Facts & Fiction: What you Never Knew About Fairies

This is an extensive research blog that I have begun for my British Literature class that I have absolutely loved! I was not quite sure what I wanted to do my research blog on until we got to the section of Celtic Mythology. The entire section was a lot of fun and you would never believe how little you knew about fairies!

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Ebola is Not That Different

On Friday, February 20th 2015 I attended a seminar on the Ebola virus. It was an amazing seminar that featured three math and science professors, one person from Liberia, and one person from Tarrant County Disease Control. The seminar was moderated by the biology club from my college and gave a complete overview of the virus itself, how we handle infected patients, and what we can do to prevent its occurrence. There are two types of viruses, Marburg and Filo viruses. Ebola is a type of Filo virus with an RNA genome. There are five known species of the Ebola virus. Each species vary in severity and the most severe strains have been known to have high mortality rates in countries without a good medical system. The Ebola virus has caused a massive scare due to the severe strain’s high mortality rate, but the virus itself only has a phospholipid covering that does not give it any significant advantage when living outside of a host. Due to this weak covering, the virus can be killed with simple household cleaners such as bleach. Once the virus is in the host, the host must wait out its course. The virus specifically attacks parts of the immune system and breaks down blood vessel walls. That is what makes it so deadly. We did not know much about Ebola before the most recent outbreak in 2014, but we do not have to be afraid of it and can handle patients better with the knowledge we have gathered. The first documented outbreak of Ebola was in Zaire. Many people died during that outbreak, but the one in 2014 had the highest number of casualties. One of the reasons it was so severe was because of the traditions of the African people, specifically the people of Liberia. When a person would die in Liberia, the dead person’s body would be washed. The water from the washing would be collected and poured over the closest members of the family. Due to Ebola only being transmitted from bodily fluids, this dangerous practice could have been a major reason for the spread of this disease in that country. People in that country have slowly reformed some of their customs to combat this disease, but many lives were lost in the process. To combat this disease, people began covering as much of their bodies as they could with rubber equipment and oxygenated masks if they were available. In the United States, the Ebola patient’s trash was incinerated. Dialysis, electrolyte balancing, IV fluids, high oxygen levels, and other forms of supportive care were the only things doctors could offer patients. There was nothing else that could be offered at the time, but there may be a vaccine in the future. The best way to prevent the spread of Ebola currently is to avoid getting the virus on any living body cells because it could enter the body through those cells. There are two vaccines that are in the process of being approved by the FDA, but the process of being approved may take up to seventeen years. One of the focuses of the vaccines is on the protein of the Ebola virus. In addition to the virus not having an extra virulent coating, it also enters the host by a negative sense method. The virus does not only need to insert its RNA into the host cell, but it also needs to insert a protein as well. After the host cell dies, thousands of new viruses are released. The virus can survive in a dead body for a few days and thrives in cold, dark environments. With all of this information, the virus itself does not seem as frightening and it seems relatively easily to keep at bay. During the presentation one of the professors talked about two shipments of monkeys that died from a strain of the Ebola virus here in the United States. The people who worked with these monkeys were tested and found to be carrying antibodies to the virus. I could not help but think that this sounded similar to the situation with Dr. Jenner and the milk maids. Milk maids never got sick with smallpox because they would contract a cowpox rash on their hands when they were younger. Inoculating people with pus from a cowpox caused those people to never get sick with smallpox. Dr. Jenner’s inoculation experiments brought about the smallpox vaccine and saved many people from this horrible disease. Having one strain of a virus must make a person immune to all of the strains. If making the smallpox vaccine was that easy, why can’t the Ebola vaccine be just as easy? We should keep up the research and inoculate people with the strains that do not cause severe illness. Ebola is not that different from any other virus. It can only be more deadly when proper care is not given to patients.

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Introduction to Fairies and Why I Chose to Research This Topic

            Fairies were very interesting creatures. Some were malevolent and mischievous, but others were benign and helpful. During my studies in British Literature, the topic of fairies was briefly covered and I was immediately interested. Many people do not know that there were many types of fairies. They also did not know that many were not the kind, funny, and small fairies featured in popular American culture. I learned, among many things, that most fairies could be mischievous and evil. These next six blog posts cover my research into the history and types of fairies, or the “fay” as many call them. Their influence on modern artists is woven throughout these posts. This first post covers my interest in fairies, a little of their background history, and their relevance in today’s world.

            Fairies have always seemed like the cute, small creatures popularized by the American media to me. I had heard a little about the bad fairies in passing, but to my young self these negative pictures of something that seemed so positive did not stick with me as I grew up. I never was very interested in the Tinker Bell series, but one popular children’s TV show that involved fairies that I loved to watch was the Winx Club. It was a cartoon created in Italy. The good fairies, witches, and other powerful beings always dealt with some drama as they fought the bad ones. This show painted a good portrayal of fairies because it represented multiple different fairies instead of only one type. Along with exposure to fairies as a child, my friends, family, and I went on vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge in September. It was a magical and fun night as we roamed the halls gathering all of the items we were supposed to gather for our quests. While we gathered our items, we ran into some fairies. One of the fairies was snippy and not as nice as I expected her to be. Later I had found out that this fairy was Aine. When the topic of fairies was brought up in my British Literature class a few weeks later, the topic grabbed me and I chose it to be my research project. Anything supernatural with nostalgic qualities has always sparked my interest. After my childhood exposure, magical vacation, and the new information given to me in class, I wanted to know more about them.

            The word “fairy” was a more recent term often used to describe a wide range of beings. It originally came from the Italian word “fatae” which denoted the type of fairy that would tell newborn babies what their lives would hold (Briggs xi). Many fairies were believed to be the descendants of gods and goddesses or of a defeated race such as the Tuatha de Denann or Sidhe (Curran 13). It would make the most sense if they were not only descended from, but actually were the original gods and goddesses unless they were their children due to their similar qualities and powers. Many of the fairies were believed to have various magical powers, and the fatae mentioned above had the same powers that the Three Fates possessed. Fairies possessing the similar power of bestowing gifts that would stay with babies throughout their lives were featured in the popular movie Ella Enchanted. This was a wonderful film that showed that even the helpful fairies can make a mistake. There are many different types of fairies. The ones that are featured in the following blog posts are the Brownies, Mermaids, Leprechauns, Hobgoblins, Kelpies, Phoukas, Cearbs, Dullahans, Bogies, Elementals, Changelings, Bendith Y Mamaus, Vampires, Valkyries, Nymphs, and ones that are formed by emotions.

            Fairies are featured in many places in popular American culture today. They are found in movies and TV shows like Ella Enchanted, the Winx Club, Maleficent, and Twitches. They also can be found in many paintings and inspire trading cards such as the Bella Sara series that originated in Denmark. The study of fairies is very relevant today because many people do not about their truth or origins. Many people throughout history, including people in the Victorian age, have been fascinated by fairies and some studied them relentlessly (Silver). Most people only know the information about fairies that the media feeds them and will never hear the facts unless someone tells them. With all of the false information in the world today, and the popularity of fairies in American culture, the true information about fairies should be studied. Many girls growing up today will be captured by the fairies they see on television, but will never know that those fairies are only a small portion of the fairy world.

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"Good" Fairies & Interesting Fairy Facts

            There were many different types of fairies in Roman, Greek, and Celtic legends. Although fairies were known to do many good things, no fairy was entirely good. If a fairy was treated well, they would also treat the humans well. However, if the fairy was mistreated or neglected, they would either vanish or cause havoc on humans or their dwelling places. Brownies, Hobgoblins, Mermaids, Nymphs, and Leprechauns were all types of fairies that could be good or evil. Brownies would clean human houses in exchange for sweet food and drinks, but would vanish or destroy parts of their houses and undo their good work when they were insulted.

Image 1: Brownies Doing Yard Work

http://thegraphicsfairy.com/request-day-paper-doll-head-mermaid-palmer-cox-brownies-bridge-earthworm/

              Hobgoblins were a type of nature spirit that was very ugly and could play pranks on or be very helpful to humans. They were very similar to brownies (Rose 153).

Image 2: Hobgoblin from the Spiderwick Chronicles

http://spiderwick.wikia.com/wiki/Hobgoblin

              Mermaids and Mermen were fairies that were part human and part fish. They could tell humans wonderful cures for sicknesses when captured, or lure sailors to their deaths (Rose 218).

  Image 3: Mermaid

http://anime.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/597802/

              Nymphs were fairies that could live for thousands of years. They served the Roman and Greek gods and goddesses and could help or harm humans. They were often young and beautiful (Rose 242).

Image 4: Lily Nymph

http://www.firefly-path.net/?tag=lily-nymph

              Leprechauns were originally fairy shoemakers, but there were two other types of fairies whose behavior became grouped with leprechauns. Cluricaunes were the ones known for their drunkenness and Fir Darrig fairies played jokes on people. All three fairies were grouped together under the name “Leprechaun” and now this one type of fairy is known for all three types of behaviors, instead of the sole original shoemaking behavior (Briggs 264).

Image 5: Leprechaun

http://imgur.com/gallery/hsfPKCe

              Fairies were not only known to do some good at times, but they also had many interesting hobbies and features about themselves. Fairies liked cheerfulness, dancing, and taking baths. They also had varieties of animals that they liked to breed and made many crafts. Some had specific skills, such as the Leprechaun with his shoemaking. Barley and weeds were the two of the main foods of fairies. Although many people believed that fairies were beautiful, immortal, and perfect, fairies usually had one blemish that was either unnoticeable or covered up with magic (Briggs 92). Not all fairies were immortal. They traveled on grass and tree branches instead of wings. Their mode of transportation was completely different from many artist’s depiction of them!

            Not everything about fairies was good. The bad fairies and their negative traits are covered in the next post.

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Evil Fairies

            Throughout English folklore there have been many bad activities and traits attributed to fairies. Many types of bad fairies have been identified along with these traits. A large part of the world believed in gods and goddesses until Christianity and the Catholic Church began flooding the world. The negative view of fairies could have come from the Catholic Church’s influence on people as their pagan beliefs were slowly incorporated with this new faith or washed away. Due to the mixing of the faiths, many environmental and biological tragedies were said to be the work of fairies and they came to be seen as demonic beings.

            Missing items, children, and natural pains were blamed on fairies throughout history. If an item was missing from a house, a fairy could have stolen it, but no one would ever want to steal from a fairy because there could be bad consequences (Briggs 131). If a child seemed to be different, a fairy could have stolen the real child and replaced it with a baby fairy (Briggs 62). Bruises, cramps, and strokes were also all thought to be caused by fairies. To counter the evil things the fairies were doing, the people would worship the fairies and leave them offerings and gifts until their beliefs were changed by Catholicism. When the Catholic Church infiltrated the European cultures, fairies were “fought off” with bells, daisies, bread, and four-leaf clovers. Fairies were also thought to have been repelled by iron, but all of these things were draped over children and household items so that they would not be stolen. The most evil of the fairies were the Banshees, Dullahans, Cearbs, Changelings, Bendith Y Mamaus, and Vampires.

            The Banshee has been known to be a benign or an evil fairy. Its name has had various spellings, such as Bean Si, and the Banshee has also been known as the Bean Nighe or “Little Washer by the Ford” (Briggs 14). There have been many legends about the Banshee. Most times it frightened members of important families with its terrifying scream before a family member died and other times it attacked people who came near it. No matter what, the sight of a Banshee was always a bad sign.

Image 6: Banshee

http://www.celtic-weddingrings.com/legend-of-the-banshee.aspx

              Melusine was a fairy that became a Banshee (Briggs 287). Bella Sara depicted Melusine on one of their popular trading cards.

Image 7: Bella Sara Card for Melusine

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bella-Sara-Northern-Lights-MELUSINE-S12-of-17-Foil-Card-/190438390307

              A fairy that often accompanied the Banshee was the Dullahan. The Dullahan is commonly known as the “headless horseman.” If a person got near the Dullahan on its ride, it would lash a whip out at his eyes or throw blood on him (Bane 114). It spread diseases wherever it went. There were various descriptions of this fairy, but these descriptions normally included a horse of some kind.

Image 8: Dullahan

http://akakuma.deviantart.com/art/the-dullahan-163114079

              Yu-Gi-Oh!, a popular trading card series also depicted a Dullahan on one of its’ trading cards.

Image 9: Dullahan as depicted by Yu-Gi-Oh!

http://www.cardgame-club.it/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8214_8222&products_id=362331

              Cearbs were one of the worst kind of fairies. They were known as “the killing one(s)” that “killed men and cattle” (Briggs 69).

Image 10: Cearb

https://www.tumblr.com/search/scottish+folklore/recent

              Bendith Y Mamaus and Changelings were dangerous fairies. Changelings were baby fairies, old fairies, or enchanted pieces of wood made to look like human babies left in the place of stolen human children (Briggs 70). Although the Changelings themselves were not dangerous, the Bendith Y Mamaus were dangerous because they stole the unprotected children and replaced them with Changelings (Briggs 21). The human babies that were stolen were believed to be sacrificed to Hell every seven years.

Image 11: Bendith Y Mamau stealing a human child

http://i-believe-in-fairies.tripod.com/id32.html

              Vampires or “demons” were the last kind of evil fairy that was not usually thought of as a fairy. This kind of fairy lured humans away from their friends and faith and were murderers. Some of them drank blood to keep themselves strong and alive (Curran 20).

Image 12: Vampire fairy in Graveyard

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/vampires/images/7395333/title/vampire-woman-photo

              All of the fairies were not as dark as those in this post and were not as bright as the ones in the first. The next post focuses on the mischievous fairies.

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Mischievious Fairies

            All of the fairies could be mischievous, but some fairies were known more for their ways of causing trouble than others. Bogies, Kelpies, Phoukas, and fairies that were captured were known for causing a lot of trouble.

            Bogies were the fairies that lived to cause mischief. They could sometimes be annoying or harmful (Briggs 30).

Image 13: Bogie

http://faeriefashion.livejournal.com/1169647.html

              Kelpies and Phoukas were very similar fairies that were often placed together as the Kelpie-Pooka. Both fairies could take on different forms, but both would normally show up in the form of a horse. The Kelpie was often very harmful and would devour a human underwater if it captured one (Rose 178). There have been positive legends of the Phouka doing kind things when captured, but it could also give a rider “wild ride(s)” (Briggs 326). The main difference between a Kelpie and a Phouka was that a Phouka was generally a horse fairy and a Kelpie was a horse fairy that lived near water. When the two terms were put together, there would be a water horse fairy.

Image 14: Kelpie

http://www.screwattack.com/news/pokemon-x-and-y-ideas-rumoured-fairy-type

              Bella Sara artists drew a powerful depiction of the Kelpie-Pooka.

  Image 15: Kelpie-Pooka as Depicted by Bella Sara

http://minibaah.deviantart.com/art/Kelpie-Pooka-62021114

              A fairy that always caused a lot of ruckus was the captured fairy. Usually a fairy was captured to be the bride of a human male. A type of curse was placed upon this man and it was usually broken with bad consequences following soon after (Briggs 66). The story of the selkie bride was similar to the stories of captured fairies.

Image 16: Selkie Coming Out of the Ocean

http://www.kateforsyth.com.au/kates-blog/spotlight-selkie-fairy-tales-from-scotland

              The last post covers strange fairies.

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Strange & Fascinating Fairies

            The last three fairies were strange and fascinating fairies. They were Valkyries, Elementals, and fairies created by emotions.

            Valkyries were the “Nymphs of battle” that served the Norse gods and goddesses (Bane 336). There were only a small number of Valkyries and their flight throughout the sky was thought to be what caused the northern lights.

Image 17: Valkyrie

http://naturaljuice.deviantart.com/art/Sky-Valkyrie-373301587

              Elementals were fairies that came from one of the elements; water, fire, earth, and air. If the element was not in the best state, that could determine how kind or evil a fairy was (Curran 19).

Image 18: Four Elemental Fairies

http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/artists/165323935

              Similarly, some believed emotions created fairies (Curran 19). One could receive a good fairy from happiness, or an evil fairy from anger.

Image 19: A Beautiful Pixie Looking a Little Sad

http://lydiasharp.blogspot.com/2010/04/for-love-of-fairies.html

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Bibliography & Ending Post

This study of fairies has been so exciting! I have learned bunches from my studies and I hope that you have learned a lot from them as well! You will find in this post my bibliography which contains a list of all of the authors that I obtained my information from. If you would like to dive further into what I studied, please do so! These authors are great and are where I learned all of my information for this project.

Happy researching!

  Bibliography

Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. Jefferson, NC. MacFarland & Company, Inc., 2013. Print.

Briggs, Katharine Mary. An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. NY. Pantheon Books, 1976. Print.

Curran, Bob, and Ian Daniels. Dark Fairies. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page, 2010. Print.

Jacobs, Joseph, Donald Haase, John D. Batten, and Joseph Jacobs. English Fairy Tales ; And, More English Fairy Tales. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print.

Kincaid, James R. “O.K., So Don’t Clap.” New York Times. December 6, 1998. Web. Nov. 21, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/reviews/981206.06kincait.html

Rose, Carol. Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia of the Little People. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1996. Print.

Silver, Carole G. “Chapter One: Strange and Secret Peoples Fairies and the Victorian Consciousness.” New York Times. Oxford University Press, 1999. Web. Nov. 21, 2014. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/