English Folklore Fairies

English fairy and other folk tales by edwin sidney hartland illustrated by c e.

English folklore fairies. They became known as the pendle witches witches in england. While in the welsh traditions there are. Fairy also spelled faerie or faery a mythical being of folklore and romance usually having magic powers and dwelling on earth in close relationship with humans. Batten 1890 pb more english fairy tales by joseph jacobs illustrated by john d. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a christian tradition as minor deities in pagan belief systems as. In the year 1612 at lancaster gaol ten people were hanged for the crime of witchcraft. Batten 1894 pb chronicles.

The bwbachod or the household fairies. In her some west sussex superstitions lingering in 1868 mrs latham recounts the following story. Mermaids and mermen river spirits and spirits of pools are the most common nature fairies. The fairies of irish english scottish and welsh folklore have been classified in a variety of ways. The gwragedd annwn or the fairies of the lakes and streams. Bede s ecclesiastical history of england 731 by bede ed. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources.

English fairies english folktales fairies folklore folktales. The coblynau or the mine fairies. The term fairy is peculiar to the english language and to english folklore reflecting the conflation of germanic celtic and romance folklore and legend since the middle english period it is a romance word which has been given the associations of fair by folk etymology secondarily. Nevertheless fairy has come to be used as a kind of umbrella term in folklore studies grouping comparable. As a diminutive sprite commonly in the shape of a delicate beautiful ageless winged woman dressed in diaphanous white clothing inhabiting fairyland. Black annis a blue faced hag haunts the dane hills in leicestershire and gentle annie who governs storms in the scottish lowlands are perhaps descended from the celtic goddess danu mother of ireland s cave fairies. Fairies foiling a pig theft.

Two of the most prominent categories derived from scottish folklore are the division into the seelie court and the unseelie court. A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple european cultures a form of spirit often described as metaphysical supernatural or preternatural. The gwyllion or the mountain fairies. There is an unromantic fairy tale told in our nurseries the scene of which is laid in west sussex how. The ellyllon or the elves. The pendle witches perhaps the most notorious witch trial of the 16th century.