The Fair Folk: Difference between revisions
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The return of this trope to popular awareness can be traced back to at least 1988, when ''[[The Sandman]]'', a [[Comic Book]] penned by [[Neil Gaiman]], featured a number of Fairy characters who were often either outright malicious or self-centered to the point of sociopathy. Gaiman also used traditional Fairies in his novels and short stories as well as other comic books, and directly inspired authors such as [[Terry Pratchett]] (a friend of Gaiman's in long standing) and Susanna Clarke, author of ''[[Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell]]''. Ten years earlier, the artist [[Brian Froud]] did a series of illustrated books cataloging the ''Shee'' or bad fairies, and their close cousins, the [[Our Goblins Are Wickeder|goblins]]. His work was also the inspiration for the 1982 film ''[[The Dark Crystal]]''.
These Fairies can sometimes share a world with [[The Lord of the Rings|Tolkienesque]] [[Our Elves Are Better|Elves]], who, depending on the setting, may not themselves officially be part of [[Faerie]]. The principal distinction between the two, if there is one, is that Elves are [[Proud Scholar Race|a mildly superhuman longlived race]] living in the mortal world (or a [[Hidden Elf Village|distant corner]] of it), whereas Fairies are much more intensely magical, and live in a [[Fairyland]] outside the mortal world.
Ever wonder why Fairies are called "the Fair Folk" or "the Good Folk"? It's because calling them an ''unkind'' name is a good way to bring down their wrath upon your head. Especially [[The Wild Hunt]]. In addition, simply using the word "fairy" is considered insulting. (It's not clear why. The popular theory is it's like calling a human an ape.) On the subject of names, there's a 90% chance that a named fairy leader will be called Oberon, Titania or Mab. Other fairies are just as likely to have names drawn from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.
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