Fairies are a species of supernatural creatures.
Among humans they are known by many names including Fae, the Fair Folk or the Good Neighbors, though that last name is mostly to try and please them, the same way one would say "good dog" to a dog that is about to attack[1]. Of all the supernatural creatures, Fairies are the most adept at hiding.
Appearance[]
There are many different and conflicting stories about what Fairies look like and what their abilities are. The various fairy-themed attractions found in Tofoten depict them as tiny, winged humanoids, but this is incorrect. Actual fairies, as seen in "Hilda and the Fairy Village", look like humans, not in the least because a lot of them are former humans that were brought to Fairy Country and became Fairies. Naturally born fairies also have pointy ears and cyan blue hair.
They are also capable of flight.
Behaviour[]
Fairies have a bad reputation among humans. They are known to kidnap children to whisk them away to Fairy Country, and spy on humans. Hence most people try to ward them off with special charms or by hanging a horseshoe on their front door. These stories are for most part true, as Fairies indeed have the technology to spy on the human world and even pull people and objects into Fairy Country using so called Watchtowers. In ancient times they abducted a lot of people this way, but over time the need to bring in new humans dried up and the towers fell out of use.
Fairies reside in their own world which can usually only be accessed through either a Fairy Mound, though Deer-foxes can also travel there using their light bridges. They are ruled by a being known only as the Fairy Entity, who resides at heart of Fairy Isle.
Most fairies, after spending enough time in Fairy Country, eventually forget where they came from or who their families and friends in the human world were, spending their days in Fairy Country in an endless bliss. The Fairies that Hilda encounters in Fairy Country never talk to her, but just fly off if she approaches them.
It is possible for Fairies to conceive children with humans. Johanna is such a hybrid, being the daughter of the human Lydia and the fairy Phinium. However, it is implied that Fairies are not meant to reproduce with humans, as Johanna becomes deathly ill shortly after her birth. It is also possible for humans to become fairies themselves.
Magic[]
Astrid uses charms to cast a spell.
Fairies are capable of magic, though the exact rules of their magic are unclear. One constant factor is that it involves wooden charms, usually made from wood from the Faratok tree. Phinium and Lydia used charms like this to magically trap the Spider Frog in a lake. Astrid also used magic to suppress Johanna's memories of her parents after they were taken away to Fairy Country. It is unknown if, like troll magic, fairy magic is not combined with witch magic.
Known fairies[]
- Phinium
- Astrid
- Lydia (former human)
- Johanna (hybrid; human mother)
- Hilda (hybrid; human father, half-human mother)
Trivia[]
- The way fairies are described by Emil Gammelplassen is actually in line with the classic interpretations of The Fair Folk. In the original folk tales, Fairies were hardly ever benevolent towards humans, and sometimes even downright hostile.
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