Fairy

A fairy, one of the most magical, mysterious and beloved out of all mythical creatures. The word fairy actually has a French origin and comes from the old French word "faerie". Fairies are supernatural creatures who have been spoken about in many stories of English, German, Slavic and Celtic folklores. 

Our modern day depiction of a fairy is usually shown as a cute and tiny female character who has the ability to glow and has wings. Kind of like .. Tinkerbell. Fairies are said to have many strange magical powers and some myths tell us that the "fae" love to play jokes and pranks on humans. Don't ever double cross a fae because they are not known to play nicely. Fairies have been featured in countless stories such as Peter Pan, Cinderella, and more. These types of stories are often called "Fairy Tales" and it is for a very obvious reason. Fairies have been a critical piece of our human history through art, folklore, and books for hundreds of years. 

Fairies are not a god or goddess, but they are not mortal. They can easily be classified as a mythical creature or a minor divinity. In Greek mythology, Nymphs are a form of faeries, and perhaps in Norse mythology Valkyries could be a form of faeries as the actual definition of the word means "spirit". In the Arthurian legends faeries were a common theme. Arthur had a half sister who was named Morgan La Fay. Fay, Fey, or Fae is a shortened term for the word fairy.  

The lore of the fairy is so deep within our cultures that it seems to be staying put for hundreds of years to come!  

View this post on Instagram

Fairy comes from the Old French word faerie. The word has been used to describe a supernatural being in English, German, Slavic and Celtic folklore. Today, when we think of fairies, we often visualise them as tiny, supernatural beings with wings and glowing with uncommon light in today’s children fairy tales. And they also possessed some sorts of strange magical powers, like Tinkerbell in the story of Peter Pan or the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. The modern fairies, between the 18th and 20th century, comes from oral tradition before they were transmitted into writing. The fairies are supernatural beings that can be best described by the Greek word – daimon, which means “spirit”. They are not divinity, ie. god or goddess, in the usual sense of the word, and yet they are not mere mortal; often, it is easier to classify them as minor divinity. Perhaps the earliest form of faeries can be found loosely in the mythical beings in Greek mythology, such as the nymphs, satyrs and sileni. And then, there are household or guardian spirits that can be found in Roman religion and mythology, such as the penates, lares and genii. The Norse versions of the fairies are the wide variety of elves and the disir that exist in the Teutonic traditions. The Valkyries of Norse mythology could also be classified as fairies since the original definition of the word faerie means: spirit.n the Arthurian legends, the divine or fairy figures also appeared in abundance. Morgan, Arthur’s half-sister, seemed to be a great sorceress and healer, was often called Morgan La Fay, her nickname Fay, which means “Fairy”. And then there is this Lady of the Lake. Arthur’s wife, Guinivere or Gwenhwyfar in the Welsh tradition, also appeared to be a fairy, as well as the sovereignty goddess. Many knights were either born from fairies or they took female fairies as their lovers. Even Merlin was only part mortal! Source: Timeless Myths

A post shared by Myths and Beyond (@mythsandbeyond) on Jul 29, 2020 at 11:47am PDT