Path of the Faëries

Should I be forced to choose one from among hundreds of enchanting mythological creatures my choice would be fairies.

I’m – always have been – deeply fascinated by fairies (or faëries, an old-fashioned spelling I really like). I find especially the British fairy folklore very interesting whether talking about ancient, Celtic-inspired and Arthurian myths or the later Elizabethan version popularized by William Shakespeare. In my case the Arthurian legends are yet to be explored but the overview seems wonderful. I’m more familiar with the Shakespearean version, especially the one presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play I truly adore. I think that piece of art is the very reason I began this text in the first place – the nights are getting brighter and warmer here in the north and that always makes me think about Puck, Titania and all those poor mortals.

Since I’m writing about fairies I feel forced to say something about J.R.R. Tolkien; he’s works after all are the ones that made me fall in love with elves and fairies in the first place. In my opinion the elves in The Lord of the Rings are quite different from the ones presented for instance in The Book of Lost Tales vol. I & II.  The elves in The Book of Lost Tales are a diminutive race, merely a shadow of the mighty folk they once were whereas in The Lord of the Rings they’re still a great and graceful yet fading people. Every once in a while I find myself 

nearly panicking when I realize how much there is to learn about elves in Tolkienian mythology only – not to even mention all the stuff I should read about British folklore in general! I’ll never be able to learn as much as I’d love to (especially since I’ve got some actual studying to do, too).

Why am I even writing this? There are others who have expressed the otherworldly beauty of faëries the way they deserve:

A king there was in days of old:

ere Men yet walked upon the mould
his power was reared in caverns' shade,
his hand was over glen and glade.
Of leaves his crown, his mantle green,
his silver lances long and keen;
the starlight in his shield was caught,
ere moon was made or sun was wrought.

                             J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lay of Leithian

PUCK
Fairy king, attend, and mark:
I do hear the morning lark.

OBERON
Then, my queen, in silence sad,
Trip we after the night's shade:
We the globe can compass soon,
Swifter than the wandering moon.

TITANIA

Come, my lord, and in our flight
Tell me how it came this night
That I sleeping here was found
With these mortals on the ground.

                             William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream