Lo and behold, the next morning the tooth had gone and there was a shiny five-pence coin in its place. Various folklore traditions refer to fairies euphemistically as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk ( Welsh: Tylwyth Teg), etc. [6] Historical development Having each fairy very specifically related to a particular plant was also commercially canny – whether Barker intended this or not, it created space for identification, for collectability, for a kind of innate brand franchising. "In children's culture, we create series that are collectable, that you identify with… It's like Pokemon or something!" laughs Sage. "When I speak to people about the Flower Fairies, especially groups of sisters, it's always 'which one were you?'"

There is an outdated theory that fairy folklore evolved from folk memories of a prehistoric race: newcomers superseded a body of earlier human or humanoid peoples, and the memories of this defeated race developed into modern conceptions of fairies. Proponents find support in the tradition of cold iron as a charm against fairies, viewed as a cultural memory of invaders with iron weapons displacing peoples who had just stone, bone, wood, etc., at their disposal, and were easily defeated. 19th-century archaeologists uncovered underground rooms in the Orkney islands that resembled the Elfland described in Childe Rowland, [42] which lent additional support. In folklore, flint arrowheads from the Stone Age were attributed to the fairies as " elfshot", [43] while their green clothing and underground homes spoke to a need for camouflage and covert shelter from hostile humans, their magic a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry. In a Victorian tenet of evolution, mythic cannibalism among ogres was attributed to memories of more savage races, practising alongside "superior" races of more refined sensibilities. [44] Elementals Fairy was used to represent: an illusion or enchantment; the land of the Faes; collectively the inhabitants thereof; an individual such as a fairy knight. [3] Faie became Modern English fay, while faierie became fairy, but this spelling almost exclusively refers to one individual (the same meaning as fay). In the sense of 'land where fairies dwell', archaic spellings faery and faerie are still in use.

The Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor, MI are small doors installed into local buildings. Local children believe these are the front doors of fairy houses, and in some cases, small furniture, dishes, and various other things can be seen beyond the doors. Lewis, C. S. (1994). The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature. Cambridge University Press. p.122. ISBN 0-521-47735-2. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Diminutive fairies of one kind or another have been recorded for centuries, but occur alongside the human-sized beings; these have been depicted as ranging in size from very tiny up to the size of a human child. Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans. A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, and French folklore), a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural.

Most of us think of fairies as tiny creatures, flitting about on gossamer wings, waving a magic wand, but history and folklore tell a different tale. The Fae preside in the Fairyland, a realm created by Life for them, that is connected with the Otherworld.

Evans Wentz, W. Y. (1966, 1990) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe Humanities Press ISBN 0-901072-51-6 In the 1485 book Le Morte d'Arthur, Morgan le Fay, whose connection to the realm of Faerie is implied in her name, is a woman whose magic powers stem from study. [91] While somewhat diminished with time, fairies never completely vanished from the tradition. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a 14th-century tale, but the Green Knight himself is an otherworldly being. [89] Edmund Spenser featured fairies in his 1590 book The Faerie Queene. [92] In many works of fiction, fairies are freely mixed with the nymphs and satyrs of classical tradition, [93] while in others (e.g., Lamia), they were seen as displacing the Classical beings. 15th-century poet and monk John Lydgate wrote that 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. [94] The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania by Joseph Noel Paton (1849): fairies in Shakespeare These Siths or Fairies they call Sleagh Maith or the Good People...are said to be of middle nature between Man and Angel, as were Daemons thought to be of old; of intelligent fluidous Spirits, and light changeable bodies (lyke those called Astral) somewhat of the nature of a condensed cloud, and best seen in twilight. These bodies be so pliable through the sublety of Spirits that agitate them, that they can make them appear or disappear at pleasure [87] In literature Prince Arthur and the Faerie Queene by Johann Heinrich Füssli ( c. 1788); scene from The Faerie Queene A woman on holiday in Cornwall with her daughter came across a small green man with pointed hood and ears. They were so alarmed they ran for the ferry, cold with terror. Another eye-witness account in the 20th century – so do we believe in fairies? I wonder!