The Faerie Realm

Where is 'Fairyland'? its position is elusive. It is sometimes just over the horizon and sometimes beneath our feet. Yet there have been periods when faerieland was thought to be an actual geographical area, although even this has tended to shift. for instance, the Welsh first thought it was to the North of their mountainous land, and then in the mysterious, rocky and misty west peninsular of Pembrokeshire. Later it mved to an island lying in the Irish Channel off the Pembrokeshire coast. It was seen sometimes by sailors, and even landed on, but would then disconcertingly disapear. Nevertheless, its faerie inhabitants were said to be frequent visitors to the markets of Laugharne and Milford Haven. The Irish called the phantom isle Hy Breasil and, for them, it lay to the West. To Britons it was the Isle of Man that was the faerie isle. The Isle of man is a rich source of faerie lore.

Avalon is probably the most famous of faerie islands. The legendary King Arthur, described by the XVth century poet Lydgate as a 'King y-crowned in Fairye', was brought here mortally wounded to be tended by four faerie queens. Arthur is believed still t lie with his knights, in the heart of a faerie hill, in a deep sleep from which he will awake in our hour of need again to rule over this land.

Faerie can reveal itself, bright and glittering without warning, anywhere and just as suddenly disappear. Its frontiers of twilight, mists and fancy are all around us and, like a tide running out, can momentarily reveal Faerie before flowing back to conceal it again. The inhabitants of faerieland can be divided into various different species according to habitat. in addition to the solitary-living faeries, there are many rural elf types who make their homes in the forests (or sometimes, more specifically, 'adopt' a tree to such an extent that the faerie and the tree become more or less synonymous), fields, hills and mountain caves. There are those that live on faerie islands or in countries under the oceans while there are also water faeries inhabiting the seas, lakes and rivers. Finally there are the domestic and house-spirits (brownies and so forth).

Amongst the various species, life-styles vary considerably between the small family units, the hierarchically-organized communities (often inhabiting hollow hills) and the solitary independent faeries such as the Leprechauns.

--- Faeries --- Brian Froud and Alan Lee