks by the fairies. However, they were also blamed for more life-threatening behaviors.

Consumption (tuberculosis) was thought to be the fault of the dark fairies. They forced young men and women to dance every night, making them waste away from lack of sleep. Mysterious illnesses of domestic animals were caused by the fairies riding them.

In several legends, dark fairies liked to kidnap humans. Either as young men and women, or as babies, leaving changelings in their place. Changelings are fairy babies left in the place of stolen human children. Older individuals could also be snatched. Any woman who had given birth without a special church rite performed was thought to be in real danger. A sudden death might be a fairy kidnapping, with the apparent dead body being a wooden substitute that looks like the kidnapped person. A common warning was not to eat the fairy food if they kidnapped you. It was thought to trap the captives with the dark fairies forever.

As a result, practical considerations about dark fairies was advice on avoiding them. The most effective protective charms were cold iron, wearing your clothing inside out, running water, bells (particularly church bells), St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers. In some lore Rowan trees are sacred to the fairies, and in other tales it's protection against them. In Newfoundland folklore, the most popular dark fairy protection is bread. Bread is connected with the home, industry, and domesticating nature. Which is why many believed that bread was disliked by some kinds of fairies. Contradictorily, baked bread is a traditional offering to the fairy folk in Celtic folklore.

There are many ambiguous pieces of fairy folklore. Bells protect against dark fairies, but a fairy riding on horseback often has bells on their harness. Of course this may be because the Seelie Court fairies use them to protect themselves from the Unseelie Court fairies. Some lore says that a cock's crow drove away dark fairies, but other stories say that fairies keep domestic fowl.

Other practical advice: Don't follow the will o' the wisp (a pale light seen at night over marshy ground). The dark fairy will lead you down the wrong path. Avoid the haunts and travel paths of dark fairies. Don't dig in fairy hills. Fairy forts (the remains of circular dwellings) should be left undisturbed. Cutting brush on fairy forts could get you killed by the dark fairies. People who said they saw the fairies were told not to look at them closely. Dark fairies resented violations of their privacy.

Not understanding how a mill worked, superstitious Scottish communities often believed that the miller must be working with the dark fairies. No one went to the mill at night because everyone knew that the fairies brought their corn to be milled after dark. A smart miller never let on otherwise. He could sleep without worrying that he would be robbed.

Home owners knocked corners from their house because the corner blocked a fairy path. Cottages were built with the front and back doors in line, so that the doors could be left open at night for the dark fairies to march through. A fairy tree was left alone in Scotland, even though it forestalled a road from being widened for seventy years.

It was also believed that a person could summon a particular fairy if they knew its name. This might insult the dark fairy, or they could grant the summoner powers and gifts. But they had to be careful, fairy gold was unreliable. It appeared as gold when paid, but later would change into leaves, gorse blossoms, gingerbread cakes, or an assortment of other worthless things.

* The Dead

Numerous people believed that they were the dead, or some form of the dead. A lot of the same legends were told of both ghosts and fairies. People thought it was unsafe to eat food in either Fairyland or Hades, and that both the dead and fairies lived underground. The Irish banshee means 'fairy woman' and is often identified as a ghost. One popular story is about a man who was caught by the fairies. It's said that whenever he stared directly at one, the fairy looked like a dead neighbor of his.

* Elementals

Many individuals saw fairies as a highly intelligent separate species. In alchemy (a pseudo-scientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times) they were considered elementals, such as gnomes and sylphs (elemental beings believed to inhabit the air). Although this is not a common belief in folklore, it does account for people later describing fairies as 'spirits of the air'.

* Demoted Angels

Another popular theory (though less common than 'they were the dead') held that the fairies were a class of 'demoted' angels. The story was that after angels revolted, God ordered the gates of heaven shut. Those that were in heaven stayed angels, angels in hell became devils, and angels caught between heaven and hell became fairies. Others thought that the fairies, although not evil enough for hell, had been tossed out of heaven because they were not good enough to be angels. This may explain the stories of the fairies' traditional tithes (offerings) to Hell.

* Demons

Some people subscribed to the belief that the fairies were devils. This idea became more popular with the spread of Puritanism. The hobgoblin, once considered a nice household spirit, eventually was seen as an evil goblin. And if someone was thought to be talking to the fairies, they would have been accused of witchcraft and punished.

* Humans

A less commonly held theory was that the fairies were humans. One story tells how a mother had concealed her children from God. Later, she couldn't find them because her children had become the hidden people, or fairies.

* Celtic Folklore

The Celtic nations depicts fairies as a race of tiny people (many thought they were spirits) who were forced into hiding by encroaching humans. Most believed that the fairies lived in an Otherworld. The Otherworld has been described as being underground, in hidden hills, in hidden ancient burial mounds, or across the Western Sea.

* Pagan Deities

Many Irish legends of the Tuatha Dé Danann (a race of people in Irish mythology) cited this race as fairies, although in ancient times they were viewed as Gods and Goddesses. They were the fifth group to conquer Ireland, and was thought to have come from Islands in the northern part of the world, or even from the sky. The Tuatha Dé Danann were said to have retired to the fairy mounds after being defeated in several battles.

An alternative explanation was that the fairies were worshiped as gods to begin with, but when Christianity came about, their power dwindled. At this time fairies were considered evil beings by the church. Which is no doubt why several deities in the older legends are now depicted as fairies.

* Scottish Folklore

The Scottish people believed that the fairies were divided into the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court. The Seelie court fairies were more benevolent but still dangerous. They enjoyed playing harmless (mostly) pranks on humans. The Unseelie court were vicious dark fairies that liked to hurt humans for fun.

Trooping fairies were fairies who appeared in groups or started settlements. Solitary fairies did not live or consort with other fairies. In Scottish lore, the term fairy can stand for any kind of mythic beings such as dwarves or elves from Germanic folklore.

Not all folktales that use fairies are categorized as fairy tales. Medieval romances featured dark fairies as one of the many creatures that a knight errant might face. As the medieval era progressed, the fairy characters became wizards and enchantresses. However, fairies never entirely vanished from medieval romances. Sir Gawain And The Green Knight is a later story where the Green Knight is the preternatural being. Edmund Spenser sported fairies in The Faerie Queene. In many stories, fairies are often mixed in with or have replaced the nymphs (nature goddesses) and satyrs (woodland deities). John Lydgate, a fifteenth century poet and monk, wrote; "King Arthur was crowned in the land of the fairy, and taken in his death by four fairy queens, to Avalon where he lies under a fairy hill, until he is needed again."

Fairies are important characters in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream. His play is set in both the woods, and in Fairyland. Michael Drayton features fairies in his Nimphidia. Later there was Alexander Pope's sylphs from his The Rape of the Lock.

In the mid 1600s, the so-called spontaneous retelling of fairy folklore was a parlor game for French ladies. Many were written by Madame d'Aulnoy, who coined the phrase fairytale. However, fairies were less common in the fairy tales of other countries. The Brothers Grimm, who included fairies in their first version, decided it was not authentic German lore and changed each fairy to an enchantress or a wise woman in later editions.

Fairies in literature became popular again with Romanticism. Famous writers like Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg were inspired by fairy folklore. During this era there was an increase in original writings with fairy characters. In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, Puck spurns the moralizing fairies of other Victorian compositions.

Later, there was a resurgence of older folklore in fantasy literature. C.S. Lewis's Narnia books sported hags, giants, and other beings of the fairy realm. As time advanced, the imagery of fairies in literature became smaller and more beautiful. Flower fairies were made popular because of interest in the fairy art of British illustrator and poet Cicely Mary Barker. Barker had several books published in 1923 through 1948. Andrew Lang, author of the The Lilac Fairy Book, remarked that "These fairies try to be funny, and fail; or they try to preach, and succeed."

J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan stories with its fairy character Tinker Bell has become an American icon. Barrie wrote, "When the first baby laughed for the first time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies."

Asrai · In English folklore, a type of aquatic fairy.
Banshee · (woman of the fairy mounds) A female spirit in Irish mythology.
Biróg · In Irish mythology, a fairy woman.
Boggart · (bogart) In English folklore, a household fairy which causes things to disappear, milk to sour, and dogs to go lame.
Bogle · (bogle, boggle or bogill) A Northumbrian and Scots term for a ghost.
Brownie · (brounie or urisk) In Scottish folklore, a somewhat mischievous hob (see hobgoblin) that helps around the house. When teased or misused excessively, Brownies become Boggarts.
Caoineag · A Scottish spirit.
Clurichaun · A drunken Irish fairy which resembles the leprechaun.
Domovoi · A house spirit in Slavic folklore.
Dryad · A tree nymph in Greek mythology.
Drow · (trowe or trow) In the Orkney and Shetland islands, a small, mischievous troll-like fairy creature.
Duergar · A race of ugly dwarfs, particularly associated with the Simonside Hills of Northumberland, in northern England.
Dwarf · From Germanic mythologies, a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure.
Each uisge · (water horse) A mythological Scottish water spirit.
Elf · In Germanic mythology, a race of divine or semi-divine beings endowed with magical powers.
Erlking · (German: Erlkönig, Alder King) A malevolent creature who haunts forests and carries off travelers to their deaths.
Fairy Queen · In Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania is the queen of the fairies. Later fiction also used the name Titania for fairy queen characters. In traditional folklore, the fairy queen has no name.
Faun · In Roman mythology, a faun is a place-spirit of the untamed woodland.
Glaistig · From Scottish mythology, a kind of satyr (a supposed she-hag or hag in the shape of a goat) or a kind of beautiful female fairy.
Goblin · A legendary evil or mischievous creature, described as a grotesquely evil or evil like phantom.
Gnome · A small, humanoid creature that lives underground.
Gremlin · An English folkloric creature, commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft.
Haltija · A spirit, gnome or elf-like creature in Finnish mythology, that guards, helps or protects something or somebody.
Heinzelmännchen · Little house gnomes once said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne, Germany during the night.
Hödekin · (Hödeken, Hüdekin, and Hütchen) A kobold (house spirit) of German folklore.
Hobgoblin · In Scottish folklore, a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie court. A small, hairy little being who does odd jobs around the house while a family is asleep. They are fond of practical jokes.
Huldra · In Scandinavian folklore, a seductive forest creature.
Imp · Considered fallen fairies or demons and are often described as mischievous more than seriously threatening.
Klabautermann · A water sprite who assists sailors and fishermen on the Baltic Sea in their duties.
Kelpie · A supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland.
Kobold · A sprite stemming from Germanic mythology. Usually invisible, a kobold can materialise in the form of an animal, fire, a human being the size of small child, and a mundane object. Kobolds who live in human homes wear the clothing of peasants; those who live in mines are hunched and ugly; and kobolds who live on ships smoke pipes and wear sailor clothing.
Lares · Ancient Roman protective deities.
Leprechaun · A type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief.
Lorelei · A beautiful Rhine maiden who sat upon a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, Germany and lured passing navigators to their doom with her alluring singing.
Mermaid · A mythological aquatic creature with a female human head and torso and the tail of a fish.
Morgen · (Morgan or Mari-Morgan) They are Welsh and Breton water spirits that drown men.
Naiad · (Naiade) In Greek mythology, a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks.
Nain Rouge · A red dwarf that originated in Normandy, France as a type of hobgoblin.
Nix · (Nixe or Nyx) From Germanic mythology, a shapeshifting water spirit who usually appears in human form.
Nymph · In Greek mythology, a female spirit typically associated with a particular location or landform.
Ogres · A large, cruel, monstrous and hideous humanoid monster who feedings on human beings.
Ondine · Elementals, enumerated as the water elementals in works of alchemy by Paracelsus.
Pixie · (Pixy, Pixi, Piskies or Pigsies) From the areas around Devon and Cornwall, England. They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat.
Psotnik · An elf, 'mischief maker', in Polish mythology.
Púca · Old Irish for ghost. (Pwwka, Pooka, Puka, Phouka, Púka, Pwca in Welsh, Bucca in Cornish, Pouque in Dgèrnésiais, Puca or Puck in English, Glashtyn, and Gruagach) A creature of Celtic folklore, notably in Ireland, the West of Scotland, and Wales. The púca is a deft shape shifter, capable of assuming a variety of terrifying or pleasing forms, and may appear as a horse, rabbit, goat, goblin, or dog.
Puck · A mythological fairy or mischievous nature sprite. Puck is also a generalised personification of land spirits. He is sometimes also considered hob and Will-o'-the-wisp.
Radande · Tree spirits in Swedish faerie mythology. They are bound to the tree they were born to for the life of the tree. Also known of as tree folk, it is said that they can take on a humanoid shape and venture a short way from their trees.
Redcap · (powrie or dunter) A type of malevolent murderous dwarf, goblin, elf or fairy found in Border Folklore. They are said to inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland.
Rusalka · In Slavic mythology, a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway.
Sânziana · The Romanian name for gentle fairies.
Selkie · (silkies or selchies) Found in Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish folklore. They can shed their skin from seals to become humans
Spriggan · From Cornish faery lore. They were grotesquely ugly, found at old ruins and barrows guarding buried treasure and generally acting as fairy bodyguards. They were also said to be busy thieves. Though usually small, they had the ability to swell to enormous size (they're sometimes speculated to be the ghosts of the old giants).
Sprite · Elf-like creatures, including fairies, and similar beings (not earth beings), but can also signify various spiritual beings, including ghosts.
Squasc · A mythological being of the Eastern Lombardy region folklore. It is small, hairy, tawny, similar to a squirrel without tail but with an anthropomorphic face. Its nature is somehow between that of a bad spirit and that of an elf or imp.
Sylph · (sylphid) A mythological creature in the Western tradition. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air.
Tomte · (Nisse) A mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore. Believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep.
Troll · The Nordic equivalents of giants, although often dwarf size.
Vila · (Vila, Wila, Wili, or Veela) The Slavic versions of nymphs, who have power over storms, which they delight in sending down on lonely travelers. They live in meadows, ponds, oceans, trees, and clouds. They can appear as swans, horses, wolves, or beautiful women.
Vodyanoy · In Slavic mythology and Norse Mythology, a male water spirit.
Water sprite · (water fairy or water faery) An elemental spirit associated with water, according to alchemist Paracelsus. Water sprites are said to be able to breathe water or air, and in some cases, can fly. They are mostly harmless unless threatened.
Wight · Used within the fantasy genre of literature to describe undead or wraith-like creatures: corpses with a part of their decayed soul still in residence, often draining life from their victims.
Xana · A character found in Asturian mythology. Always female, she is a fairy nymph of extraordinary beauty believed to live in fountains, rivers, waterfalls or forested regions with pure water.
Zâna · They are the Romanian equivalent of fairies and can also be considered the equivalent of the Germanic Elf. They reside mostly in the woods.

Giants · Although not considered a type of fairy, there are equivalents of giants (such as trolls) who have been described as fairy beings. In various Indo-European mythologies, giants are featured as primeval creatures associated with chaos and the wild nature, and they are frequently in conflict with the gods.

From Wikipedia