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A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, and French folklore), a form of spirit, often with metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities.
Germanic lore featured light and dark elves (Ljósálfar and Dökkálfar).This may be roughly equivalent to later concepts such as the Seelie and Unseelie. [2]In the mid-thirteenth century, Thomas of Cantimpré classified fairies into neptuni of water, incubi who wandered the earth, dusii under the earth, and spiritualia nequitie in celestibus, who inhabit the air.
The term fairy is peculiar to the English language and to English folklore, reflecting the conflation of Germanic, Celtic and Romance folklore and legend since the Middle English period (it is a Romance word which has been given the associations of fair by folk etymology secondarily).
Prince Arthur and the Fairy Queen by Johann Heinrich Füssli, c. 1788. In folklore and literature, the Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a female ruler of the fairies, sometimes but not always paired with a king.
Changeling – Fae child left in place of a human child stolen by the fae. Clurichaun – Irish fairy resembling a leprechaun. Crone – Old woman who may be characterized as disagreeable, malicious, or sinister, often magical or supernatural, making her either helpful or not. Cyclops – Grotesque, one-eyed humanoids, sons of Uranus in Greek myth.
Carbuncle () – one of its many descriptions is a greenish-red fiery light reminiscent of fireflies; Karkinos () – Cancer the crab; Gold-digging ant () – Reported by Herodotus to live in either Ethiopia or Indian subcontinent
A changeling is typically identifiable via several traits, which vary from culture to culture. changeling. In Irish legend, a fairy child may appear sickly and will not grow in size like a normal child, and may have notable physical characteristics such as a beard or long teeth.
Fairyland may be referred to simply as Fairy or Faerie, though that usage is an archaism.It is often the land ruled by the "Queen of Fairy", and thus anything from fairyland is also sometimes described as being from the "Court of the Queen of Elfame" or from the Seelie court in Scottish folklore.