A fairy, wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk is a type of mythological being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.
The word fairy derives from the term fae of medieval Western European romance. Fae ery was therefore everything that appertains to the fae.
Finally the word replaced its original and one could speak of a faery or fairy, though the word fey is still used as an adjective or to refer to the word fairy as a plural.
Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions.
Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature.
Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers.
Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously dead, or some form of demon. Folklorists have suggested that their actual origin lies in a conquered race living in hiding, or in religious beliefs that lost currency with the advent of Christianity.
These explanations are not necessarily incompatible, and they may be traceable to multiple sources.
Much of the folklore about fairies revolves about protection from their malice, by such means as cold iron or charms of rowan and herbs.In particular, folklore describes how to prevent the fairies from stealing babies and substituting changelings, and abducting older people as well.
Many folktales are told of fairies, and they appear as characters in stories from medieval tales of chivalry. In modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, humanoids of small stature, they originally were depicted much differently tall, radiant, or short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned.
Diminutive fairies of one kind or another have been recorded for centuries, but occur alongside the human sized beings these have been depicted as ranging in size from very tiny up to the size of a human child.
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