Fairy

A fairy is a mythical creature that is believed to be highly magical of nature. Whilst it may have a mythical basis, the first known use of the word "fairy" was in William Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream".[1] It has subsequently been suggested that the fairy term was probably related to various medieval and pre-medieval mythologies, some of which more accurately describe the elf (although fairy and elf are sometimes used interchangeably - of note JRR Tolkien originally planned to use fairies in Lord of the Rings but prior to publication changed his mind that they should instead be elves).

In William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", fairies were invisible, magical creatures that danced with joy, had great magic but did not fly, suggesting instead that they were probably elves.[2]

The concept of what a fairy is, or what it should be, was subsequently described in various literature, generally giving them wings, and associating them with various myths and legends, which were suggested as the possible reason for Shakespeare's use of the concept. Various pieces of artwork attempted to depict the fairy, which added to the legend.

Morgan le Fay, from the legend of King Arthur (which appeared a short time before Shakespeare's plays) was suggested to be a possible basis for the term "Fairy" that Shakespeare used. Whilst Morgan le Fay was meant to be a witch of sorts, but one with magical powers and was in fact a spirit, it was suggested by some scholars that Shakespeare could have taken the Morgan le Fay myth from the King Arthur legend (which some believe to be true and not myth) and pushed it further to describe fairies.

In modern fantasy, fairies are usually tiny creatures, smaller than most other small races (much smaller than elves and dwarves), able to fly, empowered with powerful magic, and able to turn invisible, or at least to run away quickly. The depiction of Tinkerbell the fairy in the children's story Peter Pan subsequently gave a popular concept of what a fairy would be like.

Many children are told to believe in fairies. "Do you believe in fairies?" is a common question to determine whether a child is still really a child. As with finding out that Santa Claus isn't real, discovering that fairies are make believe is meant to be one of the symbols that you have left childhood.

To counteract that, modern fantasies involving fairies give reasons for why fairies cannot be proven to exist. They have great magic, are tiny, and make themselves invisible to hide.

Like elves, fairies are meant to be guardians of nature.

Unlike elves, fairies are always good (in some fantasy descriptions elves can be evil). An evil fairy is described as an imp.

The term fairy is also a derogatory term that is sometimes used to describe gay men, or people who might be accused of being homosexual. This term is probably used because gay men, or at least the feminine ones, dance around so daintily that they might remind someone of the fairies as described in Shakespeare's play.