Classifications of fairies

The fairies of Irish, English and Scottish folklore have been classified in a variety of ways. Two of the most prominent categories, derived from Scottish folklore, are the division into the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court.

These categories may reflect an earlier (medieval) classification of the Germanic elves of light and darkness (Ljósálfar and Dökkálfar), as the corresponding Insular Celtic "fair folk" do not appear to have a comparable division. William Butler Yeats, in Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, further divided them into the Trooping Fairies (appearing in splendid processions known as fairy rades) and the Solitary Fairies (mischievous spirits appearing on their own). Katharine Mary Briggs noted that a third distinction might be needed for "domesticated fairies" who live in human households (see household spirit).

Seelie and Unseelie

Etymology

The Northern and Middle English word seely (also seily, seelie and sealy), and the Scots form seilie,[1] meaning "happy", "lucky" or "blessed" and unseely meaning "unhappy", "misfortunate" or "unholy" are derived from the Old English sǣl and gesǣlig. The Modern Standard English word silly is also derived from this root and the term "seely" is recorded in numerous works of Middle English literature such as those by Geoffrey Chaucer. Many ballads and tales tell of "Seilie wichts";.[2] a Lowland Scots term for fairies. In Wales there were said to be two fairies or elves called Silly Frit and Sili go Dwt whose names represent a borrowing of the adjective silly (in this case meaning happy) as applied to fantastical beings from its usage on the English marches bordering Wales rather than the Anglo-Scottish border; the former name being purely English while the latter is a corruption of English fairy names featuring "tot" (such as Tom Tit Tot) as an element.[3]

Seelie and Unseelie Courts

The categorization of fairies based on court is whether a fairy is light or dark. The Seelie court are known to seek help from humans, to warn those who have accidentally offended them, and to return human kindness with favors of their own. Still, a fairy belonging to this court will avenge insults and could be prone to mischief.[4] The most common time of day to see them is twilight.[5] This has not always been the case. In the beginnings, fairies were more likely to appear at any time in any place. Only when human beings started to populate more and more regions, and tried to put the world into an order, fairies and their realms became less and less visible for us. Since then they are said to appear in "border regions". Border regions such as twilight (border between day and night), or the night between April 30th and May 1st and between October 31th and November 1st (border of seasons).[6] Other names for the Seelie court are 'The Shining Throne' or 'The Golden Ones' and 'The Summer Court'. Seelies are known for playing pranks on humans and having a light hearted attitude, forgetting their sorrows quickly and not realizing how they might be affecting the humans they play pranks on.

The Unseelie Court consists of the darkly-inclined fairies. Unlike the Seelie Court, no offense is necessary to bring down their assaults.[7] As a group (or "host"), they appear at night and assault travelers, often carrying them through the air, beating them, and forcing them to commit such acts as shooting at cattle.[8][9] Like the beings of the Seelie Court who are not always benevolent, neither are the fairies of the Unseelie Court always malevolent. Most Unseelies can become fond of a particular human if they are viewed as respectful, and would choose to make them something of a pet. Some of the most common characters in the Unseelie Court are bogies, bogles, boggarts, abbey lubbers and buttery spirits.[10][Note 1] The division into "Seelie" and "Unseelie" spirits was roughly equivalent to the division of Elves in Norse mythology into "light" and "dark" distinctions.[13]

In the French fairy tales as told by the précieuses, fairies are likewise divided into good and evil, but the effect is clearly literary.[14] Many of these literary fairies seem preoccupied with the character of the humans they encounter.[15]

The Welsh fairies, Tylwyth Teg, and the Irish Aos Sí are usually not classified as wholly good or wholly evil.[16]

Trooping fairies, solitary fairies and domestic fairies

W.B. Yeats divided fairies into the solitary and trooping fairies, as did James Macdougall in Folk Tales and Fairy Lore. Katharine Mary Briggs noted that a third distinction might be needed for "domesticated fairies" who live in human households, but such fairies might join with other fairies for merry-making and fairs.[17]

The trooping fairies contain the aristocracy of the fairy world, including the Irish Aos Sí.[8] They are known as trooping faeries because they travel in long processions, such as the one from which Tam Lin was rescued.[18] But the trooping fairies also include other fairies of lesser importance; a trooping fairy can be large or small, friendly or sinister.[19]

Unlike the trooping fairies, solitary fairies live alone and are inclined to be wicked and malicious creatures, except for beings such as the brownie who is said to help with household chores.[20]

Welsh fairies

The folklorist Wirt Sikes formally divided Welsh fairies, or Tylwyth Teg, into five general types. They include the Ellyllon (elves), the Bwbachod (household spirits similar to brownies and hobgoblins), the Coblynau (spirits of the mines), the Gwragedd Annwn (lake maidens), and the Gwyllion (mountain spirits resembling hags).[21] Sikes acknowledged that while such classifications are largely arbitrary, "the student of folklore must classify his materials distinctly in some understandable fashion, or go daft." [22]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A buttery spirit haunts the butteries and pantries of dishonest inns and taverns, eating and drinking everything in sight and causing financial misfortune. The only way to get rid of the buttery spirit is for the owner of the establishment to become honest and ethical in his or her business practices. An early account was given by Thomas Heywood in Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels (1635) and reprinted by Scott and Briggs.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "SND: Seil". Dsl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  2. ↑ "SND: Wicht". Dsl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  3. ↑ Celtic folklore: Welsh and Manx, Volume 1, John Rhys, Forgotten Books, 1983, ISBN 1-60506-170-0, ISBN 978-1-60506-170-2. pp. 469-470
  4. ↑ Briggs, Katharine Mary (1976) 'An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. New York, Pantheon Books. "Seelie Court", p.353. ISBN 0-394-73467-X
  5. ↑ Froud, Brian and Lee, Alan (1978) Faeries. New York, Peacock Press/Bantam. ISBN 0-553-01159-6
  6. ↑ Phillips, Ellen; et all (1984). The Enchanted World. Fairies and Elves. New York: Time-Life Books. p. 21. ISBN 90-6182-853-8.
  7. ↑ Briggs (1976) p.419
  8. 1 2 Froud and Lee (1978)
  9. ↑ Silver, Carole G. (1999) Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness. Oxford University Press. p.174 ISBN 0-19-512199-6
  10. ↑ Briggs (1979)
  11. ↑ Scott, Walter (1849). The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (Vol. 2). Robert Cadell, Edinburgh. pp. 343–4.
  12. ↑ Briggs (1976), pp. 54–5.
  13. ↑ Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of literature, Merriam-Webster, 1995, ISBN 0-87779-042-6, ISBN 978-0-87779- 042-6. p.371
  14. ↑ Briggs, K.M. (1967) The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. p.108
  15. ↑ Briggs (1967) p.177
  16. ↑ Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (1966, 1990) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. New York, Citadel p.167 ISBN 0-8065-1160-5
  17. ↑ Briggs (1967) p.412
  18. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
  19. ↑ Briggs (1976) p.412
  20. ↑ Briggs (1976) "Solitary Fairies" p.412
  21. ↑ Sikes, Wirt (1880). British Goblins: Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. p. 12.
  22. ↑ Sikes (1880), p. 190.
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