Fairy
a fay; an imaginary being or spirit, supposed to assume a human and play a variety of pranks; an enor spirit, supposed to assume a human form, dance in meadows, steal infants, and play a variety of pranks; an en- chantress. In the traditional mythology (the elves of the Anglo-Saxons) were of the nations of western Europe, fairies generally believed to be a kind of intergenerally believed to be a kind of interrial bodies, and yet possessed of the nature of men and spirits, having material bodies, and yet possessed of the They were remarkably small in stature, power of making themselves invisible. They were remarkably small in stature, clothed in green. Their haunts were believed to be groves, verdant meadows, and the slopes of hills; and their great diversion, dancing hand-in-hand in a circle. The traces of their tiny feet were sup- FAIRY RINGS posed to remain visible on the grass long afterward, and were called FAIRY RINGS or CIRCLES (q. v.). They were regarded as being sometimes benevolent and sometimes mischievous. Croker in his "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland," describes them as being "a few inches high, airy, and almost transparent in body; so delicate in their form that a dewdrop, when they chance to dance upon it, trembles, indeed, but never breaks." They are supposed to live in large societies, governed by a queen; and the peasantry never speak of them but with caution and respect, as the good people and friends, believing them to be present and to hear what is said. The fairy superstition belongs to modern Europe. The pure fairy tales first became popular in the latter part of the 17th century, and the Italians appear to have been the first to take the lead. They afterward became very popular in France; and, at the present, they are more extensive and popular in Germany than in any other country.