A Brief History of Fairies
‘Take the Fair Face of Woman’ (c. 1869)
by Sophie Gengembre Anderson (1823 – 1903 French)
From ‘World History Encyclopedia‘
This video explores the origins of Fairies throughout time and around the world and puts things in another perspective. While this site is mainly focused on ‘Fairies with wings’ or the Elizabethan (1850 – 1950) style fairies, it is educational to consider other origins and interpretations of the fairy myth. It also brings out some interesting points about fairies, such as being catalysts for change, and generally explanations for the unknown, or different, or unexplainable.
The video by World History Encyclopedia describes this video as such ‘Want to know about the Peri of Persia, the Nymphs of Greece, the Sidhe of Ireland and the Disir of Scandinavia? This video explores many different examples of fairies and fae from around the world, and the development of the fairy tale from Aesop’s Fables to Grimms Fairytales. Fairies helped explain the seemingly unexplainable such as where something or someone went when they disappeared, why people “sensed” an event before it happened, and good or bad luck which seemed undeserved.’