FAIRY. An imaginary creature of small size, conceived according to popular superstition as dwelling in a region called Fairyland. and as having a special interest in the affairs of man. The term fairy, however. is also loosely used to include other beings of a similar character like the brownie, elf. fay, gnome, goblin. kobold, pixy, puck. salamander, sprite. sylph, troll. and uindine. The character of fairies as portrayed in literature may best be understood by mentioning such typical examples 'as Shakespeare's Mid summer Night's Dream, Spenser's Faeric Queene, Milton's earlier poems, Grimm's Marchen, and the fairy lore of the Irish tales. Toward man kind fairies are commonly regarded as being benefi cent in the MAIL though sensitive, whimsical, capricious, and often prankish; so that they need to be placated and spoken well of, as in Ireland, where they are termed 'the good people.' But bad fairies also exist, and their influence chil dren plays a prominent part in the stories de voted to fairy lore. The imagination of the folk not only conceives of fairyland as a dis tinct domain. but it peoples hills. valleys, rocks, streams, and trees with fairy inhabitants, or sees fairy footprints, fairy rings, fairy tables, or fairy horses in natural objects and in natural phenomena.
Belief in fairies forms a phase of early folk thought and it has partly a realistic basis, as in ancient India for example. where popular superstition transformed a lower race of inhab itants like the Nagas into serpent men and ser pent women, dwelling in enchanted regions be neath the earth. Fairy lore contains likewise cer
tain elements of ancestor-worship, of mythology, anfi of older religious beliefs which advancing knowledge looked upon as antiquated and rele gated to the domain of the supernatural. The tendency of the folk to perpetuate the lore of the unseen world is very strong. and it is interesting to notice the changes in its attitude as culture progresses. A study of fairy stories is especially instructive in this regard. Extensive collections of these tales among many different peoples have been made through the influence of folk-lorists, and scholars have secured valuable results in this interesting field of research.
It is worth adding that the etymology of the word fairy has been a subject of Seine dibeIlri4)/1. The suggestion to connect it with the Persian word itcri is even older than Sir \Vtilter Seott's Essay on tar I airy Nuperslition ; but the Old French facrie, like our word fay, which is from OF. Mc, Fr, fee, Itai. fata, Lat. (alum, fate, points to a Itoinance origin for this term. the word with the English adjective fair (AS. raver) would be merely a popular etymology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Maeltitehh., Tl,c Testimony of Bibliography. Maeltitehh., Tl,c Testimony of Tradition ( London, 1391) ; Jacobs. 1.;nylish Fairy Tales (London, 1893 ) ; Grimm, Dc /Nebo Mytho logic (Berlin, 1875-98 ) ; Keightley, The Fairy Mythology ( London, 1850 ) ; Maitland, The Science of Fairy Talcs (London, 1891 ) ; Jour nal of _Imcrican Folk-Lore (Boston, ). See, also, Fot,N-LouE; Mrrnou.v.