The Fair Folk · 9:21am Jan 7th, 2018
(A note before we begin: I tend to use the words fairy and faerie in slightly different ways, depending on which type of entity I mean. If I am talking about a relatively friendly, Disney-ified being, I use fairy. If I want to talk about a more mythical, more dangerous kind of being, I use faerie. It doesn't really matter, general opinion today seems to be that the only difference is spelling, or that Faerie properly refers to the realm they live in.)
I am not sure when I first found the story that set me on this topic, but rereading it more recently has put me in the mood to learn about faeries. The story is mature-rated, and by FimFiction rules, I may not link it in this blog post (as I have no mature-rated story tagged here) - but the story is Catching a Rainbow, written by Damaged. I won't get into the plot here, this isn't what this blog's about, but it did have several attractive elements for me. The most important for the purposes of this post is that the breezies are written as Faeries, instead of regular tiny bug ponies.
I really like proper faeries. Not necessarily nice, but sometimes helpful. Not exactly 'good' or 'evil', but primarily Other. Spooky, because they are alien and there are always consequences.
About a week ago, I realized that I tend to blame mysterious hiccups with checkout machines on gremlins. Upon googling gremlins, I found that they are supposed to cause mechanical failures. Most specifically, in airplanes, but any machinery will do - so I seem to have accidentally been invoking the right creatures! (Or maybe not... there might be something more specific to the scenario). Earlier today, I found on my shelf a book which I purchased mid-2015 for story research purposes, titled The Element Encyclopedia of Fairies. Below are some fae creatures that I find interesting either in themselves, or as potential story fuel.
- Aguane - Female faeries with bewitching voices and cloven hooves, who guard streams. Those trying to enter their waters without permission or harm them may meet watery ends.
- Appletree Man - Guardian of an orchard, dwelling in the oldest apple tree, where the orchard's fertility resides. Chases away fruit raiders, but sometimes takes issue with legitimate harvesters. Customs such as wassailing, which involved singing to the tree and pouring cider at its roots, were sometimes performed to placate the Appletree Man.
- Badalisc - A bad-tempered, gossipy monster with a large head and big mouth. Each year he is 'captured' (a process which involves drum-banging and a cast of traditional characters) and led around the village. A speech is made on his behalf laying out the sins and misdemeanors of the locals.
- Buttery Spirits - Fat faeries, found in taverns and inns where the landlord is cheating his customers by using inferior meat and watered-down drinks. They only eat food that is either stolen or dishonestly presented as fine food, thus preventing the landlord from profiting.
Four is probably enough to be getting on with. I do have work in the morning, so this is a good time to stop browsing my book of faeries. I think my favorite so far is the Appletree Man.
