Fairies (also written faeries) are "little folk" or "wee folk," mystical beings, humanoid in appearance but usually able to fly. In fairy lore, sometimes fairies are portrayed with wings; other times they just fly "magically." Fairies are of various characters, some good, some not so good. They are often tricksters, likely to fool human beings, but they are equally capable of assisting those in need, especially through their ability to use magic.
Fairies have been likened to spirits or angels, especially since they seem to have supernatural abilities transcending the merely physical realm. Fairies appear in the folktales of Europe, Celtic cultures in particular, and of course give their name to the popular stories for children - "fairy tales."
Image of Fairy from Wikimedia Commons.
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Do fairies fascinate you?
Yes indeed the hawthorn has faery associations in the British Isles. It is often known as The Fairy thorn tree.
On the Isle of Man, between England and Ireland there is a faery bridge where even to this day people greet the faeries as the cross. I have greeted them myself when prompted to by our taxi driver.
I've seen fields with a single tree - now I can guess it was a hawthorn, left for the fairies, how interesting!
Sometimes when travelling in the British Isles you see fields with a single hawthorn standing. This is because folk lore calls the hawthorn the fairy tree, for the fairies dwell underneath it. Consequently felling it crosses the fair folk and brings bad luck, so farmers sometimes farm around a hawthorn rather than cut it down. It seems that some people either believe in the tradition or are not taking any chances.
Veronica considers that there is no reason why humans are the only humanoid life form. I agree in principle, but belief in fairies implies another kind of reality in this world alongside the familiar one, so this is what makes belief in them problematic.
I wasn't such a great fan of Tinkerbell, but I did like the moment when we had to clap our hands to show we believed so she didn't die!
Faking the photos didn't add credibility to the existence of fairies, rather the opposite. But I agree, it doesn't mean fairies don't exist!
Tinkerbell and Cinderella's fairy godmother were my favorites when I was a little girl. Thanks for the memories!
In later life the Cottingley girls claimed they had faked the photos to show that the faeries were real as they were difficult to photograph.
I don't see why faeries can't exist. Why should be the only humanoid life form around?
Yes, indeed. It seems there must have been an element of wishful thinking in those who believed in the Cottingley fairies. Still, just because they were a hoax doesn't disprove the existence of fairies!
It is amazing that so many people were taken in by the photographs, as what gave them away was that they were so similar to fairy pictures in story books, which is far too much of a coincidence. However, belief in fairies is not dead, as there are still some people who believe that they exist.
I suppose the tooth fairy is the most well known except maybe for Tinkerbell.