What is a Fairy

A fairy or færie (Old English spelling) is a supposed magical being that flies in the air. They are usually depicted as small girls or women. Some færies have certain jobs, such as the Tooth fairy, who gives money or treats under the pillow of small children who have had a tooth fall out. A fairy tale is a story with a plot involving fairies. These stories are usually for children. Fairies can also be found in folklore, for instance, in Ireland and Scotland, fairies are still held as creatures that were defeated by the human race thousands of years ago and now live in caverns in the world of faerie. These mystical creatures are believed to be made after a kind of angel. Fairies come up in many fictional books such as "Peter Pan" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles". Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. 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. Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans. On Orkney they were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour.

Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are very rare in the folklore; even very small fairies flew with magic, sometimes flying on ragwort stems or the backs of birds. Nowadays, fairies are often depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes. Some depictions of fairies either have them wearing some sort of footwear and other depictions of fairies are always barefoot.

Characteristics

Much of the folklore about fairies revolves around protection from their malice, by such means as cold iron or charms of rowan and herbs, or avoiding offense by shunning locations known to be theirs. Some pranks ascribed to them, such as tangling the hair of sleepers into "Elf-locks", stealing small items or leading a traveler astray, are generally harmless. But far more dangerous behaviors were also attributed to fairies. Any form of sudden death might stem from a fairy kidnapping, with the apparent corpse being a wooden stand-in with the appearance of the kidnapped person. Consumption (tuberculosis) was sometimes blamed on the fairies forcing young men and women to dance at revels every night, causing them to waste away from lack of rest. Rowan trees are considered sacred to the fairies.

Where they live

Depending on the region, fairies are said to live in woodland communities, underground kingdoms, or inhabit lakes, hills, or stone or grass circles - often along with centaurs, elves, ogres, gnomes and other such animals.

What they eat

Fairy Food is a term used to describe what fairies eat. They eats all types of fruits, and delicious cakes, sweets and treats made by the Kitchen-talents.

Fun Facts

1. Fairy wings aren't just for flying.

One of the questions I get when children see my wings is, "Can you fly?" The answer is yes if the wind is right. But flying is not the only thing wings are good for. Fairies use their wings to wave "hello" to each other, to "taste" the air, express their moods, look beautiful, and show how important they are in fairy society. Wings also make a comfortable cushion when you lie down for a fairy nap.

2. You can spell "fairy" any way you want.

If you look in a dictionary, you'll probably see the conventional spelling, "fairy." But lots of famous authors and poets spell it "faerie" or "faery." That's three common ways to write the same word, so why not spell it "feyrie" or "fahreeee" in your stories? The word for "fairy" is a lot like the creatures themselves: Ever-changing and not inclined to follow the rules.

3. Fairies speak the language of gifts.

Fairies love gifts! They love to give them and they love to receive them. Their favorites are small shiny objects and good things to eat and drink. If you want to be friends with a fairy boy or girl, offer a gift first. Fairies know that humans' words don't always tell the truth, but gifts can usually be trusted.

4. Not all fairies are beautiful.

Many fairies are extremely beautiful-more beautiful than humans can imagine-but not all. Some look frightening or silly. Some can take the form of animals or plants. Most can change their appearance to look any way they wish. You might think, then, that a fairy would want to be young and pretty all the time because that's what most humans would do. But fairies have their reasons to enjoy looking ugly or old.

5. Fairies don't like iron.

You may have heard that fairies are allergic to the metal iron. Iron doesn't kill fairies, as some people say. However, it does make them feel icky inside, and the smell is terrible to a fairy nose. In olden times, folks would hang an iron horseshoe on their door to keep bad fairies away. (Unfortunately, this also can keep away the good fairies.)