It was used as the equivalent of the Greek Μοῖραι Moirai, the personified Fates who determined the course and ending of human life. Italian fata, Portuguese fada, Spanish hada of the same origin.įata, although it became a feminine noun in the Romance languages, was originally the neuter plural (“the Fates”) of fatum, past participle of the verb fari to speak, hence “thing spoken, decision, decree” or “prophetic declaration, prediction”, hence “destiny, fate”. This derived ultimately from Late Latin fata (one of the personified Fates, hence a guardian or tutelary spirit, hence a spirit in general) cf. enchantment) of the legendary people of folklore and romance called (in Old French) faie or fee (Modern French fée). The word fairy derives from Middle English faierie (also fayerye, feirie, fairie), a direct borrowing from Old French faerie (Modern French féerie) meaning the land, realm, or characteristic activity (i.e. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This section needs additional citations for verification.
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Writers such as Walter Scott and James Hogg were inspired by folklore which featured fairies, such as the Border ballads.įolklorists have suggested that their origin may lie partially in a conquered race living in hiding, or in religious beliefs that lost currency with the advent of Christianity. Fairie was in origin used adjectivally, meaning “enchanted” (as in fairie knight, fairie queene), but was used as a name for “enchanted” creatures from as early as the Late Middle English period.įairies as the term is now understood were shaped in the literature of Romanticism during the Victorian era. as one of the beings that a knight errant might encounter. The English term “fairy” can be applied to comparable beings in any of these cultures, more generally to similar beliefs in other European folklores (“Slavic fairies”), or in comparative studies even worldwide.įairies have their historical origin in the conflation of Celtic (Breton, Welsh) traditions in the Middle French medieval romances, e.g. The concept of “fairy” in the narrow sense is unique to English folklore, conflating Germanic elves with influences from Celtic and Romance (French) folklores, and later made “diminutive” according to the tastes of Victorian era “fairy tales” for children. Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously dead, or some form of demon, or a species completely independent of humans or angels. When considered as beings that a person might actually encounter, fairies were noted for their mischief and malice.įairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. One common theme found among the Celtic nations describes a race of diminutive people who had been driven into hiding by invading humans. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, humanoids of small stature, they originally were depicted quite differently: tall, radiant, angelic beings or short, wizened trolls being two of the commonly mentioned forms. Much of the folklore about fairies revolves around protection from their malice. Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by names such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk (Welsh tylwyth teg), etc.
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Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term describes only a specific type of more ethereal creature or sprite. A fairy (also fay, fae from faery, faerie, “realm of the fays”) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.įairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions.