The History of Fairies | The Dark & Tragic Stories You Were Never Told

If anyone was wondering my favourite portrayal of creepy fairies would be in Guillermo del Toro movies, Hellboy 2 or Don't be afraid of the dark.

The chapter about the changelings reminded me of this wonderful short story I read on tumblr about a woman who so desperately wanted to be a mother and had felt like she had exhausted all her options, so she summoned a fairy who gave her a magic fruit to eat that would get her pregnant if she planted the seeds in her front yard. The magic worked but there was a catch: in the winter of her daughter's first year she was replaced with changeling and her mother wanted her back she had to confront the fairy and correctly identify which of the the two infants was her "real" child. Having grown attached to her changeling daughter and having found a loophole in the fairy's instructions, the woman decides to take them both home with her and raise them as twins because to her both of them were her "real" children and she loved them both

I also find it interesting that in the original tellings of the fairies, like the elves, they didn't have wings. The wings only appeared on them in the Victorian era, when an artist was painting a human interacting with a fairy. He wanted to paint wings on to depict an otherworldly being, but didn't want to put on angel's wings, so he went with an insect's wings. The image has since remained.

It is interesting that Fairy, similar to Japanese Yokai is a term that covers a large variety of mythological creatures. When we think of fairies we often think of pixies and the like but even gnomes and sometimes giants and ogres can be counted as fairies.

It’s a literary essay, but Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories” is highly recommended reading for those interested in the literature concerning Fair Folk.

I remember the first fairy I ever heard about was the grim reaper. My dad said it was really a fairy called a dullahan and he learned about it when he was in the military. He said people used to be too afraid so the governing powers begin creating stories about them being called "headless horsemen" or "angels" to convince people they could be faught. Then he would whisper to me "but never believe it, keep your eyes open because there are worse ans scarrier things than fairys in the world." Dad had the best stories.

My husbands ancestral home in Ireland is considered a fairy home. His great great grandmother was found deceased in her home after suffering a natural death. But she was found lying in the floor with a jacket covering her as if someone had lovingly comforted her in her last moments. Since she was a believer and helper of fairies it is believed they covered and comforted her in her last moments. No one is allowed to enter the home now. I would love to one day visit the home and get exact details. Unfortunately my husband maternal side have all passed on and the stories are being lost to time.

There's an anime/manga called the 'Ancient Mangus Bride' that portrays fairies as mischievous and sometimes dangerous. That is when I first started to learn that fairies can have different images and interpretations

I'm irish (from Ireland) and i remember my great granny showing me how to leave offerings for them when I was little- she said they were the 'good people' and we should respect them as they were on the land before any of us. love this video, it's interesting to learn the other stories after growing up with them

Kind of love that I was raised with the older stories, definitely gave me a different perspective around the other kids who thought of fairies as Tinkerbell and Leprechauns as the dude from Lucky Charm's.

Africans also have spirits similar to Changelings, especially amongst the Igbo and Yoruba tribes of Nigeria called Ogbanje for the Igbos and Abiku for the Yorubas. You should look into it, if you are interested. I find it fascinating that cultures with little or no interactions with one another, come up with similar myths to explain certain phenomenons, the human mind is a creative and wonderful place.....

I did a work stint for a few months up in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Part of my companies obligations were to employ a number of First Nations people. So I spent the following months with my trusty side kick who was born and raised in that area and I got to learn alot about his culture. Part of our work was to walk into deep wooded areas (typically in snow) and my companion began to tell me stories of ‘the little people’, who were alleged to be about 1ft high. He was somewhat concerned about them - I asked him if he had ever seen one and he said no, but his grandparents had. They respected the little people and didn’t interfere with them. I’ve never forgotten this Cree folklore - it was truly fascinating

I always remember that in Sleeping Beauty all the fairies were invited to witness the christening of infant beauty so that they could bestow gifts on her, but one fairy was not invited because she was wicked. She found out about the party, and was angry and offended, so then she crashed the party and doomed the baby to die on its 16th birthday, but one of the other fairies hadn't bestowed a wish yet, and so she countered the curse by saying that Sleeping Beauty would only fall asleep and not die.

Fortunately , I am fully aware of the original stories behind the Fair Folk. I’m even in the process of creating my own fantasy universe inspired by the folklore surrounding the Fae!

Interesting how the two groups of fairies do there own things at different points of the four seasons. Damn the changeling story is sad as hell! Can you do a video about the spriggan?

Guillermo del Toro made some fantastical movies dealing with alternative appearances and ideas of fairies as Hellboy2(Toothferies), Pans Labyrinth, Trollhunter.

I lived in Scotland when I was a child and my Scottish playmates spoke about fairies and other related things. I'm Filipino and my parents shared that our family is cursed from the dwarves in the Philippines when a relative accidentally poured hot water over the dwarf. They call them Dwende.

Nasu Kinoko, the writer and founder of Fate franchise, along with Takeuchi. He wrote his version of the Fairies or Fae as akin to their original form from European aged-old lore about these mystical and supernatural creatures. The way he described them as having orange personalities. They don't understand human culture and society. But they can mimic them to an extent, but can't comprehend what goes in and out of how humans operate. They are far too distant within evaluating good and evil. For that matter, an instant resolution will always end up in a bloody end. Their behavior and the way they act are so utterly alien that the consequences they bring can harm not only to the humans but to themselves as well. Their personality is often described as that of a child, on the basis of having an 'innocence' approached around them. With this description, you can see how detrimental they are to us if they can't even judge what the heck they're doing is severely wrong. How they end up as trickster and mischievous beings is mostly from this. For that reason alone, Nasu reflected the image of a race incapable of establishing itself of a civilization that cannot last for a long time as such inner turmoil and conflict rapidly set ablaze within in a matter of a short time. The Faes are nonetheless terrifying for they moved to what they wanted without asking questions or hesitating at all. I applaud Nasu for doing a marvelous job in his version of Fairies. He followed the old perceived tradition and culture of these beings, instead allowing himself to be brainwashed by Disney that practically ruined the identity of Fairies true colors. Edit: Grammar check;

Fairies are one of my favorite mythological creatures. I'm glad you added in the banshee as well because not everyone knows that a banshee is considered a fairy. My other favorite species of fairies are the Leanan sídhe and the Glaistig sidhe and Baobhan sith.

the iron druid series of books is fantastic, alot of celtic mythology blended with other patheons made for a very good read