how did faires originate?

Question

i am doing a research paper plese tell me alot

Answer 1

A fairy (sometimes seen as fairie or faerie) is a spirit or supernatural being that is found in the legends, folklore, and mythology of many different cultures. They are generally humanoid in their appearance and have supernatural abilities such as the ability to fly, cast spells and to influence or foresee the future. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, females of small stature, they originally were of a much different image: tall, angelic beings and short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned fay. The small, gauzy-winged fairies that are commonly depicted today did not appear until the 1800s.

Etymology

The words fae and faerie came to English from Old French which originated in the Latin word "Fata" which referred to the three mythological personifications of destiny, the Greek Moirae (Roman Parcae, "sparing ones", or Fatae) who were supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life. They were usually described as cold, remorseless old crones or hags (in contrast to the modern physical depiction). The Latin word gave modern Italian's fata, Catalan and Portuguese fada and Spanish hada, all of which mean fairy. The Old French fée, had the meaning "enchanter." Thus féerie meant a "state of fée" or "enchantment." Fairies are often depicted enchanting humans, casting illusions to alter their emotions and perceptions so as to make themselves at times alluring, frightening, or invisible. Modern English inherited the two terms "fae" and "fairy," along with all the associations attached to them.

A similar word, "fey," has historically meant "doomed to die," mostly in Scotland, which tied in with the original meaning of fate. It has now gained the meaning "touched by otherworldly or magical quality; clairvoyant, supernatural." In modern English, the word seems to be conjoining into "fae" as variant spelling. If "fey" derives from "fata," then the word history of the two words is the same.

Strictly, there should be distinctions between the usage of the two words "fae" and "faerie." "Fae" is a noun that refers to the specific group of otherworldly beings with mystical abilities (either the elves (or equivalent) in mythology or their insect-winged, floral descendants in English folklore), while "faerie" is an adjective meaning "of, like, or associated with fays, their otherworldly home, their activities, and their produced goods and effects." Thus, a leprechaun and a ring of mushrooms are both faerie things (a fairy leprechaun and a fairy ring.), although in modern usage fairy has come to be used as a noun.

Fairies in literature and legend

The question as to the essential nature of fairies has been the topic of myths, stories, and scholarly papers for a very long time.

Practical beliefs
When considered as beings that a person might actually encounter, fairies were noted for their mischief and malice. For instance, "elf-locks" are tangles that are put in the hair of sleepers.

As a consequence, practical considerations of fairies have normally been advice on averting them. Cold iron is the most familiar, but other things are regarded as detrimental to the fairies: wearing clothing inside out, running water, bells (especially church bells), St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers, among others. While many fairies will confuse travelers on the path, the will o' the wisp can be avoided by not following it. Certain locations, known to be haunts of fairies, are to be avoided; C. S. Lewis reported hearing of a cottage more feared for its reported fairies than its reported ghost. In particular, digging in fairy hills was unwise. Paths that the fairies travel are also wise to avoid. Home-owners have knocked corners from houses because the corner blocked the fairy path, and cottages have been built with the front and back doors in line, so that the owners could, in need, leave them both open and let the fairies troop through all night. Good house-keeping could keep brownies from spiteful actions, and such water hags as Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth, prone to drowning people, could be avoided with the body of water they inhabit.

A considerable amount of lore about fairies revolves about changelings and preventing a baby from being thus abducted.

A good number of folk tales about fairies are warnings about the dangers of negligence in this area.

Fairy tales and legends

Some of the most well-known tales in the English and French traditions were collected in the "colored" fairy books of Scottish man of letters Andrew Lang between 1889 and 1910. These stories depict fairies in somewhat contradictory ways — kindly and dangerous, steadfast and fickle, loving and aloof, simple and unknowable — when, indeed, they depict fairies at all, as fairy tales need not involve any fairies at all. J. R. R. Tolkien described these tales as taking place in the land of Faerie. Additionally, any stories that feature faires are not generally categorized as fairy tales.

In many legends, the fairies are prone to kidnapping humans, either as babies, leaving changelings in their place, or as young men and women. This can be for a time or forever, and may be more or less dangerous to the kidnapped. In Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight Child Ballad #4, the elf-knight is a Bluebeard figure, and Isabel must trick and kill him to preserve her life. Tam Lin reveals that the title character, though living among the fairies and having fairy powers, was in fact an "earthly knight" and, though his life was pleasant now, he feared that the fairies would pay him as their teind to hell. Sir Orfeo tells how Sir Orfeo's wife was kidnapped by the King of Faerie and only by trickery and excellent harping ability was he able to win her back. Thomas the Rhymer shows Thomas escaping with less difficulty, but he spends seven years in Faerie. Oisín is harmed not by his stay in Faerie but by his return; when he dismounts, the three centuries that have passed catch up with him, reducing him to an aged man.

A common feature of the fairies is the use of magic to disguise appearance. Fairy gold is notoriously unreliable, appearing as gold when paid, but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves, or gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other useless things.

These illusions are also implicit in the tales of fairy ointment. Many tales from the British islands tell of a mortal woman summoned to attend a fairy birth — sometimes attending a mortal, kidnapped woman's childbed. Invariably, the woman is given something for the child's eyes, usually an ointment; though mischance, or sometimes curiosity, she uses it on one or both of her own eyes. At that point, she sees where she is; one midwife realizes that she was not attending a great lady in a fine house but her own runaway maid-servant in a wretched cave. She escapes without making her ability known, but sooner or later betrays that she can see the fairies. She is invariably blinded in the eye where she can, or in both if she used the ointment on both.

'Hope this helps. =)

Answer 2

If you mean "faires" as in markets and county faires, then they were social gatherings where people who display their products and hold local competitions as part of community pride.

If you meant "fairies" as in plural of "fairy", then the answer is more complicated. Many different cultures around the world believed in humanoid spirits of nature, that could be found doing various things. The most familiar to us are the spirits of the European countries, which fell into two large groupings.

First, there were those spirits which tended (cared for) and protected natural settings -- trees, lakes, clearings, etc. The term "fairy" is a slang for "fair folk" and was used to show respect.

The other type of spirit are the ones that cause problems for people, the original eco-terrorists. These include gremlins, and similar small things that go bump in the night.

Answer 3

well I believe they originate from William Shakespears story 'The Mid Summer's Dreams' and he must have gotten the ideas from fire flies mayb but this tell ya otherwise.

Answer 4

Start w/ the basics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairies

That will provide you w/ a launch point for more specifics.

Answer 5

They may be diminutive pagan deities.

Answer 6

They were made up.

Like gods, angels, devils, etc.

Answer 7

http://www.fantasyarts.net/fairy-origens.htm
http://faerie.monstrous.com/origins_of_fairies.htm
http://home.att.net/~waeshael/origins.htm
These sites will help you.

Blessings )O(

Answer 8

Fairies come from san fran.

Answer 9

God made them