Fairyland (

Early Modern English Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...

: ''Faerie''; (

Scottish mythology Scottish mythology is the collection of myths that have emerged throughout the history of Scotland, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives. Nat ...

; cf. (

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

)) in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

or ''fays''.

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

(Early Modern English ) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land of the ''faes''. Modern English (by the 17th century) ''fairy'' transferred the name of the realm of the ''fays'' to its inhabitants, e.g., the expression ''fairie knight'' in Edmund Spenser's ''The Faerie Queene'' refers to a "supernatural knight" or a "knight of Faerie" but was later re-interpreted as referring to a knight who is "a fairy".

Folklore

Fairyland may be referred to simply as ''Fairy'' or ''Faerie'', though that usage is an archaism. It is often the land ruled by the " Queen of Fairy", and thus anything from fairyland is also sometimes described as being from the "Court of the Queen of " or from the Seelie court in Scottish folklore. The Scots word or ' "fairyland" has other variant forms, attested in Scottish witch trials, but or with the stem (meaning 'home' in Scots) were conjectural readings by Pitcairn.

In Scots texts

Records of the Scottish witch trials reveal that many initiates claimed to have had congress with the "Queen of Elfame" and her retinue. On November 8, 1576, midwife

Bessie Dunlop Bessie Dunlop, Elizabeth Dunlop or Elizabeth Jack (died 1576), was a Scottish farmer's wife from fauldhouse who was strangled and then her remains burnt, at Edinburgh for the crime of sorcery, witchcraft, and incantations. Her case was unusu ...

, a resident of Dalry, Scotland, was accused of sorcery and witchcraft. She answered her accusers that she had received tuition from Thomas Reid, a former barony officer who had died at the

Battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns, ...

30 years earlier and from the Queen of "Court of Elfame" that lay nearby. It resulted in a conviction and she was

burned at the stake Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...

in 1576. Allison Peirson was burned as a witch in 1588 for conversing with the Queen of Elfame and for prescribing magic charms and potions (Byre Hills,

Fife, Scotland Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

). This same woman (styled "Alison Pearson") is also featured in Robert Sempill's ballad (1583) where she is said to have been in a fairy-ride. Sempill's piece mentions "Elphyne" glossed as "Elfland" or "Fairyland".DOST (''

Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue The ''Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue'' (DOST) is a 12-volume dictionary that documents the history of the Scots language covering Older Scots from the earliest written evidence in the 12th century until the year 1700. DOST was compile ...

'') entry, retrieved using the electronic In the medieval verse romance and the Scottish ballad of ''

Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Tho ...

'', the title character is spirited away by a female supernatural being. Although identified by commentators as the Queen of Fairies, the texts refrain from specifically naming her or her domain except in ballad version A, in which she is referred to as the Queen of Elfland. Poet and novelist

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

published his alteration of the ballad, replacing her name with " Queen of Elphame": Elfhame or Elfland is portrayed in various ways in these ballads and stories, most commonly as mystical and benevolent but sometimes as sinister and wicked. The mysteriousness of the land and its otherworldly powers are a source of skepticism and distrust in many tales. Additional journeys to the realm include the fairy tale "

Childe Rowland Childe Rowland is a fairy tale, the most popular version written by Joseph Jacobs in his ''English Fairy Tales'', published in 1890, based on an earlier version published in 1814 by Robert Jamieson. Jamieson's was repeating a "Scottish ballad", ...

", which presents a particularly negative view of the land.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Fairies English folklore Fairies Mythological kingdoms, empires, and countries Scottish folklore

Folklore

In Scots texts

See also

References

Bibliography