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Fairy tales for those who believe, are not a tale at
all.
They are whispered to us in our dreams, by fairies one and
all.
A
fairy is a small, supernatural creature that dwells in a
magical place. In folklore fairies are usually in human
form but they are known to disguise themselves well when
needed. There are a wide variety of earth spirits, from
the elves and gnomes of the deep forest - to the pixies
and fairies of flower gardens and meadow lands. Undines,
nymphs and sprites are water creatures and sylphs are air
spirits.
Have
you heard the fairies all among the limes
Singing little fairy tunes to little fairy rhymes?
Belief
in fairies is universal among almost all cultures. Scholars
attribute fairies to the sirens of Homer, the nymphs of
the Iliad, celestial singers in Sanscrit poetry, spirits
of the Pacific Islands, and Hathors of ancient Egypt. In
more recent folk culture, you will find leprechauns - wee
folk of Ireland, the brownies of Britain and the kobold
from the faerie realm of Germany.
If
you see a faery ring in a field of grass,
Very lightly step around, tip-toe as you pass..
Fairies
live in their own enchanted realm but they also have been
sighted among the flowers, woodlands, hills and streams
- sometimes riding on their fairy steeds or flitting from
flower to flower. When fairies gather together to sing and
dance, you might find a fairy ring of toadstools / mushrooms
after they have left.
That
they do dwell within the cowslip's hollow is truth
for I have seen them fly out in intoxicated abandon
Thomas
Croker (1789-1854) in his collection of Irish Fairy Tales,
described fairies as being
"a few inches high, airy and almost transparent in
body; so delicate in their form that a dew drop, when they
chance to dance on it, trembles, indeed, but never breaks."
Shakespeare wrote of Oberon, a fairy King in "A Midsummer
Night's Dream" and told of the fairy Queen Mab in "Romeo
and Juliet." An English folk song, Tamlin, tells of
a young knight bewitched by a fairy queen.
The
Queen of fairies caught me
when from my horse I fell...
Then
upspoke the fairy queen, an angry queen was she, had I known,
Tamiln, she said,
what this night I did see,
I'd have looked him in the eyes
and turned him to a tree...
In
folklore, fairies are mainly felt to be charitable to humans.
They are known however to be playful and love to play tricks
on mere mortals. They must be spoken well of and treated
with respect, or you may rouse their anger. Folklore speaks
of leaving small trinkets as gifts to fairies, such as small
beads and dainty deserts, to gain their favor.
Do
you seek the road to Fairyland.....
If you know the very words to cast a spell of might,
And, if the breeze is right,
you sail away to Fairyland along this track of light.
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