History Analysis / TheFairFolk

These Fairies can sometimes share a world with [[LordOfTheRings Tolkienesque]] [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]], who, depending on the setting, may not themselves officially be part of {{Faerie}}. The principal distinction between the two nowadays is that Elves are [[ProudScholarRace a mildly superhuman longlived race]] living in the mortal world (or a [[HiddenElfVillage distant corner]] of it), whereas Fairies are much more intensely magical, and live in a {{Fairyland}} outside the mortal world.

A variety of superstitions developed to keep the fairies at bay, or to pacify them. Salt could keep a baby from [[ChangelingTale being stolen]]. Iron, holy water, crosses, and holy words/names scared fairies away. Depending on the version, they may also hate the sound of bells--whether it's [[HijackedByJesus church bells]] or [[WeaksauceWeakness any bell-ringing at all]] also depends on the version. Some people put out offerings of milk or food for them at night. Even food offerings were a dangerous idea, however; because while some of the Fae might start doing housework during the night in exchange for the food, they would become very angry and do the opposite, if they had become used to receiving food, and there was a night when none was left for them.

* Bread and salt are symbolic across many cultures of SacredHospitality, and often invoked to ward them off. The two main variants are that bread and salt symbolize civilization and fairies are ''literally'' weak to bread or salt, so people would carry some around or eat some before traveling. The other variant is that TheFairFolk will reward and protect people who give them aid in times of need. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even fairies have some sort of morality, after all.]]

More traditional fairies are a bit of an odd duck of a trope. [[TimeAbyss Old as anything]], [[TheTimeOfMyths long forgotten]], they're starting to [[CyclicTrope re-emerge]] in modern fiction with a vengeance. Fairies may present themselves as [[TheBeautifulElite amazing, beautiful, graceful]] and magical--but underneath all the {{glamour}}, they're creepy little buggers [[BlueAndOrangeMorality for whom empathy is a concept as alien as the idea of blue as a number]]. They might take a shine to humans, but at best, it's the love a human feels for a pet, and descends down through the love an entomologist feels for a rare insect, continuing down through the love a glutton feels for prime rib… and you really don't want to see what it's like at its worst.[[note]]If you ''must'' know, it's the kind of "love" that Frollo feels for Esmeralda in Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}}'s ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''.[[/note]]

The original terms for these (at least, in [[Myth/CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''Aos Sí'' ("ace shee") or ''Aes Sídhe'' ("ays sheeth-uh"), meaning the "People of the Mounds," and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by a WillOTheWisp into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion--at best.

Ever wonder why Fairies are called "the Fair Folk" or "the Good Folk"? It's for the same reason the Furies of Myth/ClassicalMythology were called "the Kindly Ones"--because calling them an ''unkind'' name is a good way to bring down their wrath upon your head. Especially TheWildHunt. In addition, simply using the word "fairy" is considered insulting. (It's not clear why. The popular theory is it's like calling a human an ape.) On the subject of names, there's a 90% chance that a named fairy leader will be called Oberon, Titania or Mab. Other fairies are just as likely to have names drawn from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.

* MustBeInvited: In older myths a faerie could not enter a house unless invited. As with above, loopholes apply.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[Myth/CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''Aos Sí'' ("ace shee") or ''Aes Sídhe'' ("ays sheeth-uh"), meaning the "People of the Mounds," and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by a WillOTheWisp into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

A variety of superstitions developed to keep the fairies at bay, or to pacify them. Salt could keep a baby from [[ChangelingTale being stolen]]. Iron, holy water, crosses, and holy words/names scared fairies away. Depending on the version, they may also hate the sound of bells -- whether it's [[HijackedByJesus church bells]] or [[WeaksauceWeakness any bell-ringing at all]] also depends on the version. Some people put out offerings of milk or food for them at night. Even food offerings were a dangerous idea, however; because while some of the Fae might start doing housework during the night in exchange for the food, they would become very angry and do the opposite, if they had become used to receiving food, and there was a night when none was left for them.

Then came the {{Bowdleri|se}}zation, and suddenly, all Fairies got a lot more cute. (And acquired wings, which were unknown in older folklore.) This began in Elizabethan times, where on one occasion a woman who claimed to commune with the Queen of Fairies was burned at the stake as a witch. It is not for nothing that Creator/WilliamShakespeare has Oberon explicitly disclaim that he doesn't mind church bells -- to show he was not a demon. It accelerated thereafter, resulting in the Victorian image of fairies, which is generally how they are popularly conceived today.

More traditional Fairies are a bit of an odd duck of a trope. [[TimeAbyss Old as anything]], [[TheTimeOfMyths long forgotten]], they're starting to [[CyclicTrope re-emerge]] in modern fiction with a vengeance. Fairies may present themselves as [[TheBeautifulElite amazing, beautiful, graceful]] and magical -- but underneath all the {{glamour}}, they're creepy little buggers [[BlueAndOrangeMorality for whom empathy is a concept as alien as the idea of blue as a number]]. They might take a shine to humans, but at best, it's the love a human feels for a pet, and descends down through the love an entomologist feels for a rare insect, continuing down through the love a glutton feels for prime rib... and you really don't want to see what it's like at its worst.[[note]]If you ''must'' know, it's the kind of "love" that Frollo feels for Esmeralda in Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}}'s ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''.[[/note]]

Ever wonder why Fairies are called "the Fair Folk" or "the Good Folk"? It's for the same reason the Furies of Myth/ClassicalMythology were called "the Kindly Ones" -- because calling them an ''unkind'' name is a good way to bring down their wrath upon your head. Especially TheWildHunt. In addition, simply using the word "fairy" is considered insulting. (It's not clear why. The popular theory is it's like calling a human an ape.) On the subject of names, there's a 90% chance that a named fairy leader will be called Oberon, Titania or Mab. Other fairies are just as likely to have names drawn from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.

Anything the Fey do "for" a mortal or that a mortal takes from the Fey MUST be [[EquivalentExchange returned in kind; by their standard]] (which is often fatal or worse.) This could mean their hospitality, their food, or aid (they are the ones who determine the exchange rate). Many will trick mortals into this trap. For this reason the words "Thank you" are considered insulting and alien to the Fey. Words, or even feelings, generally are not equal to actions to them; and few can recognize good intentions, let alone choose to.

* [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells Iron]] - Sometimes it means striking them with iron weapons, or simply a frying pan or just exposure will do the job. In some settings where this would be too much of a WeaksauceWeakness, it's specified as ColdIron, whilst in others steel may have the same effect. What this actually means varies, as does how effective it is.
* CannotTellALie - Sometimes. Note that they ''will'' [[ExactWords exploit]] and [[AmbiguousSyntax twist]] this for all manner of deception, but a trickster hero can take advantage of this. They are also well known for {{Rules Lawyer}}ing and LoopholeAbuse.
* MagicallyBindingContract - Related to the above. Any deal with the Fair Folk ''will'' be upheld from their end, though they tend to respect only the [[ExactWords letter]] of any deal they make. God help you if you fail your end of a deal. (God help you even if you don't!)
* {{Pride}} - That bit up there about how they demand to be called the "fair" folk? They're ''all'' like that. To a one, they are proud creatures, concerned primarily with their own grand schemes.
* [[IKnowYourTrueName True Name]] - The idea of a "true name" has started resurfacing where discovering a fairy's name will either give you power over it (à la "Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}") or can kill it. It varies whether knowing the name is enough or whether you have to use it all the time. Note: This does not make the user immune [[LoopholeAbuse to]] [[ExactWords chronic]] [[JackassGenie word]] [[LiteralGenie twisting]].
* MustBeInvited - In older myths a faerie could not enter a house unless invited. As with above, loopholes apply.
* Music - Not the magical variety, but elves are often presented as being fascinated to the point of distraction with human music. This is sometimes tied into the idea of CreativeSterility, that they cannot make their own music.

As a final note, a hypothetical response to their negative depiction in this article from the Fae themselves would likely be that their malevolence towards humanity is generally motivated primarily by GaiasVengeance, as a result of the amount of environmental destruction that has been caused by post-agricultural humans, particularly over the last 200 years; in other words, if we clean up our act, they'll clean up theirs. Of course, given that the human tales depicting fairies most harshly date from pre-post-agricultural times, the veracity of any such excuse would be every bit as questionable as that of anything else one of the "fair folk" might ever say, and, in general, you'd want to keep your crowbar handy.

* [[IKnowYourTrueName True Name]] - The idea of a 'True Name' has started resurfacing where discovering a fairy's name will either give you power over it or can kill it. It varies whether knowing the name is enough or whether you have to use it all the time. Note: This does not make the user immune [[LoopholeAbuse to]] [[ExactWords chronic]] [[JackassGenie word]] [[LiteralGenie twisting]].

The return of this trope to popular awareness can be traced back to at least 1988, when ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', a ComicBook penned by Creator/NeilGaiman, featured a number of Fairy characters who were often either outright malicious or self-centered to the point of sociopathy. Gaiman also used traditional Fairies in his novels and short stories as well as other comic books, and directly inspired authors such as Creator/TerryPratchett (a friend of Gaiman's in long standing) and Susanna Clarke, author of ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell''. Ten years earlier, the artist Creator/BrianFroud did a series of illustrated books cataloging the ''Shee'' or bad fairies, and their close cousins, the [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]]. He also worked with Creator/JimHenson on ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' (which featured a member of TheFairFolk, played by Music/DavidBowie, as the villain) ''Film/TheDarkCrystal''.

The return of this trope to popular awareness can be traced back to at least 1988, when ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', a ComicBook penned by Creator/NeilGaiman, featured a number of Fairy characters who were often either outright malicious or self-centered to the point of sociopathy. Gaiman also used traditional Fairies in his novels and short stories as well as other comic books, and directly inspired authors such as Creator/TerryPratchett (a friend of Gaiman's in long standing) and Susanna Clarke, author of ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell''. Ten years earlier, the artist Creator/BrianFroud did a series of illustrated books cataloging the ''Shee'' or bad fairies, and their close cousins, the [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]]. His work was also the inspiration for the 1982 film ''Film/TheDarkCrystal''.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[Myth/CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''Aos Sí'' ("ays shee") or ''Aes Sídhe'' ("Ace sheeth-uh"), meaning the "People of the Mounds," and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by a WillOTheWisp into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[Myth/CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''Aos Sí'' ("ays shee") or ''Aes Sídhi'' ("Ace sheeth-uh"), meaning the "People of the Mounds," and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by a WillOTheWisp into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[Myth/CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''sidhe'' ("shee") and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by a WillOTheWisp into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

As a final note, a hypothetical response to their negative depiction in this article from the Fae themselves, would likely be that their malevolence towards humanity, is generally motivated primarily by GaiasVengeance, as a result of the amount of environmental destruction that has been caused by post-agricultural humans, particularly over the last 200 years; in other words, if we clean up our act, they'll clean up theirs. Of course, given that the human tales depicting fairies most harshly date from pre-post-agricultural times, the veracity of any such excuse would be every bit as questionable as that of anything else one of the "fair folk" might ever say, and, in general, you'd want to keep your crowbar handy.

More traditional Fairies are a bit of an odd duck of a trope. [[TimeAbyss Old as anything]], [[TheTimeOfMyths long forgotten]], they're starting to [[CyclicTrope re-emerge]] in modern fiction with a vengeance. Fairies may present themselves as [[TheBeautifulElite amazing, beautiful, graceful]] and magical -- but underneath all the {{glamour}}, they're creepy little buggers [[BlueAndOrangeMorality for whom empathy is a concept as alien as the idea of blue as a number]]. They might take a shine to humans, but at best, it's the love a human feels for a pet, and descends down through the love an entomologist feels for a rare insect, continuing down through the love a glutton feels for prime rib... and you really don't want to see what it's like at its worst.[[note]]If you ''must'' know, it's the kind of love that [[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Frollo feels for Esmeralda]], or Kilgrave for Series/JessicaJones.[[/note]]

More traditional Fairies are a bit of an odd duck of a trope. [[TimeAbyss Old as anything]], [[TheTimeOfMyths long forgotten]], they're starting to [[CyclicTrope re-emerge]] in modern fiction with a vengeance. Fairies may present themselves as [[TheBeautifulElite amazing, beautiful, graceful]] and magical -- but underneath all the {{glamour}}, they're creepy little buggers [[BlueAndOrangeMorality for whom empathy is a concept as alien as the idea of blue as a number]]. They might take a shine to humans, but at best, it's the love a human feels for a pet, and descends down through the love an entomologist feels for a rare insect, continuing down through the love a glutton feels for prime rib... and you really don't want to see what it's like at its worst.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[Myth/CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''sidhe'' ("shee") and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by {{Faux Flame}}s into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

* [[VampireInvitation Must Be Invited]] - In older myths a faerie could not enter a house unless invited. As with above, loopholes apply.

It's worth noting that Tolkien's mostly good Elves owe more to general Norse mythology where elves did very little of anything and were not very frightening compared to a [[OurGiantsAreBigger slew]] [[AllTrollsAreDifferent of]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent other]] [[TheUndead monsters]]. In other modern literary fiction and folklore the Fae were generally depicted as neutral at best, and close to demonic at worst. There were stories of entire families being wiped out for daring to build their house across a fairy path, and Franz Bardon also wrote of how gnomes and undines (water spirits, essentially mermaids) would try and trick any magician who summoned them into Faustian pacts.

Ever wonder why Fairies are called "the Fair Folk" or "the Good Folk"? It's for the same reason the Furies of ClassicalMythology were called "the Kindly Ones" -- because calling them an ''unkind'' name is a good way to bring down their wrath upon your head. Especially TheWildHunt. In addition, simply using the word "fairy" is considered insulting. (It's not clear why. The popular theory is it's like calling a human an ape.) On the subject of names, there's a 90% chance that a named fairy leader will be called Oberon, Titania or Mab. Other fairies are just as likely to have names drawn from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''sidhe'' ("shee") and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by {{Faux Flame}}s into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

* CannotTellALie - Sometimes. Note that they ''will'' exploit and [[AmbiguousSyntax twist]] this for all manner of deception, but a trickster hero can take advantage of this.

The return of this trope to popular awareness can be traced back to at least 1988, when ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', a ComicBook penned by NeilGaiman, featured a number of Fairy characters who were often either outright malicious or self-centered to the point of sociopathy. Gaiman also used traditional Fairies in his novels and short stories as well as other comic books, and directly inspired authors such as Creator/TerryPratchett (a friend of Gaiman's in long standing) and Susanna Clarke, author of ''JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell''. Ten years earlier, the artist BrianFroud did a series of illustrated books cataloging the ''Shee'' or bad fairies, and their close cousins, the [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]]. His work was also the inspiration for the 1982 film ''TheDarkCrystal''.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''sidhe'' ("shee") and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by ColdFlames into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion -- at best.

The original terms for these (at least, in [[CelticMythology Scottish]] lore) were the Seelie (vaguely goodish) and the Unseelie (AlwaysChaoticEvil). In Ireland, they were called ''sidhe'' ("shee") and would sour milk, kill animals, and [[ChangelingTale swap people for changelings]]. Boys were dressed in girls' clothes until the age of 5, because otherwise the sidhe would [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers steal them]] for their armies. Building anything near a fairy fort was very bad. Going alone into a marsh was an invitation to get entranced by ColdFlames into their halls. Even if you were allowed [[YearInsideHourOutside to leave their kingdom]], you could find that [[YearOutsideHourInside centuries have passed]], and [[NoImmortalInertia crumble into dust]]. Their [[DancesAndBalls dances]] would catch any human passerby and make him dance to exhaustion--at best.

As a final note, a hypothetical response to their negative depiction in this article from the Fae themselves, would likely be that their malevolence towards humanity, is generally motivated primarily by GaiasVengeance, as a result of the amount of environmental destruction that has been caused by post-agricultural humans, particularly over the last 200 years. In other words, if we clean up our act, they'll clean up theirs.

Ever wonder why Fairies are called "the Fair Folk" or "the Good Folk"? It's because calling them an ''unkind'' name is a good way to bring down their wrath upon your head. Especially TheWildHunt. In addition, simply using the word "fairy" is considered insulting. (It's not clear why. The popular theory is it's like calling a human an ape.) On the subject of names, there's a 90% chance that a named fairy leader will be called Oberon, Titania or Mab. Other fairies are just as likely to have names drawn from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.

It's worth noting that Tolkien's Elves are more or less unique, in terms of them being depicted as almost exclusively good. In terms of both other modern ''literary'' fiction, and older legends, the Fae were generally depicted as neutral at best, and close to demonic at worst. There were stories of entire families being wiped out for daring to build their house across a fairy path, and Franz Bardon also wrote of how gnomes and undines (water spirits, essentially mermaids) would try and trick any magician who summoned them into Faustian pacts.

These Fairies can sometimes share a world with [[LordOfTheRings Tolkienesque]] [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]], who, depending on the setting, may not themselves officially be part of {{Faerie}}. The principal distinction between the two, if there is one, is that Elves are [[ProudScholarRace a mildly superhuman longlived race]] living in the mortal world (or a [[HiddenElfVillage distant corner]] of it), whereas Fairies are much more intensely magical, and live in a {{Fairyland}} outside the mortal world.

* As a final note, to be fair, a hypothetical response to their negative depiction in this article from the Fae themselves, would likely be that their malevolence towards humanity, is generally motivated primarily by GaiasVengeance, as a result of the amount of environmental destruction that has been caused by post-agricultural humans, particularly over the last 200 years. In other words, if we clean up our act, they'll clean up theirs.