What is your view of Faeries?

Question

When someone mentions a faery to you, what is the image that is conjured in your mind (and I don't mean gay guys either). Mine is something similar to tolkien elves (which is where i think he got the idea for them in the first place but that's neither here nor there). It is very definitely not the dimunitive bug like creatures of William Shakespear. What do you see them as?

Answer 1

I can only speak in terms of my own cultural heritage, and therefore some may see this opinion as a very limited view of faeries in general. I cannot speak for other cultures, obviously, if I am not a member of their tribe. As I am Celtic (specifically Irish/Welsh), I think of Irish Tuatha De Danann (TDD) and Welsh Ye Tylwyth Teg (YTT). It is my own opinion that these ancient peoples, after their demises, first became folklore, then myths, then legends, then god/desses as ancestor passed on to descendent. When conquering cultures invaded Brittain, the TDD and YTT as old gods (there is literature that describes then as such at one point in Celtic history) were "preserved" as faeries as we know them today so that conquering cutlural belief systems could then become the primary guide to religious/spiritual practices.

In other words, I see the fae of my Celtic heritage as the original dieties of ancient Celtic peoples.

Answer 2

I am a White Witch and communer of the Fey, and thus have seen and experienced a great many! (okay, cue the people who think I'm a psycho... believe me I'm used to it in my profession!) Okay, here goes::
-Most Fey actually look nothing different from a human. They are the same size as a human, and same shape as a human. The only difference is many tend to have very striking eyes in several colours, or that they cannot shake off their aura so their skin glows slightly. Though I will say, the male Fey are particularly well figured, or muscled, and the females are thin (but not curvy).
-The demi-fey have more human attributes, and can sometimes have pointed ears due to genetic imbalance.
-Very few Fey are actually small. The ones that are would be about the same size as a Barbie Doll.
-Not all have wings either. Some have a wing pattern on their back, some have full sizes wings (delicate like a butterfly), and some have no wings at all. They fly at their will and oneness with the air and nature around them, not from force of wings. However, in the smaller folk it is the wings that harness most of their magical power. The human-sized Fey cannot use their wings to fly because the wings cannot hold that weight. It is merely through Magick that they can glide.
-Most Fey have the ability to change their physical size with the will they have and oneness with nature. So the size part is not really what makes them distinguishable.

Each Fey looks very different. Lady Ragnall looks nothing like Rhoeavolos, and Jackifir Frosti looks nothing like Aldeganno! The Unseelie Sidhe are said to glow like moonlight, and the Seelie Sidhe are said to glow like sunlight. I have found no difference in Fey from either mounds!

If you want to know anything else about the Fey, I will be happy to help. Email me at [e-mail]. In love, light, and sincerity, Tasha x

Answer 3

Fairies are the most beautiful creatures ever!!
I will tell you about the very first one that I saw.
I went on a walk through the nearby Enchanted Forest, and I come upon a very large willow tree! At about the fourth or fifth branch up, I saw a little movement not created by leaves blowing in the wind. I took a closer look and I noticed the movement was actually a little tiny girl! She must have been about the size of my middle finger. She was wearing bits of pink flower as clothing, and her hair was a wild mess of long blond curls! Her wings were luminous shades of lavender and aqua blue! They started just below her shoulders, and they stretched high above her head. She was standing against the trunk of this great tree just looking down at me. It felt as if she had been waiting for my arrival. We looked at each other for just a few brief minutes and without warning, she smiled at me and flew through the branches of the willow and off into the forest. The echo of her sweet yet mischievous laugh, surrounded me and left me wanting more!

Answer 4

I never saw a faerie, only gnomes. They looked like little, round people with glowing blue skin. They would march around my room when I couldn't sleep and wore these flashy evening gowns (for the ladies) and tuxes (for the gentlemen). The way I imagine them are thin little people--very beautiful and cherubic-like--with either butterfly/bird/insect/no wings depending on what type they are.

Answer 5

I always think of the cruelty of the fae, to be honest. The Erlking, for example. I don't get a picture, or if I do, they're more elfin than Tinkerbell.

And to my knowledge, Titania, Oberon and Puck were all human sized rather than diminutive bug like critters.

Answer 6

Tiny people - all sorts of different sizes but much smaller than humans - with wings. Some will have wings like dragonflies, some like butterflies, all unique. Very pretty creatures.

Answer 7

Little tiny human beings with some magical power and have wings so that they can get to one place to the other pretty easily.

Answer 8

In folklore, fairies are often equated with the spirits of the dead, and function in ways almost identical to grays -- abductions, enchantments, artifacts no one can explain -- and I view them with the same wariness. It was not until the Victorian era that they became buglike and cute.

Answer 9

i see the dimunitive bug like creatures, sorry. glowing green and all.

Answer 10

I see them as tiny human beings with magical powers.