#faery lore

Bernard Sleigh

From the 1920 Faerie Calendar

Faery Lore 101, #1: The Basics/Appearences

Hi all!

I am so incredibly proud of my mother who has published her very first book, "Where the Faeries Dwell".

She really put her heart and soul into creating a beautiful book of short stories based on the tales her Grandmother told her as a child about the interactions between humans and the Sidhe, the Faery folk of Irish mythology. These stories used to be passed down in the oral tradition by people gathering around the fireside, eagerly awaiting to hear stories of the Seanachai that would leave them spellbound and feeling a greater connection to their heritage. Even through all the turbulent times Ireland went through, these stories survived. If you or your family also enjoyed hearing fairy tales while growing up, this is a wonderful book to read.

She has set herself up online for people wanting to buy the book! I will link the two websites on my page if you are interested in checking it out and if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message and I’ll be happy to help :)

1)Not giving fae your name. Even if you think that this fae can be trusted or it's not a fae that's known to want to hurt people, it's never a good idea to give a faerie your full name. They could give your name to someone else, there could be someone else listening, they could not be as nice as you thing, or they could be perfectly nice and do something they think is good for you but you view as harmful. As for why names are important, names- especially full names- are actually a pretty intimate detail. Think about it, when humans want to dedicate themselves to something, they sign their name on it. Not only can fae think you're agreeing to something by giving them your name or do something with your name, but they can also feel they're indebted to you in some cases. You don't want a fae owing you or trying to make good on a debt. You're better off giving them a nickname or an alias, preferably one you actually use, but don't use that often, and/or saying "Call me BLANK" instead of "my name's" or "I'm". That way you aren't lying, but it doesn't have the same sense of identity that your actual name has and there are less tricks to be played by any fae who know that name. For example let's say your name is Alexander, but you usually go by Alex. You run into a faerie in the woods and they ask you your name. Not telling them would be rude and we know what happens when you're rude to fae. Instead you should say they can call you "Al" or "Xander" or a computer handle or nickname that people don't call you out loud but is technically your name or that you do go by just not out loud.

2)The "thank you" one is not on it's own a good rule and is kind of dangerous on it's own, but it has a point. "Thank you" in a way is a suggestion of debt, and there is almost never a good time to say it to a faerie. That not to say you shouldn't give thanks to or show appreciation to a fae, but the specific words "Thank you" can be dangerous and even offensive when said to fae, and it's hard to explain. There's a certain intimacy and gravity to it. The only situation I've come across where it was comfortably excusable is when it's a protective fae usually living on the person's land. "Thanks", "Thanks so much", "you have my thanks", "That was very nice/generous/sweet of you" are safer alternatives, but still should not be said to excess. Faeries don't do things to be thanked, they do things because they want to or they feel it's right; and they tend to be very annoyed with how easily humans throw around their thanks. Honestly, if you feel indebted to a faerie folk, the best thing you can do is leave a gift where you met them.

3)You usually shouldn't ask for a faerie's name. Like I said names are quite valuable, and asking for their name can imply a debt or even be offensive. Usually they'll give you their name once they know yours, it often won't be their real name but it works all the same much like the first rule, which is another reason you shouldn't give them your full real name. If certain boundaries have already been breached by the faerie, (as in they're in your house, they've lead you off into the middle of nowhere, they have you more or less cornered, etc) it's acceptable to ask them their name along with other more useful questions in trying to gather their intent. Usually though, you'll get a more honest less violent answer by asking a broader question like "Who are you?".

4)  Don't trust faeries is kind of right and wrong too. Plenty of faerie are perfectly harmless and completely trustworthy and many like to be nice and helpful to humans. But that being said, they are a different being all together and live in a very different context than humans and often don't understand humans at all. They can think they're being nice, or they can think it's okay to not tell the whole truth because they think it's not a big deal, even if it has a severe impact on the person that they hardly even comprehend. The best way to explain it is a conversation my mother and I once had "Hey mom, do you think that the lady of the lake would help someone get back to their realm since she can use lakes as portals?" "Well, she could..." "Could she get them there alive, without them drowning?" "I don't think she'd really care if she got them there alive. She wouldn't understand the problem with not getting there alive. She'd figure them and their souls got back home, so it's fine. Yeah, 'but their dead', but she wouldn't understand what the issue was with them being dead.

“The Gwragedd Annwn (literally, wives of the other world, lower world, or hell) are the elfin dames who dwell under the water. I find no resemblance in the Welsh fairy to our familiar mermaid, beyond the watery abode, and the sometimes winning ways. Gwragedd Annwn are not fishy of aspect, nor do they dwell in the sea. Their haunt is the lakes and rivers, but especially the wild and lonely lakes upon the mountain heights. These romantic sheets are surrounded with numberless superstitions, which will be further treated of. In the realm of faerie they serve as avenues of communication between this world and the lower one of annwn, the shadowy domain presided over by Gwyn ap Nudd, king of the fairies. This sub-aqueous realm is peopled by those children of mystery termed Plant Annwn [Children of the Otherworld,] and the belief is current among the inhabitants of the Welsh mountains that the Gwragedd Annwn still occasionally visit this upper world of ours.

The only reference to Welsh mermaids I have either read or heard is contained in Drayton's account of the Battle of Agincourt. There it is mentioned, among the armorial ensigns of the counties of Wales: ‘As Cardigan, the next to them that went, Came with a mermaid sitting on a rock.’

Crumlyn Lake, near the quaint village of Briton Ferry, is one of the many in Wales which are a resort of the elfin dames. It is also believed that a large town lies swallowed up there, and that the Gwragedd Annwn have turned the submerged walls to use as the superstructure of their fairy palaces. Some claim to have seen the towers of beautiful castles lifting their battlements beneath the surface of the dark waters, and fairy bells are at times heard ringing from these towers. The way the elfin dames first came to dwell there was this: A long, ay, a very long time ago, St. Patrick came over from Ireland on a visit to St. David of Wales, just to say 'Sut yr y'ch chwi?' (How d’ye do?); and as they were strolling by this lake conversing on religious topics in a friendly manner, some Welsh people who had ascertained that it was St. Patrick, and being angry at him for leaving Cambria for Erin, began to abuse him in the Welsh language, his native tongue. Of course such an insult could not go unpunished, and St. Patrick caused his villifiers to be transformed into fishes; but some of them being females, were converted into fairies instead. It is also related that the sun, on account of this insolence to so holy a man, never shed its life-giving rays upon the dark waters of this picturesque lake, except during one week of the year. This legend and these magical details are equally well accredited to various other lakes, among them Llyn Barfog, near Aberdovey, the town whose 'bells' are celebrated in immortal song.”

British Goblins

by Wirt Sikes, 1880

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