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123-578: In folklore and literature, the Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a female ruler of the fairies , sometimes but not always paired with a king. Depending on the work, she may be named or unnamed; Titania and Mab are two frequently used names. Numerous characters, goddesses or folkloric spirits worldwide have been labeled as Fairy Queens. The Tuatha Dé Danann and Daoine Sidhe of Irish mythology had numerous local kings and queens. Oonagh, Una or Nuala
246-572: A Victorian tenet of evolution, mythic cannibalism among ogres was attributed to memories of more savage races, practising alongside "superior" races of more refined sensibilities. The most important modern proponent of the 'hidden people' theory was the Scottish folklorist and antiquarian David MacRitchie . A theory that fairies, et al., were intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels. An alchemist, Paracelsus , classed gnomes and sylphs as elementals , meaning magical entities who personify
369-524: A charm tree to protect one's home. Various folklorists have proposed classification systems for fairies. Using terms popularized by W. B. Yeats, trooping fairies are those who appear in groups and might form settlements, as opposed to solitary fairies, who do not live or associate with others of their kind. In this context, the term fairy is usually held in a wider sense, including various similar beings, such as dwarves and elves of Germanic folklore . In Scottish folklore , fairies are divided into
492-580: A class of "demoted" angels . One story described a group of angels revolting, and God ordering the gates of heaven shut; those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became demons, and those caught in between became fairies. Others wrote that some angels, not being godly enough, yet not evil enough for hell, were thrown out of heaven. This concept may explain the tradition of paying a "teind" or tithe to hell; as fallen angels, although not quite devils, they could be viewed as subjects of Satan. King James I , in his dissertation Daemonologie , stated
615-450: A complaint, or a compliment. People who saw the fairies were advised not to look closely, because they resented infringements on their privacy. The need to not offend them could lead to problems: one farmer found that fairies threshed his corn, but the threshing continued after all his corn was gone, and he concluded that they were stealing from his neighbors, leaving him the choice between offending them, dangerous in itself, and profiting by
738-682: A country that has excluded them ethnically and culturally. The very common carnivals throughout Brazil are one of the few spaces in which the Roma can still express their cultural traditions, including the so-called "carnival wedding" in which a boy is disguised as a bride and the famous "Romaní dance", picturesquely simulated with the women of the town parading in their traditional attire. Genetic findings show an Indian origin for Roma. Because Romani groups did not keep chronicles of their history or have oral accounts of it, most hypotheses about early Romani migration are based on linguistic theory. According to
861-459: A dark colour"). Likewise, the name of the Dom or Domba people of north India—with whom the Roma have genetic, cultural and linguistic links—has come to imply "dark-skinned" in some Indian languages. Hence, names such as kale and calé may have originated as an exonym or a euphemism for Roma . Other endonyms for Roma include, for example: The Romani people have a number of distinct populations,
984-502: 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; through 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
1107-582: A fairy queen. In the Vita Merlini , she is Morgen, the chief of nine magical sister queens . Fairy queens appear in some of the Child Ballads . A kind and helpful fairy queen features in Alison Gross (Child 35), and a terrible and deadly fairy queen is the antagonist of Tam Lin (Child 39). Tam Lin's Fairy Queen pays a tithe to Hell every seven years, and Tam Lin fears that he will be forced to serve as
1230-410: A fairy-haunted place, it was customary to put a piece of dry bread in one's pocket." In County Wexford , Ireland , in 1882, it was reported that: "if an infant is carried out after dark a piece of bread is wrapped in its bib or dress, and this protects it from any witchcraft or evil." Bells also have an ambiguous role; while they protect against fairies, the fairies riding on horseback — such as
1353-568: A farmer who pastured his herd on fairy ground, a fairy queen took on the appearance of a great horse, with the wings of an eagle, and a tail like a dragon, hissing loud and spitting fire. Then she would change into a little man lame of a leg, with a bull's head, and a lambent flame playing round it. In the 19th-century Child ballad " Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight ", the elf-knight is a Bluebeard figure, and Isabel must trick and kill him to preserve her life. The child ballad " Tam Lin " reveals that
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#17328513848891476-461: A form of spirit , often with metaphysical, supernatural , or preternatural qualities. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin, but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a Christian tradition, as deities in Pagan belief systems, as spirits of
1599-463: A guise of Woden but later Christianised as a king in a tale by Walter Map , was said, by Map, to have visited a dwarf 's underground mansion and returned three centuries later; although only some of his men crumbled to dust on dismounting, Herla and his men who did not dismount were trapped on horseback, this being one account of the origin of the Wild Hunt of European folklore . A common feature of
1722-473: A human girl who must then serve as her midwife. Fionnbharr's wife attempts revenge by giving the girl a belt that will cut her in two when she puts it on, but a fairy servant warns the girl in time. Other Irish fairy queens included Clíodhna of Munster, Aoibhinn and Ainé . The Arthurian character of Morgan le Fey (or Morgan of the Fairies) ruled the supernatural island of Avalon and was sometimes depicted as
1845-688: A human sacrifice: An unnamed fairy queen appears in Thomas the Rhymer (Child 37), where she takes the titular character as her lover and leaves him with prophetic abilities. Although the romances and ballads associated with Thomas the Rhymer have parallels to Tam Lin, including the tithe to Hell, this fairy queen is a more benevolent figure. In Thomas Cheyne's rebellion in January 1450, "the King of Fairies" (Regem de ffeyre) and "The Queen of Fairies" (Reginam de ffeyre) were among
1968-417: A large part of the basic lexicon. Romani and Domari share some similarities: agglutination of postpositions of the second layer (or case-marking clitics) to the nominal stem, concord markers for the past tense, the neutralisation of gender marking in the plural, and the use of the oblique case as an accusative. This has prompted much discussion about the relationships between these two languages. Domari
2091-587: A legend reported in the Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh , the Sasanian king Bahrām V Gōr learned towards the end of his reign (421–439) that the poor could not afford to enjoy music, and so he asked the king of India to send him ten thousand luris , lute-playing experts. When the luris arrived, Bahrām gave each one an ox, a donkey, and a donkey-load of wheat so they could live on agriculture and play music for free for
2214-615: A legendary spirit associated with a waterfall called Janet's Foss in the Yorkshire Dales, was romanticized as a fairy queen by non-local writers and poets. Joan the Wad was a Cornish queen of the piskeys , made famous in a marketing campaign in the early 1900s. According to John Leyden in 1801, the Scottish fairy queen was called Nicneven , the Gyre-Carling, or Hecate . Later scholarship has disputed this; Nicneven's earliest known appearance
2337-551: A noun (with the plural Romani , the Romani , Romanies , or Romanis ) and an adjective. Both Rom and Romani have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy . Romani was sometimes spelled Rommany , but more often Romany , while today Romani is the most popular spelling. Occasionally, the double r spelling (e.g., Rroma , Rromani ) mentioned above is also encountered in English texts. The term Roma
2460-399: A number of ancient isoglosses with central Indo-Aryan languages in relation to realization of some sounds of Old Indo-Aryan . This is lent further credence by its sharing exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as Kashmiri and Shina through the adoption of oblique enclitic pronouns as person markers. The overall morphology suggests that Romani participated in some of
2583-464: A particular force of nature, and exert powers over these forces. Folklore accounts have described fairies as "spirits of the air". Much folklore of fairies involves methods of protecting oneself from their malice, by means such as cold iron, charms (see amulet , talisman ) of rowan trees or various herbs , or simply shunning locations "known" to be theirs, ergo avoiding offending any fairies. Less harmful pranks ascribed to fairies include: tangling
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#17328513848892706-567: A queen in Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve 's Beauty and the Beast , and in several of Madame D'Aulnoy 's tales, such as The Princess Mayblossom . In Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force 's Fairer-than-a-Fairy , the villain is a wicked fairy queen named Nabote who replaced the previous, good queen. D'Aulnoy, who popularized the genre and the term "fairy tale," was nicknamed "la reine de la féerie." In The Little White Bird ,
2829-843: A reaction to greater industrialization and loss of older folk ways. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Diminutive fairies of various kinds have been reported through centuries, ranging from quite tiny to the size of a human. These small sizes could be magically assumed, rather than constant. Some smaller fairies could expand their figures to imitate humans. On Orkney , fairies were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour . In some folklore, fairies have green eyes. Some depictions of fairies show them with footwear, others as barefoot . Wings, while common in Victorian and later artworks, are rare in folklore; fairies flew by means of magic, sometimes perched on ragwort stems or
2952-601: A shared Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the Middle Ages , fairie was used adjectivally, meaning "enchanted" (as in fairie knight , fairie queene ), but also became a generic term for various "enchanted" creatures during the Late Middle English period. Literature of the Elizabethan era conflated elves with the fairies of Romance culture, rendering these terms somewhat interchangeable. The modern concept of "fairy" in
3075-478: A significant genetic mark on the Y-DNA of the Roma there, creating a higher frequency of Haplogroups J and E3b in Romani populations from the region. A full genome autosomal DNA study on 186 Roma samples from Europe in 2019 found that modern Romani people are characterized by a common south Asian origin and a complex admixture from Balkan , Middle East, and Caucasus -derived ancestries. The autosomal genetic data links
3198-528: A similar concept in Persian mythology, see Peri . At one time it was thought that fairies were originally worshiped as deities, such as nymphs and tree spirits, and with the burgeoning predominance of the Christian Church , reverence for these deities carried on, but in a dwindling state of perceived power. Many deprecated deities of older folklore and myth were repurposed as fairies in Victorian fiction (See
3321-510: A slice of fresh homemade bread. Bread is associated with the home and the hearth, as well as with industry and the taming of nature, and as such, seems to be disliked by some types of fairies. On the other hand, in much of the Celtic folklore , baked goods are a traditional offering to the folk, as are cream and butter. "The prototype of food, and therefore a symbol of life, bread was one of the commonest protections against fairies. Before going out into
3444-629: A supernatural race in Irish , comparable to the fairies or elves. They are variously said to be ancestors, the spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods. A common theme found among the Celtic nations describes a race of people who had been driven out by invading humans. In old Celtic fairy lore the Aos Sí ('people of the fairy mounds') are immortals living in the ancient barrows and cairns. The Irish banshee ( Irish Gaelic bean sí , previously bean sídhe , 'woman of
3567-594: A variety of reasons, such as fear of discrimination. Others are descendants of intermarriage with local populations, some who no longer identify only as Romani and some who do not identify as Romani at all. Then, too, some countries do not collect data by ethnicity. Despite these challenges to getting an accurate picture of the Romani dispersal, there were an estimated 10 million in Europe (as of 2019), although some Romani organizations have given earlier estimates as high as 14 million. Significant Romani populations are found in
3690-424: Is also used as a name for the place these beings come from, the land of Fairy. A recurring motif of legends about fairies is the need to ward off fairies using protective charms. Common examples of such charms include church bells, wearing clothing inside out, four-leaf clover , and food. Fairies were also sometimes thought to haunt specific locations, and to lead travelers astray using will-o'-the-wisps . Before
3813-545: Is an outdated theory that fairy folklore evolved from folk memories of a prehistoric race: newcomers superseded a body of earlier human or humanoid peoples, and the memories of this defeated race developed into modern conceptions of fairies. Proponents find support in the tradition of cold iron as a charm against fairies, viewed as a cultural memory of invaders with iron weapons displacing peoples who had just stone, bone, wood, etc., at their disposal, and were easily defeated. 19th-century archaeologists uncovered underground rooms in
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3936-473: Is distinct from English fey (from Old English fǣġe ), which means 'fated to die'. However, this unrelated Germanic word fey may have been influenced by Old French fae (fay or fairy) as the meaning had shifted slightly to 'fated' from the earlier 'doomed' or 'accursed'. Various folklore traditions refer to fairies euphemistically as wee folk , good folk , people of peace , fair folk ( Welsh : Tylwyth Teg ), etc. The term fairy
4059-671: Is increasingly encountered as a generic term for the Roma. Because not all Roma use the word Romani as an adjective, the term became a noun for the entire ethnic group. Today, the term Romani is used by some organizations, including the United Nations and the US Library of Congress. However, the Council of Europe and other organizations consider that Roma is the correct term referring to all related groups, regardless of their country of origin, and recommend that Romani be restricted to
4182-481: Is now believed to have occurred beginning in about 500 CE. It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni . As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the Byzantine Empire . The author Ralph Lilley Turner theorised a central Indian origin of Romani followed by a migration to northwest India as it shares
4305-608: Is sometimes used to describe any magical creature, including goblins and gnomes , while at other times, the term describes only a specific type of ethereal creature or sprite . Explanations for the origins of fairies range from Persian mythology to the folklore of the Brythonic ( Bretons , Welsh , Cornish ), Gaelic ( Irish , Scots , Manx ), and Germanic peoples , and from the pages of Middle French medieval romances . According to some historians, such as Barthélemy d'Herbelot , fairies were adopted from and influenced by
4428-469: Is used exclusively for an older Northern Romani -speaking population (which arrived in the 16th century) while Rom/Romanes is used to describe Vlax Romani -speaking groups that migrated since the 19th century. In the English language (according to the Oxford English Dictionary ), Rom is both a noun (with the plural Roma or Roms ) and an adjective. Similarly, Romani ( Romany ) is both
4551-522: Is used to represent the phoneme /ʀ/ (also written as ř and rh ), which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single r . The rr spelling is common in certain institutions (such as the INALCO Institute in Paris), or used in certain countries, e.g., Romania, to distinguish from the endonym / homonym for Romanians ( sg. român, pl. români ). In Norway, Romani
4674-650: The peris of Persian mythology. Peris were angelic beings that were mentioned in antiquity in pre-Islamic Persia as early as the Achaemenid Empire . Peris were later described in various Persian works in great detail such as the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi . A peri was illustrated to be fair, beautiful, and extravagant nature spirits that were supported by wings. This may have influenced migratory Germanic and Eurasian settlers into Europe, or been transmitted during early exchanges. The similarities could also be attributed to
4797-524: The European Journal of Human Genetics "has revealed that over 70% of males belong to a single lineage that appears unique to the Roma". Genetic evidence supports the medieval migration from India. The Roma have been described as "a conglomerate of genetically isolated founder populations", while a number of common Mendelian disorders among Roma from all over Europe indicates "a common origin and founder effect ". A 2020 whole-genome study confirmed
4920-995: The Seelie Court (more beneficently inclined, but still dangerous), and the Unseelie Court (more malicious). While fairies of the Seelie Court enjoyed playing generally harmless pranks on humans, those of the Unseelie Court often brought harm to humans for entertainment. Both could be dangerous to humans if offended. Some scholars have cautioned against the overuse of dividing fairies into types. British folklore historian Simon Young noted that classification varies widely from researcher to researcher, and pointed out that it does not necessarily reflect old beliefs, since "those people living hundreds of years ago did not structure their experience as we do." A considerable amount of lore about fairies revolves around changelings , fairies left in
5043-667: The Balkans , in some central European states, in Spain, France, Russia and Ukraine. In the European Union , there are an estimated 6 million Roma. Outside Europe there may be several million more Roma, in particular in the Middle East and the Americas. The Roma may identify as distinct ethnicities based in part on territorial, cultural and dialectal differences, and self-designation. Like
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5166-525: The Gentiles [non-Jews] was called Diana and her wandering court, and amongst us is called Fairy (as I told you) or our good neighbours". Medieval Christian authorities condemned cult beliefs of nocturnal, female spirit leaders who might accept offerings or take practitioners on a nighttime journey. The Sicilian doñas de fuera of Italy were one example. In Scotland in the 1530s, William Hay described Scottish witches meeting with " seely wights " or "Diana queen of
5289-612: The Greek Αιγύπτιοι ( Aigyptioi ), meaning "Egyptian", via Latin . This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Roma, or some related group (such as the Indian Dom people ), were itinerant Egyptians . This belief appears to be derived from verses in the biblical Book of Ezekiel (29: 6 and 12–13) which refer to the Egyptians being scattered among
5412-611: The Orkney islands that resembled the Elfland described in Childe Rowland , which lent additional support. In folklore, flint arrowheads from the Stone Age were attributed to the fairies as " elfshot ", while their green clothing and underground homes spoke to a need for camouflage and covert shelter from hostile humans, their magic a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry. In
5535-624: The Portuguese Empire during the Portuguese Inquisition . Since the late 19th century, Roma have also migrated to other countries in South America and Canada. The Romani language is an Indo-Aryan language with strong Balkan and Greek influence. It is divided into several dialects , which together are estimated to have over 2 million speakers. Because the language has traditionally been oral, many Roma are native speakers of
5658-502: The dominant language in their country of residence, or else of mixed languages that combine the dominant language with a dialect of Romani in varieties sometimes called para-Romani . Rom literally means husband in the Romani language , with the plural Roma . The feminine of Rom in the Romani language is Romni/Romli/Romnije or Romlije . However, in most other languages Rom is now used for individuals regardless of gender. It has
5781-567: The numerals in the Romani , Domari and Lomavren languages, with the corresponding terms in Sanskrit , Hindi , Odia , and Sinhala to demonstrate the similarities. Note that the Romani numerals 7 through 9 have been borrowed from Greek . Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Roma originated in northwestern India and migrated as a group. According to the study, the ancestors of present scheduled caste and scheduled tribe populations of northern India , traditionally referred to collectively as
5904-540: The Ḍoma , are the likely ancestral populations of modern European Roma. In December 2012, additional findings appeared to confirm that the "Roma came from a single group that left northwestern India about 1,500 years ago". They reached the Balkans about 900 years ago and then spread throughout Europe. The team also found that the Roma displayed genetic isolation, as well as "differential gene flow in time and space with non-Romani Europeans". Genetic research published in
6027-568: The Americas with Columbus in 1498. Spain sent Romani slaves to their Louisiana colony between 1762 and 1800. An Afro-Romani community exists in St. Martin Parish due to intermarriage of freed African American and Romani slaves. The Romani population in the United States is estimated at more than one million. In Brazil, the Roma are mainly called ciganos by non-Romani Brazilians. Most of them belong to
6150-529: The Early Modern English faerie , meaning ' realm of the fays '. Faerie , in turn, derives from the Old French form faierie , a derivation from faie (from Vulgar Latin fata , ' the fates '), with the abstract noun suffix -erie . In Old French romance, a faie or fee was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs. Fairy
6273-552: The English language, Romani people have long been known by the exonym Gypsies or Gipsies , which many Roma consider a racial slur . The attendees of the first World Romani Congress in 1971 unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Roma, including "Gypsy". However, it is not considered a slur in the UK and Romani people in the United Kingdom commonly refer to themselves as "Gypsies". The first Roma to come to
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#17328513848896396-500: The Fairies also features in Baum's book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus , and is named Lulea in Baum's Queen Zixi of Ix . In Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, the Fairy Queen is an essential part of the plot. Although she rules over the fairies, she is actually a unicorn capable of taking humanoid form. The character Erza Scarlet from Hiro Mashima 's Fairy Tail earned
6519-473: The Gypsy, Roma and Traveller grouping, this is the name used to describe all para-Romani groups in official contexts. In North America, the word Gypsy is most commonly used as a reference to Romani ethnicity, though lifestyle and fashion are at times also referenced by using this word. Another designation of the Roma is Cingane (alternatively Çingene, Tsinganoi, Zigar, Zigeuner, Tschingaren), likely deriving from
6642-746: The Indian subcontinent. In addition, they theorized of a possible low- caste ( Dalit ) origin for the Proto-Roma, since they were genetically closer to the Punjabi cluster that lacks a common marker characteristic of high castes, which is West Euroasian admixing. The Roma may have emerged from what is the modern Indian state of Rajasthan , migrating to the northwest (the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent ) around 250 BCE. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves,
6765-541: The Netherlands. A queen of the fairies or spirits, referred to as the " Quene of Elfame " and other spelling variants, was mentioned in several Scottish witch trials. In the 16th century, Andro Man claimed to have had children by the "Quene of Elphen." Scholar Robert Pitcairn reconstructed the word as "Elphame" or "Elf-hame." The concept of a Dianic queen of spirits influenced the neopagan cultures that developed from Charles Godfrey Leland 's concept of Aradia "Queen of
6888-496: The Persian word چنگانه ( chingane ), derived from the Turkic word çıgañ , meaning poor person. It is also possible that the origin of this word is Athinganoi , the name of a Christian sect with whom the Roma (or some related group) could have become associated in the past. There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide. Many Roma refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for
7011-448: The Roma in general, many different ethnonyms are given to subgroups of Roma. Sometimes a subgroup uses more than one endonym , is commonly known by an exonym or erroneously by the endonym of another subgroup. The only name approaching an all-encompassing self-description is Rom . Even when subgroups do not use the name, they all acknowledge a common origin and a dichotomy between themselves and Gadjo (non-Roma). For instance, while
7134-499: The Roma originated in the Indian subcontinent , in particular the region of Rajasthan . Their first wave of westward migration is believed to have occurred sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries. They are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are widely dispersed , their most concentrated populations are believed to be in Bulgaria , Hungary , Romania , Serbia and Slovakia . In
7257-538: The Romani language shares several isoglosses with the Central branch of Indo-Aryan languages, especially in the realization of some sounds of the Old Indo-Aryan. However, it also preserves several dental clusters. In regards to verb morphology, Romani follows exactly the same pattern of northwestern languages such as Kashmiri and Shina through the adoption of oblique enclitic pronouns as person markers, lending credence to
7380-1149: The Romani population "was founded approximately 32–40 generations ago, with secondary and tertiary founder events occurring approximately 16–25 generations ago". Haplogroup H-M82 is a major lineage cluster in the Balkan Romani group, accounting for approximately 60% of the total. Haplogroup H is uncommon in Europe but present in the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka . A study of 444 people representing three ethnic groups in North Macedonia found mtDNA haplogroups M5a1 and H7a1a were dominant in Romanies (13.7% and 10.3%, respectively). Y-DNA composition of Muslim Roma from Šuto Orizari Municipality in North Macedonia , based on 57 samples: Y-DNA Haplogroup H1a occurs in Roma at frequencies 7–70%. Unlike ethnic Hungarians, among Hungarian and Slovakian Roma subpopulations Haplogroup E-M78 and I1 usually occur above 10% and sometimes over 20%, while among Slovakian and Tiszavasvari Roma,
7503-631: The Summer and Winter Courts. Oberon's half-human daughter, Meghan Chase, eventually becomes queen of the Iron Court. Diana Wynne Jones 's Fire and Hemlock is a modern reimagining of the ballads of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer, in which the Fairy Queen is known as Mrs Laurel Perry Lynn. The goddess Diana was regularly portrayed as the ruler of the fairy kingdom in demonological literature, such as King James VI of Scotland 's Daemonologie , which says that she belongs to "the fourth kind of spirits, which by
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#17328513848897626-456: The Sun (Solar Angels ). The more Earthbound Devas included nature spirits , elementals , and fairies , which were described as appearing in the form of colored flames, roughly the size of a human. Arthur Conan Doyle , in his 1922 book The Coming of the Fairies ; The Theosophic View of Fairies , reported that eminent theosophist E. L. Gardner had likened fairies to butterflies, whose function
7749-401: The United States arrived in Virginia , Georgia , New Jersey and Louisiana during the 1600s. Romani slaves were first shipped to the Americas with Columbus in 1498. Spain sent Romani slaves to their Louisiana colony between 1762 and 1800. An Afro-Romani community exists in St. Martin Parish due to intermarriage between freed African American and Romani slaves. The Romani population in
7872-415: The United States is estimated at more than one million. There are between 800,000 and 1 million Roma in Brazil , most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. Brazilian Roma are mostly descended from German/Italian Sinti (in the South/Southeast regions), and Roma and Calon people. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from Sinti and Roma deportees from
7995-399: The Witches". The Faerie faith developed from the same source as the McFarland Dianic tradition. Fairy A fairy (also fay , fae , fey , fair folk , or faerie ) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature , generally described as anthropomorphic , found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic , Slavic , Germanic , and French folklore),
8118-474: The advent of modern medicine , fairies were often blamed for sickness, particularly tuberculosis and birth deformities. In addition to their folkloric origins, fairies were a common feature of Renaissance literature and Romantic art , and were especially popular in the United Kingdom during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The Celtic Revival also saw fairies established as a canonical part of Celtic cultural heritage. The English fairy derives from
8241-435: The alias "Titania" due to her power. In Foxglove Summer , part of the Rivers of London series, the protagonist Peter Grant is captured by the Fairy Queen and taken off to her Kingdom (an alternative reality or Otherworld where Britain is still covered with a massive unbroken primeval forest , with no sign of the familiar towns and villages). In Julie Kagawa 's Iron Fey series, Titania and Mab are rival queens of
8364-410: The aliases used by the (male) leaders. Goodwin Wharton , a 17th-century English politician and mystic, believed that he had married a fairy queen named Penelope La Gard. There were numerous local beliefs of fairy queens, some of whom had proper names. A charm from the Isle of Man names the fairy rulers as King Philip and Queen Bahee. One Welsh folk informant stated that the queen of the Tylwyth Teg
8487-404: The ancestors of the current Irish people , they were said to have withdrawn to the sídhe (fairy mounds), where they lived on in popular imagination as "fairies". They are associated with several Otherworld realms including Mag Mell ('the Pleasant Plain'), Emain Ablach ('the place of apples'), and Tir na nÓg ('the Land of Youth'). The aos sí is the Irish term for
8610-533: The backs of birds. Modern illustrations often include dragonfly or butterfly wings. Early modern fairies does not derive from a single origin; the term is a conflation of disparate elements from folk belief sources, influenced by literature and speculation. In folklore of Ireland, the mythic aes sídhe , or 'people of the fairy hills ', have come to a modern meaning somewhat inclusive of fairies. The Scandinavian elves also served as an influence. Folklorists and mythologists have variously depicted fairies as:
8733-405: The carriers might be of Romani origin. Among non-Roma-speaking Europeans, it occurs at 2% among Slovaks , 2% among Croats , 1% among Macedonians from Skopje, 3% among Macedonian Albanians , 1% among Serbs from Belgrade , 3% among Bulgarians from Sofia, 1% among Austrians and Swiss, 3% among Romanians from Ploiești , and 1% among Turks . The Ottoman occupation of the Balkans also left
8856-434: 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. Locations such as fairy forts were left undisturbed; even cutting brush on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act. Fairy trees, such as thorn trees , were dangerous to chop down; one such tree
8979-412: The dead and fairies depicted as living underground. Diane Purkiss observed an equating of fairies with the untimely dead who left "unfinished lives". One tale recounted a man caught by the fairies, who found that whenever he looked steadily at a fairy, it appeared as a dead neighbor of his. This theory was among the more common traditions related, although many informants also expressed doubts. There
9102-428: The dead, as prehistoric precursors to humans , or as spirits of nature. The label of fairy has at times applied only to specific magical creatures with human appearance, magical powers, and a penchant for trickery. At other times it has been used to describe any magical creature, such as goblins and gnomes . Fairy has at times been used as an adjective, with a meaning equivalent to "enchanted" or "magical". It
9225-506: The dominant haplogroup is H1a; among Tokaj Roma it is Haplogroup J2a (23%); and among Taktaharkány Roma, it is Haplogroup I2a (21%). Five rather consistent founder lineages throughout the subpopulations were found among Roma – J-M67 and J-M92 (J2), H-M52 (H1a1), and I-P259 (I1). Haplogroup I-P259 as H is not found at frequencies of over 3% among host populations, while haplogroups E and I are absent in south Asia. The lineages E-V13, I-P37 (I2a) and R-M17 (R1a) may represent gene flow from
9348-536: The ethnic subgroup Calés (Kale) of the Iberian peninsula. Juscelino Kubitschek , Brazil's president from 1956 to 1961, was 50% Czech Romani by his mother's bloodline, and Washington Luís , the last president of the First Brazilian Republic (1926–1930), had Portuguese Kale ancestry. Persecution against the Roma has led to many of the cultural practices being extinguished, hidden or modified to survive in
9471-504: The faeries, states that neither he nor his court fear the church bells, which the author and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis cast as a politic disassociation from faeries although Lewis makes it clear that he himself does not consider fairies to be demons in his chapter on the topic ("The Longaevi" or "long-livers") from The Discarded Image . In an era of intellectual and religious upheaval, some Victorian reappraisals of mythology cast deities in general as metaphors for natural events, which
9594-426: The fairies is the use of magic to disguise their appearance. Fairy gold is notoriously unreliable, appearing as gold when paid but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves, gorse blossoms, gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other comparatively worthless things. These illusions are also implicit in the tales of fairy ointment . Many tales from Northern Europe tell of a mortal woman summoned to attend
9717-443: The fairies. She is invariably blinded in that eye or in both if she used the ointment on both. There have been claims by people in the past, like William Blake , to have seen fairy funerals. Allan Cunningham in his Lives of Eminent British Painters records that William Blake claimed to have seen a fairy funeral: 'Did you ever see a fairy's funeral, madam?' said Blake to a lady who happened to sit next to him. 'Never, sir!' said
9840-461: The fairies." Julian Goodare clarifies that "[t]here is no reason to believe that there was a Scottish cult of Diana"; rather, the name was contemporary authorities' way of classifying such beliefs. Names used for this figure included Herodias , Abundia, Bensozia, Richella, Satia, and numerous others like Doamna Zînelor in Romania (translated by Mircea Eliade as "Queen of the Fairies") or Wanne Thekla in
9963-447: The fairy mound') is sometimes described as a ghost. Romani people The Romani people ( / ˈ r oʊ m ə n i / ROH -mə-nee or / ˈ r ɒ m ə n i / ROM -ə-nee ), also known as the Roma ( sg. : Rom ), are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin who traditionally lived a nomadic , itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that
10086-580: The fairy queen as Mab. Drayton named Mab, not Titania, as Oberon's wife. Aside from Titania and Mab, Oberon was sometimes depicted with wives of other names: Aureola in a 1591 entertainment given for Queen Elizabeth at Elvetham in Hampshire , and Chloris in William Percy 's The Faery Pastorall around 1600. Fairies and their society often played a major role in the French contes de fées . The fairies are ruled by
10209-479: The fairy queen — often have bells on their harness. This may be a distinguishing trait between the Seelie Court from the Unseelie Court, such that fairies use them to protect themselves from more wicked members of their race. Another ambiguous piece of folklore revolves about poultry: a cock's crow drove away fairies, but other tales recount fairies keeping poultry. While many fairies will confuse travelers on
10332-475: The fairy women gave him a gowpen (double handful of meal) and told him to put it in his empty girnal (store), saying that the store would remain full for a long time, no matter how much he took out. It is also believed that to know the name of a particular fairy, a person could summon it and force it to do their bidding. The name could be used as an insult towards the fairy in question, but it could also rather contradictorily be used to grant powers and gifts to
10455-568: The figure of a fairy queen. The Merry Wives of Windsor makes reference to the concept. In A Midsummer Night's Dream , Titania is the queen of the fairies and wife of King Oberon. Her name is derived from Ovid as an epithet of the Roman goddess Diana . In Romeo and Juliet , the character of Queen Mab does not appear but is described; she is the fairies' midwife, who rides in a tiny chariot and brings dreams to humans. Post-Shakespeare, authors such as Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton also named
10578-510: The hair of sleepers into fairy-locks (aka elf-locks), stealing small items, and leading a traveler astray. More dangerous behaviors were also attributed to fairies; any form of sudden death might have stemmed from a fairy kidnapping, the evident corpse a magical replica of wood. Consumption ( tuberculosis ) was sometimes blamed on fairies who forced young men and women to dance at revels every night, causing them to waste away from lack of rest. Rowan trees were considered sacred to fairies, and
10701-488: The host populations. Bulgarian, Romanian and Greek Roma are dominated by Haplogroup H-M82 (H1a1), while among Spanish Roma J2 is prevalent. In Serbia among Kosovo and Belgrade Roma Haplogroup H prevails, while among Vojvodina Roma, H drops to 7 percent and E-V13 rises to a prevailing level. Among non-Roma Europeans, Haplogroup H is extremely rare, peaking at 7% among Albanians from Tirana and 11% among Bulgarian Turks . It occurs at 5% among Hungarians , although
10824-518: The king and queen of the fairies. This depiction is thought to have influenced William Shakespeare 's fairy rulers in A Midsummer Night's Dream . A fairy queen Gloriana, daughter of King Oberon , is the titular character of the allegorical epic poem The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser . She is also called Tanaquill, derived from the name of the wife of Tarquinius Priscus . She is a virtuous ruler written as an allegorical depiction of Queen Elizabeth . William Shakespeare referred multiple times to
10947-501: The lady. 'I have,' said Blake, 'but not before last night.' And he went on to tell how, in his garden, he had seen 'a procession of creatures of the size and colour of green and grey grasshoppers, bearing a body laid out on a rose-leaf, which they buried with songs, and then disappeared.' They are believed to be an omen of death. The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of supernaturally-gifted people in Irish mythology. They are thought to represent
11070-561: The language and culture: Romani language , Romani culture . The British government uses the term "Roma" as a sub-group of " White " in its ethnic classification system. The standard assumption is that the demonyms of the Roma, Lom and Dom , share the same origin. The English exonym Gypsy (or Gipsy ) originates from the Middle English gypcian , short for Egipcien . The Spanish term Gitano and French Gitan have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from
11193-451: The largest being the Roma, who reached Anatolia and the Balkans about the early 12th century from a migration out of northwestern India beginning about 600 years earlier. The Roma migrated throughout Europe and Iberian Calé or Caló. The first Roma to come to the United States arrived in Virginia, Georgia , New Jersey and Louisiana during the 1500s. Romani slaves were first shipped to
11316-505: The main deities of pre-Christian Ireland. Many of the Irish modern tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann refer to these beings as fairies, though in more ancient times they were regarded as goddesses and gods . The Tuatha Dé Danann were spoken of as having come from islands in the north of the world or, in other sources, from the sky. After being victorious in a series of battles with other otherworldly beings, and then being defeated by
11439-727: The main group of Roma in German-speaking countries refer to themselves as Sinti , their name for their original language is Romanes . Subgroups have been described as, in part, a result of the castes and subcastes in India, which the founding population of Rom almost certainly experienced in their south Asian urheimat . Many groups use names derived from the Romani word kalo or calo , meaning "black" or "absorbing all light". This closely resembles words for "black" or "dark" in Indo-Aryan languages (e.g., Sanskrit काल kāla : "black", "of
11562-519: The medieval French referred to the Romanies as Égyptiens . These exonyms are sometimes written with capital letter, to show that they designate an ethnic group . However, the word is often considered derogatory because of its negative and stereotypical associations. The Council of Europe consider that "Gypsy" or equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage" are not in line with European recommendations. In Britain, many Roma proudly identify as "Gypsies", and, as part of
11685-425: The mill or kiln at night, as it was known that the fairies brought their corn to be milled after dark. So long as the locals believed this, the miller could sleep secure in the knowledge that his stores were not being robbed. John Fraser, the miller of Whitehill, claimed to have hidden and watched the fairies trying unsuccessfully to work the mill. He said he decided to come out of hiding and help them, upon which one of
11808-474: The narrower sense is unique to English folklore , later made diminutive in accordance with prevailing tastes of the Victorian era , as in " fairy tales " for children. The Victorian era and Edwardian era saw a heightened increase of interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival cast fairies as part of Ireland's cultural heritage. Carole Silver and others suggested this fascination of English antiquarians arose from
11931-609: The nations by an angry God. According to one narrative, they were exiled from Egypt as punishment for allegedly harbouring the infant Jesus . In his book The Zincali: an account of the Gypsies of Spain , George Borrow notes that when they first appeared in Germany, it was under the character of Egyptians doing penance for their having refused hospitality to Mary and her son. As described in Victor Hugo 's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ,
12054-449: The northwest Indian origins, and also confirmed substantial Balkan and Middle Eastern ancestry. A study from 2001 by Gresham et al. suggests "a limited number of related founders, compatible with a small group of migrants splitting from a distinct caste or tribal group". The same study found that "a single lineage... found across Romani populations, accounts for almost one-third of Romani males". A 2004 study by Morar et al. concluded that
12177-403: 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
12300-450: The place of stolen humans. In particular, folklore describes how to prevent the fairies from stealing babies and substituting changelings, and abducting older people as well. The theme of the swapped child is common in medieval literature and reflects concern over infants thought to be afflicted with unexplained diseases, disorders, or developmental disabilities. In pre-industrial Europe, a peasant family's subsistence frequently depended upon
12423-508: The poor. However, the luris ate the oxen and the wheat and came back a year later with their cheeks hollowed by hunger. The king, angered with their having wasted what he had given them, ordered them to pack up their bags and go wandering around the world on their donkeys. Linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that the roots of the Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them
12546-470: The predecessor to Peter Pan , author J. M. Barrie identifies Queen Mab as the name of the benign and helpful fairy queen. In Disney's series of films based on Tinker Bell , branching out from their adaptation of Peter Pan , the fairy ruler is Queen Clarion. In L. Frank Baum 's Oz books, Queen Lurline is an otherworldly fairy queen who played a role in the creation of the Land of Oz . An unnamed Queen of
12669-437: The productive labor of each member, and a person who was a permanent drain on the family's scarce resources could pose a threat to the survival of the entire family. In terms of protective charms, wearing clothing inside out, church bells, St. John's wort , and four-leaf clovers are regarded as effective. In Newfoundland folklore, the most popular type of fairy protection is bread, varying from stale bread to hard tack or
12792-439: The proto-Roma to groups in northwest India (specifically Punjabi and Gujarati samples), as well as, Dravidian-speaking groups in southeastern India (specifically Irula ). The paternal lineages of Roma are most common in southern and central India among Dravidian-speaking populations. The authors argue that this may point to a founder effect among the early Roma during their ethnogenesis or shortly after they migrated out of
12915-400: The significant developments leading toward the emergence of New Indo-Aryan languages , thus indicating that the proto-Roma did not leave the Indian subcontinent until late in the second half of the first millennium. The first Romani people are believed to have arrived in Europe via the Balkans in the 13th or 14th century. Romani people began migrating to other parts of the continent during
13038-477: The tale of a woman overcome by her fairy lover, who in later versions of the story is unmasked as a mortal. " Thomas the Rhymer " shows Thomas escaping with less difficulty, but he spends seven years in Elfland. 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. King Herla (O.E. "Herla cyning" ), originally
13161-541: The term "faries" referred to illusory spirits (demonic entities) that prophesied to, consorted with, and transported the individuals they served; in medieval times, a witch or sorcerer who had a pact with a familiar spirit might receive these services. In England's Theosophist circles of the 19th century, a belief in the "angelic" nature of fairies was reported. Entities referred to as Devas were said to guide many processes of nature , such as evolution of organisms, growth of plants , etc., many of which resided inside
13284-449: The theft. Millers were thought by the Scots to be "no canny", owing to their ability to control the forces of nature, such as fire in the kiln, water in the burn, and for being able to set machinery a-whirring. Superstitious communities sometimes believed that the miller must be in league with the fairies. In Scotland, fairies were often mischievous and to be feared. No one dared to set foot in
13407-417: The theory of their Central Indian origin and a subsequent migration to northwestern India. Though the retention of dental clusters suggests a break from central languages during the transition from Old to Middle Indo-Aryan, the overall morphology suggests that the language participated in some of the significant developments leading toward the emergence of New Indo-Aryan languages . The following table presents
13530-411: 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 (tithe) to hell. " Sir Orfeo " tells how Sir Orfeo's wife was kidnapped by the King of Faerie and only by trickery and an excellent harping ability was he able to win her back. "Sir Degare" narrates
13653-525: The unworthy dead, the children of Eve , a kind of demon , a species independent of humans, an older race of humans, and fallen angels . The folkloristic or mythological elements combine Celtic , Germanic and Greco-Roman elements. Folklorists have suggested that 'fairies' arose from various earlier beliefs, which lost currency with the advent of Christianity. These disparate explanations are not necessarily incompatible, as 'fairies' may be traced to multiple sources. A Christian tenet held that fairies were
13776-450: The user. Before the advent of modern medicine, many physiological conditions were untreatable and when children were born with abnormalities, it was common to blame the fairies. Sometimes fairies are described as assuming the guise of an animal. In Scotland, it was peculiar to the fairy women to assume the shape of deer; while witches became mice, hares, cats, gulls, or black sheep. In "The Legend of Knockshigowna ", in order to frighten
13899-415: The variants dom and lom , which may be related to the Sanskrit words dam-pati (lord of the house, husband), dama (to subdue), lom (hair), lomaka (hairy), loman , roman (hairy), romaça (man with beard and long hair). Another possible origin is from Sanskrit डोम doma (member of a low caste of travelling musicians and dancers). Despite their presence in the country and neighboring nations,
14022-526: The word is not related in any way to the name of Romania. Romani is the feminine adjective, while Romano is the masculine adjective. Some Romanies use Rom or Roma as an ethnic name, while others (such as the Sinti, or the Romanichal) do not use this term as a self-description for the entire ethnic group. Sometimes, rom and romani are spelled with a double r , i.e., rrom and rromani . In this case rr
14145-548: The works of W. B. Yeats for examples). A recorded Christian belief of the 17th century cast all fairies as demons. This perspective grew more popular with the rise of Puritanism among the Reformed Church of England (See: Anglicanism ). The hobgoblin , once a friendly household spirit, became classed as a wicked goblin. Dealing with fairies was considered a form of witchcraft, and punished as such. In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream , Oberon , king of
14268-477: Was Gwenhidw, wife of Gwydion ab Don , and small, fleecy clouds were her sheep. Some of these local beliefs influenced literature. "Old Moss the fairy queen" appears in Shantooe Jest, a 19th-century poem by Thomas Shaw inspired by Yorkshire and Lancashire folklore. She flees the sound of the church bells to live with a giant named Todmore and they eventually settle in the location of Todmorden. Janet or Gennet,
14391-701: Was in Alexander Montgomerie 's Flyting ( c. 1580 ) as a witch and worshiper of Hecate, and a separate character from the Elf Queen. Equivalents appear across the world. In modern Greek folklore, Lamia is queen of the Nereids and Artemis is queen of the mountains and land-nymphs. A Romani legend describes Ana, queen of the Keshali nymphs, who was abducted by a demon. In " The Merchant's Tale ", by Geoffrey Chaucer , Pluto and Proserpine are described as
14514-594: Was later refuted by other authors (See: The Triumph of the Moon , by Ronald Hutton ). This contentious environment of thought contributed to the modern meaning of 'fairies'. One belief held that fairies were spirits of the dead. This derived from many factors common in various folklore and myths: same or similar tales of both ghosts and fairies; the Irish sídhe , origin of their term for fairies, were ancient burial mounds; deemed dangerous to eat food in Fairyland and Hades ;
14637-533: Was left alone in Scotland, though it prevented a road from being widened for seventy years. Other actions were believed to offend fairies. Brownies were known to be driven off by being given clothing, though some folktales recounted that they were offended by the inferior quality of the garments given, and others merely stated it, some even recounting that the brownie was delighted with the gift and left with it. Other brownies left households or farms because they heard
14760-500: Was once thought to be a "sister language" of Romani, the two languages having split after the departure from the Indian subcontinent—but later research suggests that the differences between them are significant enough to treat them as two separate languages within the central zone ( Hindustani ) group of languages. The Dom and the Rom, therefore, likely descend from two migration waves from India separated by several centuries. In phonology ,
14883-473: Was the wife of Finvarra or Fionnbharr, fairy king of western Ireland, although he frequently took other lovers. She was usually described living with Finvarra in his hill Cnoc Meadha, but was sometimes said to have a separate residence in Cnoc Sidh Una ( Knockshegouna ). In one story following the model of the Fairies' Midwife ( Aarne-Thompson type 476), "Fionnbharr's wife" (unnamed) is thoughtlessly cursed by
15006-423: Was to provide an essential link between the energy of the sun and the plants of Earth, describing them as having no clean-cut shape ... small, hazy, and somewhat luminous clouds of colour with a brighter sparkish nucleus. "That growth of a plant which we regard as the customary and inevitable result of associating the three factors of sun, seed, and soil would never take place if the fairy builders were absent." For
15129-515: Was used to represent: an illusion or enchantment; the land of the Faes; collectively the inhabitants thereof; an individual such as a fairy knight. Faie became Modern English fay , while faierie became fairy , but this spelling almost exclusively refers to one individual (the same meaning as fay ). In the sense of 'land where fairies dwell', archaic spellings faery and faerie are still in use. Latinate fae , from which fairy derives,
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