I believe they all exist. Can there ever be true, true proof? Most likely not. But some things in this world just need to be left alone! People need that. Science can't solve everthing
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| Celtic Radio Community > Scotland > Faeries And Other Folklore |
| Posted by: Aragorn 24-Jan-2005, 01:26 PM |
| Hello everyone, I just spent a few minutes reading up on Faeries and I was wondering if anyone believed in them and if they have had and experiences they wish to share. With a topic like this, is it possible I might incur the wraith of some wee little ones? None the less, I was reading an http://www.laughingowl.com/Muriel/ScottishFolklore.htm about some folklore and it was very intriguing to read up on Faeries. So, it seem they are just little people with some magical powers who like to dance in the moonlight and party all the time (Not a bad idea). You often hear about them in movies and older TV shows so my curiousity was peaked. I am one who is not very easily swayed one way or the other unless enough proof is established to warrant changing my mind. Are faeries just a figment of people's imagination use to explain away thing they do not understand or do not have answers to? I want to hear some of your thoughts on this. While we are on the subject..What about brownies? I have heard more about Faeries then I have about brownies. I hear they are small invisible people that are helpers and live in people's houses. Hmm, interesting that they are invisible. Although I would love to have some invisible helpers in my house. Just a few folklores of Scotland for you all... Aragorn. |
| Posted by: emerald-eyedwanderer 24-Jan-2005, 01:55 PM |
| I think they are a fun part of myths and legends of the world. I love hearing, reading and learning more about them. Here, in America, we don't have the rich history and culture European countries have. So you don't hear about them much anywhere but fantasy stories. I never realized how much they are thought of in other countries. A friend of mine just visited Ireland last year, and she told me that in Ireland, people will spend the extra costs to build things around what they believe is a fairy bush, shrub, ect. On the bus she took around the country, they pointed out certain spots that were saved from development in order to preserve "fairy shrubs". I think it's neat, and would love to see those places. |
| Posted by: Aaediwen 24-Jan-2005, 02:10 PM |
| I believe they exist, although I'm not completely sure why. In once sense they exist and are real by virture of people believing in them. As for if they are real physical beings or not... I like to think so. |
| Posted by: Rindy1202 24-Jan-2005, 02:20 PM |
| Thank you for sharing Aragorn. I love fairies. I collect them. Although I don't believe in them. I have a friend who does and you can't tell her any different. As a wise Irishman once said "I don't believe in fairies, but they're there. Hope you don't mind if I add another kind of fairy: There are many kinds of fairies in Irish lore. Leprechauns are the working fairies. They are the tailors and the cobblers. Often in the evening they can be found under a hedge stitching away at a garment or pounding a wee hammer making a pair of shoes. Speak kindly to them if you meet one for they have the power to make you rich, providing you handle them right. First grab the Leprechaun tightly by the scruff of his neck. Be very careful not to take you eyes off of him lest he disappear. Promise to let him go if he leads you to a pot of gold. Since pots of golds are gettin scarcer and scarcer these days he might arrange instead for you to win the Irish Sweepstakes... Good luck |
| Posted by: Aragorn 24-Jan-2005, 03:58 PM |
| Hehe, Irish sweepstakes I am ready for that one. I can't say I believe in them but like emerald-eyedwanderer, I find they have a special place in fantasy. If someone believes in them that is exciting, you have opened yourself to a whole new world and a fun one at that. Yes Rindy1202, I kinda neglected to add the cool little Leprechauns because they are more of an Irish folklore but very much part of the fabric they all share. I often wonder why brownies and some of the other little people are neglected? Faeries seem to take the main stage, are not the others just as important? I think it is cool that people would make certain changes in their life to make sure they do not disturb the faeries or their area. Reading some of the do and don't really is quite fun, like leaving both doors open if you build a house on a faerie path. |
| Posted by: Aragorn 24-Jan-2005, 04:29 PM |
| Some interesting definitions and variations on the name Faerie: The words 'fey' and 'faerie' come from the French and started to replace the Old English 'Elf' during the Tudor period. Spenser and Shakespeare popularised the change. 'Elfland' and 'Faerieland','Elf' and 'Faerie' were and still are interchangable words. The spellings of 'faerie' are numerous: fayerye, fairy,fayre,faerie,faery,fairy. Faerie is a world of dark enchantments, of captivating beauty,of enormous ugliness, of callous superficiality, of humour,mischief,joy, and isnspiration,of terror,laughter,love and tragedy. It is far richer than fiction would generally lead one to believe and, beyond that,it is a world to enter with extreme caution, for of all things that faeries resent the most is curious humans blundering about the private domains like so many ill mannered tourists. So go softly-where the rewards are enchanting, the dangers are real. I would have a tough time thinking Faeries could be ugly....probably not a definition I would use to describe them. BTW: I found a very interesting site with tons of http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/#scotland. I read some of the stories and I was having such a good time I figured I had better share. |
| Posted by: dragonboy3611 24-Jan-2005, 07:12 PM |
| No matter what anyone wishes to tell me, I truley believe they faes and dragons, unicorns and lepricons, pixies and ....well you get the picture. I believe they all exist. Can there ever be true, true proof? Most likely not. But some things in this world just need to be left alone! People need that. Science can't solve everthing |
| Posted by: Rindy1202 24-Jan-2005, 08:50 PM |
Party, did someone say party? Another great site. It is going to take more than a minute to check it out. Thanks for sharing Aragorn. OK I believe!!! "Beat me , Hit me"  A ugly fairy hum that would be SCARY!Slainte |
| Posted by: Aragorn 25-Jan-2005, 09:14 AM |
| I really enjoy reading fantasy books with knights, dragons, Gnomes, Faeries, damsels in distress. I can get lost in these books. I really don't believe some of what science portrays as being their truths. So, that being said..and since I can not disprove or prove these things did not exist so I do at least entertain the thought they do or did. Knights I know existed and I am sure with the many tales of dragons it would lead me to believe they did exist. We did have dinosaurs, so why couldn't some of them be dragons? As far as Gnomes, Dwarfs, and Faeries, I have not seen any but does that mean they are not real? No, just means I ain't seen any..hehe. I fault no one for believing or not believing in these things. |
| Posted by: stoirmeil 06-Feb-2005, 07:28 PM |
| Here is a nice story from ElectricScotland.com: THE Scottish Brownie formed a class of beings distinct in habit and disposition from the freakish and mischievous elves. He was meagre, shaggy, and wild in his appearance. In the daytime he lurked in remote recesses of the old houses which he delighted to haunt; and in the night sedulously employed himself in discharging any laborious task which he thought might be acceptable to the family to whose service he had devoted himself. But the Brownie does not drudge from the hope of recompense. On the contrary, so delicate is his attachment that the offer of reward, but particularly of food, infallibly occasions his disappearance for ever. It is told of a Brownie, who haunted a Border family now extinct, that the lady having fallen unexpectedly in labour, and the servant, who was ordered to ride to Jedburgh for the sage-femme, showing no great alertness in setting out, the familiar spirit slipt on the great-coat of the lingering domestic, rode to the town on the laird's best horse, and returned with the midwife en croupe. During the short space of his absence the Tweed, which they must necessarily ford, rose to a dangerous height. Brownie, who transported his charge with all rapidity, was not to be stopped by this obstacle. He plunged in with the terrified old lady, and landed her in safety where her services were wanted. Having put the horse into the stable (where it was afterwards found in a woful plight), he proceeded to the room of the servant whose duty he had discharged, and, finding him just in the act of drawing on his boots, administered to him a most merciless drubbing with his own horsewhip. Such an important service excited the gratitude of the laird, who, understanding that Brownie had been heard to express a wish to have a green coat, ordered a vestment of that colour to be made and left in his haunts. Brownie took away the green coat, but was never seen more. We may suppose that, tired of his domestic drudgery, he went in his new livery to join the fairies. You can read more stories at http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/stories/index.htm |
| Posted by: BoggleBoy 06-Feb-2005, 08:29 PM |
Oh boy, is this my subject or what?!?!  Okay, I kind of consider myself a bit of an expert on faerie lore and of several- not all, but several- folkloric traditions and mythologies from around the world. My speciality is, of course, Celtic, but I also have some knowledge of English, Finnish, Russian, slovacian, German, and Teutonic mythology and folk lore. An amateur mythologist, if you will... I know lots of useless things  ...Just one technical note: all beings such as gnomes, leprechauns, elves, browines, nixes, goblins, peri (from Persia)... well, you get the idea, are all collectively known as "faeries, fairies, fay, etc..." The realm from which they are all said to dwell or have come from originally is generically called "Faerie, Fairyland, etc.." As I said, just a technical note. Personal belief aside, it is a nice thought that such belief in cultures such as beloved Ireland ( or Iceland- there, they actually have an accredited college known as Elf School which educates people about the Realms of Faerie and it's denizens) still prevails in its more rural areas. For such belief brings about a very valuable side effect: regard for our natural environment and respect for the eccosystem. Now, that can't be all bad? It is interesting to note that, as "Emerald-eyedwanderer" pointed out, those beliefs don't exist for us here...that is, for the European and other non-indigenous inhabitants. For the original Native tribes, there were beliefs in place that, however, did engender a respect- or should I say, a reverence for the natural world and all the "spirits" of nature (Faeries?mmmmm could be doc. Many say that "faeries" are just that, nature "elementals"). And we are the greatest misusers and exploiters of our own precious planet and the bounty it offers. Obviously, I could go on and on about this, faeries and regard for nature, and, were I not now at work ( my part time job as front desk manager at a hotel  ) and in fear of boring the you-know-what out of everyone, I would. Aargorn, thanks for those great links! You can never find too much info on those subjects!!!Oh, and for the record, as far as my own level of personal belief in faeries....if you really want to know, you can e-mail me. I have kind of a long story regarding an incident that happened to me, and I have a lot of trouble explaining it away. It has shaped my outlook on things of that nature. And I did have a wittness there with me. "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of your philosophy.... |
| Posted by: BoggleBoy 06-Feb-2005, 09:34 PM |
Oh, incidently, boggles, bogles, boggarts, bogies, etc are all wee folk, i. e. fairies!  |
| Posted by: Haldur 07-Feb-2005, 06:39 PM |
| The fae are very interesting indeed! And what a wonderful place to start researching, www.sacred-texts.com! It has a wealth of information about faeries, Irish/Scottish folklore, and so much more...I've been going to sacred texts for a while now to research things. If you've got a question about where to find Celtic folklore, that has to be the place! I think that the fae are very real, as long as we make them real in our minds. I mean, just take a look around nature and see what delightful shapes, colors, and truly "magical" things you take in! I think that faeries, brownies, ghosts, guardian angels, and sasquatch are very real things...there's nothing to really disprove them or prove them, but I think they're there. Heck, anything's possible! |
| Posted by: Aragorn 14-Apr-2005, 11:34 AM |
| I found a very good websites with tons of wonderful Scottish folklore. http://siol-nan-gaidheal-usa.com/folklore.htm http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/sfft/index.htm I figured I would bring this thread back to life as there is much to learn and know. Haldur was right about the Sacred-texts site, it has a lot of really cool things to read, very interesting, thank you Haldur.. |
| Posted by: Rindy1202 14-Apr-2005, 08:57 PM | ||
Glad you did bring this back. I loved these sites. When I got my new computer I lost a lot of things. Thanks again  |
| Posted by: Aragorn 22-Apr-2005, 11:53 AM |
| You are very welcome Rindy, I have been in and out of the forums lately due to some work related issues. I really enjoy this topic and a few others so I will try to keep things fresh and new. Boggleboy, please if you will entertain us with a little more of your knowledge in such things would be great. I wait in expectation. |
| Posted by: Aragorn 26-Jul-2005, 08:46 AM |
| OK, so how long has it been since the last time I posted in this topic?? Way too long I think....I found another wonderful read on Faeries: http://heritage.scotsman.com/myths.cfm?id=449042005 Exerpt: Do you believe in fairies? DIANE MACLEAN IF YOU had asked your great-great-grandmother if she believed in fairies, she would have looked at you askance. Believe in fairies? Of course she did! Ninety-five per cent of Scots continued to believe in fairies right up until the middle of the 19th century. These were not the diminutive, be-winged fairies of 1800s children's books. No, these were strange folk who bewitched you, killed your cattle and kidnapped your wives and daughters. Fairy lore flowed through the centuries, their presence acknowledged in ballads, poems and stories. They came in all shapes and sizes and different parts of Scotland had different myths. Even today they are remembered in the fairy glens and fairy hills found in every part of Scotland. This belief in fairies extended beyond Scotland; there was almost universal acknowledgement that they existed. |
| Posted by: Rindy1202 26-Jul-2005, 07:19 PM |
| Thank you for posting this on faeries- and of course I believe! I believe in elfs and immortality.. too LOL I really enjoyed the article.. Slainte |
| Posted by: Aragorn 27-Jul-2005, 09:14 AM |
| You are very welcome Rindy, As i read many of these articles I have grown to think maybe just maybe they were and still are out there. It has been a long time since my last visit.... |
| Posted by: Rindy1202 29-Jul-2005, 07:48 PM | ||
Yes, Aargorn, too long since your last visit. Hope you will visit more often.. Slainte |