Fairies: A History - Hardcover

Many people think they know what fairies are, what a fairy looks like, and how a fairy is expected to behave. Francis Young's new history of fairies demonstrates that the truth about belief in fairies is far stranger than clichéd images of tiny figures with wings and wands.

A Rich and Diverse History of Fairies

Before the rise of the 'small winged fairy' in the nineteenth century, the category of fairies included a vast range of supernatural human-like creatures, such as:

• Elves of Scandinavia
• Aos sí of Ireland
• Vilas of the Balkans
• Fadas of Iberia

Young traces the ancient origins of belief in such creatures and explores how these beliefs adapted:

• To the rise of Christianity
• Flourished in medieval Europe
• Were transformed – but not destroyed – by major historical upheavals such as:
  • The Reformation
  • The Enlightenment
  • European colonial expansion, which made fairies a global phenomenon

Enduring Belief in a Modern World

This uniquely wide-ranging history concludes with reflections on the surprising ways in which fairy belief endures in our seemingly disenchanted contemporary world.

No one who reads this brilliant tour through the enchanted pathways of fairyland will ever look at the winged creatures of contemporary popular culture – or the woods at the bottom of their garden – in the same way again.