Fairies

LegendofJoe

Active Member
I found this about fairies and thought perhaps you might like to read it. I am a fairy nut I suppose. I absolute love them and in a sense I believe. Check out this link. http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/faeries.html
Interesting site.
It just goes to show that the term faery is very complicated. You can call a large host of supernatural beings faeries depending on your definition.
I understand Katherine Briggs is an author that you should follow up on if you like faeries. Although I have personally not yet read her.
 

Camma

New Member
That was an intersting read - thank you for sharing. I read somewhere once (can't remember where - but it was a book, not the web) that "fairy" is an element of personality which can be found in humans. It adds to their sense of kindness and fun. Somebody with a bit of fairy in them is a little bit quirky and very open-minded. I like that thought.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
That is interesting, I never heard that. They say the Irish are the strongest when it comes to the belief and amout of fairy stories.
I think you would like William Butler Yeats' book on Fairy stories. Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry.
 

RLynn

Active Member
Yeats' The Celtic Twilight is a wonderful read, as are the longer works co-authored with Lady Gregory. Yeats actually roamed about the Irish countryside collecting folktales. Like the English poet William Blake, whom he admired greatly, Yeats also believed in fairies. The rather crusty, down-to-earth poet Robert Frost once visited Yeats. After seeing the otherworldly beauty of Ireland, he is said to have remarked that he finally understood why Yeats believed in fairies.
 

Goddess2u

Member
Thanks, everyone for the suggestions of reading materials for me. I love what Camma said about all of us having a little fairy in us. I like to imagine them to be kind and gentle. I know that is not how they are always depicted. But it is a pleasant thought.
 

Talaria

Member
I have a book written and illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee. I would recommend it to anyone. I think it is truley amazing and breathtaking :) and maybe just a little bit scary! Here is a bit of Irish lore handed down from my family to help you see Faeries; My grandmother said if you tend to your garden everyday and keep your flowers fresh and beautiful the Faeries will allow you to see them as a thanks for keeping what means the most to them precious. However if you slack on watering or let the plants die then bad luck will come your way! Just a different way of thinking I suppose.
 

Camma

New Member
Well, my little resident fairy brought me right back here to you fairy-imbued people today ! I love Yeats, I know his work very well - I have posted "Song of Wandering Aengus" in full elsewhere on this forum. I looked up the book you recommended Talaria and it looks just wonderful - one for me to send my little hint-dropping fairy out to whisper in the ears of friends and family ! Appparently, Froud and Lee also contributed to films such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Legend and the new Lord of the Rings.
 

RLynn

Active Member
I prefer to believe that fairies exist, and if they don't, they should. I love the way they are depicted in the wonderful adult fairy tale Little, Big by John Crowley. They are neither good nor evil, and one of the characters in the novel remarks something to the effect that anything you say about them is false.
 
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