Into the Forest discussion

Fairies, what are your impressions?

The first Fairy Tales I heard as a young child were the Disney versions. Later on I read the Grimm’s as well as the French (Perrault, Villeneuve and Aulnoy) fairy Tales. My impressions of Fairies were that they were either like Tinkerbelle or the Fairy Godmother.

I must admit that I was not familiar any Irish or Scottish tales and very surprised as an adult to learn that in the Celtic tradition the Fae are regarded as described in this article:
http://io9.com/the-biggest-reasons-wh...
“Disney and other Hollywood sanitizers have convinced everybody that fairies are benevolent wish-granters, or maybe environmental champions. But in actual folklore? Fairies are terrifying. They're more into baby-stealing and murder than pixie dust. Here are 10 terrifying things fairies could do to you”

I think that's why I like Pratchett's Lord and Ladies, where the fairies are not nice at all but people think they should be.

I kind of like to combine these notions of the fae, making them more complex and real. The human race is not all bad or all good, and I like it when the fairies are not that way either. Why can't there be fairies on both sides of the spectrum, after all? There's the nasty ones and the good ones; I like to think of them existing together in the same world.

Thanks for the link, by the way! It gave me a fabulous idea for a novel down the road. Plus it was just plain interesting.

And Chris--I love Pratchett but don't always love the witches novels. Still, this one makes me very interested in returning to the witches and trying them out again. Thanks!

Jeanna wrote: "I kind of like to combine these notions of the fae, making them more complex and real. The human race is not all bad or all good, and I like it when the fairies are not that way either. Why can't t..."

Yes, I agree with you Jeanna. Just as humans differ, it makes sense that the Fae should too. In the works of many Urban Fantasy authors like Charles De Lint, Emma Bull and Patricia Briggs you can find Fae of all sorts, good bad and many in-between. However I have noticed in Fairy Tales they either one way or the other.

What is interesting to me is the difference between the French Fairy tales and Celtic folklore. How did they become so different?

Chris, I have not read Pratchett's Lords and Ladies. That is another book to add to my “To be read” list!

Otherwise do any of you have a favourite story or Novel or series with Faeries?
I loved:
Finderby Emma Bull
Jack of Kinrowan: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink Down the Moon by Charles de Lint
Elfland by Freda Warrington
and Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

Jalilah wrote: "Jeanna wrote: "I kind of like to combine these notions of the fae, making them more complex and real. The human race is not all bad or all good, and I like it when the fairies are not that way eith..."

Personally? I think in general that the French fairytales were lighter and nicer because their food is so much better! If I had to live on what the ancient Celts were eating, I'd probably assume everything else in the world had a bad attitude too! ;)

Delanie wrote:... [food comment!] I love it! Thanks for the laugh, Delanie. Undoubtedly you are correct. :)

try the treachery of beautiful things - great Fey book.

Delanie wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "Jeanna wrote: "I kind of like to combine these notions of the fae, making them more complex and real. The human race is not all bad or all good, and I like it when the fairies are n..."

Delanie, you made me laugh. You are probably right!
Danny, I putThe Treachery of Beautiful Things on my ever expanding to be read list, thanks!

I forgot to add Holly Black's books!
The first is more for elementary school aged but great! :
The Spiderwick Chronicles Box Set school age
Then her YA trilogy Modern Faerie Tales:
Tithe
Valiant
Ironside
These are the books along with the De Lint one that got me into reading Faerie literature!
Also good is her graphic novels
Kin
Kith
I gave them 5 stars alone for the beautiful artwork by
Ted Naifeh

Well, very few fairy tales feature fairies, even in Western Europe. (Outside it, of course, what they fail to feature is the local folklore, not the Western European fae.)

Perrault's Cinderella is the oddball. Usually she's helped by her dead mother or something from her -- except in some variants, mostly of the Donkeyskin type, where she does it all herself. The fairy godmother is an invention of the précieuses.

Mary wrote: "Well, very few fairy tales feature fairies, even in Western Europe. (Outside it, of course, what they fail to feature is the local folklore, not the Western European fae.)

Perrault's Cinderella i..."

True, there are no Fairies in Grimm's or most of Perrault's, however many of the lesser known tales by Madame Aulnoy that are featured in The Blue Fairy Book have benevolent Fairies in them. Because I recently reread that book then immediately afterwards read more Celtic inspired books I started this discussion.

Mary,
Would you not agree, though, that a lot of Western European traditional tales have mysterious figures that approximate the story-function of fairies, in that they're around to give the hero some supernatural assistance? Can't think of any specifics, but I seem to remember having encountered stories where the magical "donor" figure (as the folklorist Propp called this character) had no explanation for his nature at all.

Gene wrote: "Mary,
Would you not agree, though, that a lot of Western European traditional tales have mysterious figures that approximate the story-function of fairies, in that they're around to give the hero s..."


No. It would make more sense to say that Madame d'Aulnoy and Perrault's fairies approximate the traditional donor figure, who is often quite explained: the sun, the moon, and the winds, or a witch or ogre. Or a talking animal. Talking animals are the real popular ones.

Jalilah wrote: "however many of the lesser known tales by Madame Aulnoy that are featured in The Blue Fairy Book have benevolent Fairies in them. "

She's an outlier. Not only in her fairies -- who act more like court ladies than fairies at that -- but in her whole tale style. Notice how she manages to turns heroines who have to be impoverished at the start into princesses, nonetheless.

I wasn't implying that the fairy-donor types preceded any other types, just that they all belong to the same basic structural type. And I'd say that most of the magical horses and hedgehogs, etc., have no explanation for being magical; they just are.

I suspect this is just another case of "potato, po-tah-to."

Hope it's ok if I share this here.

I put together THIS LIST of faerie mythology books.

Please let me know if you know of any other titles that should be added or any titles that you think shouldn't be on the list.

Alicia wrote: "The Goblin Series by Jaq D. Hawkins would fit that list. Does Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell have a fairy aspect? I've just started reading it and that's not the impression I've got so ..."

Oh yes! Just wait and see!

Alicia wrote: "The Goblin Series by Jaq D. Hawkins would fit that list.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Her Royal Orangeness wrote: "Hope it's ok if I share this here.

I put together THIS LIST of faerie mythology books.

Please let me know if you know of any other titles that should be added or any titles that you think shoul..."

That's a great list!

Alicia wrote: "The Goblin Series by Jaq D. Hawkins would fit that list. Does Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell have a fairy aspect? I've just started reading it and that's not the impression I've got so ..."

That's a book that requires some patience to discover its aspects. (Like, say, its plot.) You will see if you stick to it.

Mary wrote: "Alicia wrote: "The Goblin Series by Jaq D. Hawkins would fit that list. Does Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell have a fairy aspect? I've just started reading it and that's not the impressi..."

Agree! I did not enjoy it as much as I should because of all the footnotes. Otherwise the idea was great.

I loved Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but I was the only one of about 10 women in my book club who did. It struck me as a great mashup of Jane Austen and Harry Potter, or maybe Andrew Lang. The many detailed footnotes appealed to my quirky sense of humor. :) They have that dry English wit.

I loved it as well, but it's definitely not a book for someone who wants a detailed, fast moving plot.

Melanti wrote: "I loved it as well, but it's definitely not a book for someone who wants a detailed, fast moving plot."

How true. I've been known to warn people about the pages it takes to get to the plot.

Detailed, yes; fast-moving, not in the slightest. :D

Alicia wrote: "Mary wrote: "That's a book that requires some patience to discover its aspects. (Like, say, its plot.) You will see if you stick to it. "

Oh I will definitely finish it. I'm plowing through it, ge..."


by half way, the plot has started 0:)