Preface

Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Faeries and similar nature spirits can be found in folk tales all over the world. They inhabit woodlands, moorlands, rivers, oceans, deserts, and rain forests; they’re found in the crannies of human dwellings and in shadows of city streets. There are few places where they can’tbe found, unless they’re repelled by iron, pins, salt, or other protections against them. In parts of the world, belief in faeries lingers to this day.

Some say that the earliest known faeries in Europe were those who appeared when children were born to bless or curse their destinies, similar to the three goddesses called the Fates in Roman myth. The word faerycomes from the Latin fatare(meaning “to enchant”), and over the centuries they’ve been known by many related names such as fée, fai, fey, fai-erie, fayre, faery, and fairy. The latter two names are the ones used today, and either spelling is historically correct. (We’ve allowed the authors in this book to use whichever spelling they prefer.) Fäerie, in modern usage, is the name of the realm where faeries live, and the faery race is often referred to collectively as the Fey. Many folklorists, however, will tell you that you shouldn’t say any of these names out loud—that it’s dangerous to call the faeries by name and thus catch their attention. One still finds country people who instead refer to faeries as the Good Folk, or the Good Neighbors, the Wee People, the Hidden Ones, or Them Ones … speaking quietly and carefully so the faeries won’t take offense!

If you think of faeries as tiny winged sprites flitting prettily from flower to flower, you might wonder why such excessive degrees of caution are necessary. How dangerous, after all, can dainty faeries like Tinkerbell be? But the faeries of folklore are far more varied than the ones found in most children’s books and cartoons. They can be male or female, lovely or ugly, with human features or features borrowed from birds, animals, minerals, and plants. Some faeries are good, some of them are bad, and the vast majority are unpredictable—helpful one moment, mischievous the next, downright dangerous the moment after that. Even Tinkerbell, it’s wise to remember, tried to have Wendy Darling shot.

In folklore, faeries come with a bewildering variety of names, shapes, sizes, customs, habitats and local histories—from the tiny Portunes of old English manuscripts to the human-sized Sidhe of Ireland; from the humble Barstukken in German tree roots to the elegant ladies of the French faery court; from the lonely Urisks who haunt Scottish pools to the merry Salvanelli of Italy; from the Domovik who protects Russian hearths to the wicked Als of Armenia. Faeries are enchanting andterrifying, charming andexasperating, elusive to find andimpossible to get rid of—shifting shape from country to country, story to story, and moment to moment.

In this book about our Good Neighbors, we’ve asked a number of our favorite writers to travel into the Twilight Realm (an ancient name for the land of Fäerie) and to bring back stories of faeries and the hapless mortals who cross their path. “No butterfly-winged sprites,” we pleaded. “Read the old folk tales, journey father afield, find some of the less explored paths through the Realm. Bring us tales set in Fäerie and in the past—but also tales about faeries today. Let’s see how these spirits of nature are getting along in the modern world.”

The results of their travels through legend and myth can be found in the stories and poems that follow—tales of changelings, undines, a tengu, an oakthing, fox faeries and a shapeshifter or two. Tales of faery enchanters, faery seducers, and yes, even Tinkerbell.

In an old Celtic story (and folk ballad), a mortal queen is whisked away underground by the amorous Faery King, while her husband, King Orfeo, must journey to Fäerie to win her back. He leaves his knights and his archers behind, disguises himself as a poor harp player, and travels to the faery court to play before them all. First he plays a joyous song, then one so sad that the whole court weeps. Last, he plays “The Faery Reel”—a tune so lively and captivating that even the Faery King leaps up to dance. As the last notes die away, the Faery King tells him to choose his reward. “Name your heart’s desire,” says he. “Gold … silver … fame among men?” But the humble musician straightens his back and reveals himself as King Orfeo. He wants neither wealth nor fame, but only to take his dear lady home. “Choose something else!” the Faery King roars. King Orfeo stands silent and firm—and the Faery King, bound by his word, must let the mortals go.

In this book, you’ll find stories joyous, painful, and magical as “The Faery Reel.” May they open the door to the Twilight Realm … and bring you safely home again.