Fairies

by Morgan Daimler

  Another level of entanglement is more straightforward, that is sometimes fairies are known to take people to join them and often these people were thought to have died. In a wide array of folklore from Ireland and Wales we see stories in which a young woman is thought to die and is buried, only to be seen later among the fairies in one context or another. In at least one story it was a young man who died and was buried, only to have a fairy doctor tell his family that he was among the Other Crowd; when they attempted to retrieve him he appeared and begged to be allowed to stay with the people of the sí (Briggs, 1976). The Scottish witch Alison Pearson claimed a dead relative was among the fairies and that it was he who acted as her familiar spirit with them (Wilby, 2005). In the ballad of Alice Brand we find a story of a man who is mortally wounded in a fight and while everyone assumes he has died he has actually been taken into Fairy as a servant to the Elfin King (Acland, 1997). Getting back to the earlier point about the soul as a tangible presence, we must understand that these are people with presence and physicality who were interacted with and who are clearly counted among the ranks of the fairy people.

  Several particular types of dead were more likely to be counted among the fairies. Babies and children, especially if they had been pleasant natured or beautiful in life, as well as brides and handsome youths, were often known to be taken by the fairies and should anyone in that demographic die it was suspicious. Additionally there was a long history of saying that both those killed by violence, the ‘sword-killed’, as well as great heroes, had been taken into Fairy, and we see this being applied to everyone from King Arthur to Thomas Beckett (Firth-Green, 2016).

  In the book The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, several anecdotes are related that connect the Good People directly to the dead, in both the sense of describing some fairies as being humans who have died as well as saying some of them are people who were taken and thought to have died. One person related a story about a woman who died and shortly after, before the body had been buried, her husband was visited by one of the Good People who told him she wasn’t dead, but taken by the fairies; the husband then waited by the body with the door open and his wife came in to see her infant, at which time he grabbed her (Evans-Wentz, 1911). After being restrained and struck with a charm he had prepared the wife returned to her body, as the story was related, which revived and she went on to live a long mortal life (Evans-Wentz, 1911). In another tale with a less pleasant ending a bride died at her wedding, only to appear to her new husband later and tell him that she was actually among the fairies and that if he went to a certain place he would see her passing by and could save her (Evans-Wentz, 1911). The husband went as she’d told him to but when he saw his bride among the fairies passing by he found himself paralyzed and unable to move to grab her; he never saw her again after that, but refused to remarry (Evans-Wentz, 1911). The people interviewed in that section of the book, who were relating the beliefs of different areas of Ireland around the turn of the 20th century, also made it clear that there were fairies who were never human and had never been human, assigning them origins among the Fir Bolg and Tuatha De Danann, as well as saying they were fallen angels. There were also those among the human dead who could and did return as ghosts or other types of undead spirits that were not considered fairies. Most who died did not become fairies, but passed to another afterlife in common belief, showing that there was no assumption that becoming a fairy was the norm.

  The subject of the fairies and the dead is not a simple one, but it is clear that the two groups are intertwined. There are those beings who were never human spirits and those human spirits who are not and will not be fairies. But there are also those who were once human and are now fairies because the fairies themselves added the human to their ranks. The different layers of belief make it apparent that while there was crossover between fairies and the dead there was also distinction and separation of the two groups in other ways. If one could imagine it as a Venn diagram we would see fairies as one circle, the human dead as another, and the area where the two circles overlapped would represent those who fall into both groups – how small or large that is no one can say for certain.

  Fairies, Demons, and Angels

  Another complicated topic is whether fairies are demons or angels. Generally speaking, fairies seem to fall into a category of their own that is distinct from a Judeo-Christian worldview and shows clear signs of pagan origins. However, fairies have been understood within a Christian context for long enough that aspects of the beliefs around them have adapted or become synchronized. Because of this we see fairies in both folk belief and the writing of the pre-modern literati being described as or equated to both demons and angels.

  A variety of fairy beings are referred to as Goblins in Old Irish including the Each Uisce, Púca, Fíthal, and Gruagach (eDIL, n.d.). Goblin3 itself is a term that was often understood as or used as a cognate with the word imp. In the Anglo-Saxon we see the word Aelf similarly grouped with Goblins, demons, and specters, and also being used as an equivalent to Incubus (Hall, 2007). We see a pattern in the Scottish witch trials of the accused witch claiming they dealt with fairies only to have their accuser refer to those fairies as demons (Wilby, 2005). This reflected a common pattern wherein the literati saw fairies as demonic and placed them within the realm of such spirits while the lower classes of society referred to those same spirits as fairies or even as angels (Wilby, 2005). It may perhaps be argued that calling fairies demons was a matter of perspective and represented a continued process of demonizing the older pagan folk beliefs. It can also be argued that it was often the lower levels of society, the common people, who would call them fairies while the educated class were quick to label them as demons, seeking to fit them into a carefully regulated and divided worldview. What the peasant woman or blacksmith might call a fairy – or more likely by the slightly more specific name of Elf, Goblin, Púca, or Gruagach – the priest or scholar would label a demon, Incubus, or imp (Williams, 1991; Wilby, 2005; Hall, 2007).

  Even those who saw fairies as demons, however, tended to class them separately from the demons who served Lucifer in Hell. In this view there were two distinct classes of demons: a lesser group who might punish men and cause mischief, but rarely did great evil, and a greater group who were truly malevolent and destructive (Firth-Green, 2016). There was an implicit acknowledgement that these fairies labeled as demons had not fallen all the way to Hell, but remained on Earth in a sort of middle state between true demons and something more benevolent. In some tales we even see a character described in different versions as either a demon or fairy who acts to help and guide the protagonist (Firth-Green, 2016).

  Interestingly in the story Esclarmonde the fairies seem to be credited with having power over demons, in that they use their magic to save someone from demons trying to drown him (Firth-Green, 2016). This is in direct contrast with other sources, discussed later in this book under the section about the teind to Hell, wherein it is implied the fairies are tenants to or under the authority of Satan, which would reinforce the idea of fairies as lesser demons. This may be a complicated subject that cannot be given a simple answer; ultimately it may be that what constitutes a fairy or a demon is a matter of perspective and a person’s worldview.

  There was also a similar point of view that saw fairies as angels or as related to angels. In his trial for witchcraft, Andro Man claimed he was visited by a spirit that he alternately described as a fairy and an angel (Wilby, 2005). Looking outside of the Celtic culture for a moment we see evidence that the Icelandic Alfar, at least textually in Snorri Sturulson’s writings, were described in ways meant to evoke comparison to angels (Hall, 2007). One of the most common stories within folklore explaining the origin of fairies claims that they are fallen angels, neither demonic nor heavenly, who are seeking redemption and a return to Heaven. Common questions fairies are known to ask mortals during encounters are whether fairies have souls and whether they will one day be redeemed within the Christian faith (Evans-W
entz, 1911; Yeats, 1888). While some folklore did deny souls to the fairies, and thus any hope of Christian redemption, there was also a line of belief going back to the 13th century in England that claimed they might be pardoned at Judgment Day. In this view fairies were fallen angels who were being punished by the Christian God, but who still followed his will and so would return to Heaven at Doomsday (Firth-Green, 2016).

  A common angelic narrative attached to fairies says that they were angels who were neutral during the war in Heaven, and because they refused to choose a side God cast them out, but they did not join Satan and his demons in Hell. Another frequently seen version of this story states that when Satan rebelled God was so angry that he threw open the doors of Heaven and all of the angels were being pulled out and into Hell, until he was convinced to show mercy and close the doors. When the doors of Heaven closed, those angels who had fallen into Hell became demons, but those who were trapped in the limbo between Heaven and Hell became fairies. Both of these stories are clearly framed in a Christian worldview and can be seen as attempts to explain the existence of fairies in a way that makes sense in monotheism. This attempt met with only partial success and while it gained some ground among the common people scholars never fully accepted fairies as either redeemable demons or ambiguous angels; texts often differentiated between fairies and any kind of angel, and the Church rejected the idea of demons who could do good (Firth-Green, 2016).

  Fairies and the Gods

  It’s an often repeated belief that the fairies are the Gods, diminished. In Ireland the terms Aos Sí and Daoine Sí, which both mean ‘people of the fairy mounds’ are used for the fairies, but also by association with the Tuatha De Danann (McKillop, 1998). The Tuatha De Danann are a group of divine beings who invaded and settled Ireland after driving out a previous group of chthonic beings, the Fir Bolg. Most people see the Tuatha De Danann as the Gods of Ireland, and a wide selection of myths exist about their exploits. When the first humans came to Ireland, in the myths, they fought against the Gods and drove them into the fairy hills. However, no crops would grow and no cows would give milk until an agreement was reached with the leader of the defeated Gods. Humans had to offer a portion of their harvest, some of their milk and grain, and in return the Gods would allow the land to flourish. This belief is directly related to the modern belief that the fairies can also influence the health or failure of crops and are due a portion of what is grown and gathered (Evans-Wentz, 1911).

  Many people believe that when the Gods went into the fairy hills they lost their divine status and became the fairies (Briggs, 1976). Lady Wilde referred to them as ‘cave fairies’ and said they were spared by the Gaels and allowed to go into the fairy mounds because of their skill as poets, musicians, and artisans (Wilde, 1888). This idea was widely adopted in folklore, which depicted the Tuatha De Danann and the fairies themselves as physically small4, possibly using this as a metaphor for their loss of power and divine status.

  The early period of anthropology and folklore in academia saw a great many interesting theories about fairies appearing, many of which linked the Gods to the fairies. This idea also took hold in folk belief creating a great deal of confusion between the Irish Gods and the fairies, and leaving us with a multitude of stories featuring beings listed elsewhere as deities being depicted as fairies instead. For example a variety of the Fairy Queens and Kings of Ireland were once found in mythology as deities or divine supernatural beings. Also because of the story of The Taking of the Sidhe as well as local folk belief and attributions from other myths we see many specific well known fairy hills being called the homes of members of the Tuatha De Danann. Sí na Broga (Newgrange) has belonged to several Gods, most notably the Dagda and Oengus mac ind Og, and the Sí of Cruachan is associated with the Morrigan, for example.

  The subject is not necessarily so straightforward as the Gods simply being turned into fairies though, as we see references in Irish mythology to ‘the riders of the sí’ before the Irish Gods have gone into the sí (fairy mounds). This would seem to imply that the sí and the beings within existed even before the Gods were exiled into the mounds. Mythology also tells us that the Gods themselves may have come from the Otherworld originally, appearing in clouds or mists, and we may perhaps say that when humans pushed them out of our world they simply returned at least partially to the one they came from. After going into the sí we often see different fairy beings, usually referred to generically as Goblins and specters, accompanying the war Goddesses Badb, the Morrigan, and Nemain when they appear in the Táin Bó Cuailgne. In that same myth when the epic hero Cu Chulainn is badly wounded the God Lugh appears out of a sí and takes Cu Chulainn into it and when the hero returns to mortal Earth he is accompanied by a man of the sí who relates what has occurred during the three days he was gone. The Goddess Morrigan is said in multiple stories, including the Táin Bó Cuailgne, Táin Bó Regamna, and Dindshenchas tale of Odras to emerge from and return to the sí of Cruachan. This would seem to establish a strong early connection between the Gods and the fairies, with these myths dating back usually to the 9th or 10th century CE. Later 19th century poets and authors would conflate the two groups, making the Tuatha De Danann themselves into fairies; yet even in these written attempts to reduce the Gods they retain obvious and sometimes explicit divine powers and abilities that transcend what are credited to other fairies (Williams, 2016). As F. Marian McNeill tells us in her book The Silver Bough: ‘…the Tuatha appear in medieval tales as the Side, or fairy hosts. They are not, however, regarded as ordinary fairies, but rather as ‘the gentry of the fairy world.’ (McNeill, 1956, p. 28) From this we may perhaps conclude that while the Irish Gods, the Tuatha De Danann, find a place within the sí they are not truly fairies as we generally understand the term, but rather occupy an upper echelon within Fairy.

  End Notes

  1. It may be worth noting, however, that he was bound with his own belt and killed with his own blade, suggesting, perhaps, that his own possessions or items from his own world had greater power over him. Given the lack of detail in the ballad, this is only supposition, and it is possible that rather than any deep metaphysical significance it was simply pragmatism on Lady Isabel’s part.

  2. Literally ‘fruit’, but probably in this context meaning produce, profit, or substance.

  3. We will discuss Goblins in more depth in a later chapter

  4. This idea of the Gods literally shrinking in stature is particularly interesting when juxtaposed with their original stature, which was often described as large or mighty, in some cases even gigantic.

  Chapter 3

  The Courts and Divisions in Fairy

  The guid wichts who winnit in the court o’ Elffehame

  (The good spirits who dwelt in the court of Elfhame)

  Bessie Dunlop describing a group of fairies she had met, McNeill, 1956

  People have tried for a long time to categorize and divide Fairy and its inhabitants to better understand them. It seems to be human nature that we have an easier time comprehending things we can label and put into a box, but that concept doesn’t work well with Fairy. There is no simple, clear-cut way to group the beings of Fairy that doesn’t either leave a lot of room for fluidity or ignore a variety of them for convenience. However, there are several historic methods of division found in folklore that are still used today and can be helpful for people approaching the subject who need a fairly quick way to immediately understand a few basic things about a particular member of Fairy. The most common of these are the division into Courts, the grouping based on social structure, and division based on locations where they prefer to live.

  The Seelie and Unseelie Courts

  By many accounts the beings of Fairy are divided into two courts, the Seelie and Unseelie. This is often simplified as the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ fairies, or as F. Marian McNeill says the ‘gude wichts’1 and the ‘wicked wichts’ and this concept is still seen in modern fairy beliefs. This was initially a Lowland Scottish belief that later
spread (McNeill, 1956). Although in more or less common use now I think we lose the nuances between the two when we try to reduce them into such blunt terms as good and bad (or worse good and evil) and also that many modern people may not fully understand the concepts of seelie and unseelie. So let’s look at what exactly seelie and unseelie mean, and how the two courts were traditionally understood, as well as the likely original roots of both as a single entity.

  The words seelie and unseelie come to us from the Scots2 language, itself an amalgam of a variety of languages found in the Lowland areas of Scotland. Although its most often seen today as ‘seelie’ it also appears in older texts in a variety of forms including sely, seely, seily, sealy, with seely being the most common (DSL, 2016). It is often a term in Scots dictionaries associated with the fairies and given as an adjective to describe both a fairy court and the disposition of individual fairies themselves. Meanings for seelie are given ranging from happy, blessed, lucky, fortunate, and good natured, as well as having connotations of bringing good luck (DSL, 2016; Jamieson, 1808). In contrast, unseelie – also spelled oonseely, onseely, unsealy, or unseely – means dangerous, unlucky, unfavorable, unhappy, unholy, and ungodly (DSL, 2016). The word unseelie, in the form of unsely, can be found as far back as the 16th century meaning unlucky or miserable, but was generally applied to times, places, and animals (DSL, 2016). I have been unable to find any older references to unseelie being applied to fairies.