The Golden Age of the Fae Rhy was the time of the Mabinogi, a compilation of ancient stories dating from the middle of the fifth millennium to the end of the fourth millennium B.C. These tales take place on the Island of the Mighty, which was Britain at the end of the last Ice Age. Shortly after its settlement the southern part of the island was divided into four major kingdoms: Cernyw (Cornwall), Dyfnaint (Devon), Llogres (southern England) and Cymru (Wales). They were ruled over by a High King from what is now London. The Fae Rhy who lived in these four kingdoms were small thin Japhethites with dark hair and large eyes, but they integrated with taller Semitic people who were their priests. The northern part of the island was ruled by giants with red-gold hair, Volsungrs from Scandinavia.
During the Golden Age, the Island of the Mighty was subdivided into 154 districts and had a total of 7700 hamlets, including isolated farmsteads. Government was by dynastic monarchy, with the firstborn male as the preferred heir. A woman who inherited the throne would be well advised to marry a warrior, since Faery women did not fight. If need arose, a high council of aristocrats would appoint a new monarch.
The Faery had navigation, but not far out to sea. They communicated by means of homing birds, and travelled most distances on the backs of their tiny horses, which they rode without stirrups. They mined for gold, tin and copper, but did not know how to create bronze. Items made of iron ore that had accidentally been found became national treasures, for the Faery were far from being able to mine for iron as we do. During the fourth millennium they conducted a lucrative trade with their neighbours in what is now Ireland, Atticans from Greece with the same appearance as themselves. But long before this time they had traded extensively with the Volsungrs.
The Faery had prisons. Their justice system on the Island of the Mighty was less developed than that of the Atticans, who had a court system. Monarchs personally judged the individual cases brought before them. A close inspection indicates taboos against cannibalism and incest, but no more than a single spiteful remark by one individual regarding homosexuality. Capital punishment does not seem to have existed after the early days of settlement, but we cannot be sure, for our records regarding the matter come from the Atticans.
The Faery settled on the coasts and on rivers, where they built circular dwellings of wattle with high, beehive shaped thatched roofs. They did not build stone castles for the aristocracy until the fourth millennium, when these were probably introduced by the Atticans. The castles had fireplaces, but ordinary houses were heated by their large ovens. Indoor lamps were shallow saucers made of chalk, and outdoor lamps were probably cut and hollowed out turnips. They had tables, chairs and chests of drawers much like our own.
The Faery did not practice slavery. They were not very territorial, but if invaded they defended themselves with slingshot. Castles were surrounded by walls, and so was the capital at the site of London. The High King possessed what was probably the only iron sword on the island. The most effective weapons were spears and arrows dipped in poison.
The Faery seem to have lived in nuclear or extended family groupings and were probably monogamous, although it is hard to tell. They greatly valued marital fidelity, and this seems to have been agreed upon between the men. Second marriages were allowed to people who had been widowed. A kinsman of the bride-to-be might offer her to a prospective groom without asking her opinion. The arrangement of marriages was in the hands of the men. Where property or position hung upon the marriage, a well born Faery woman would have little choice in the matter, for the Faery made alliances through this means, even alliances with other nations.
A couple was usually engaged a year before the wedding, and the prospective groom, in his good fortune, granted all requests upon that occasion. The consummation of the marriage was considered to be the nuptial promise, and the actual ceremony is not known. The couple lived in the residence of the richer spouse. The bride received property called her 'maiden portion' from her new husband. A baby's given name was chosen by the mother, and the surname was patronymic.
The Faery quarried for flint to create their megalitic structures. Single stones were property markers, but most of their megalithic constructions were tombs for burial of the dead. The bodies were exposed and the bones sorted by type, not leaving the skeletons intact. Only the rulers of their society were entombed.
The Faery were monotheistic, worshipping the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna. Their religion was wisdom, practised across Europe by people of their kind under the auspices of a vast international organization called the wizardry. Wizards could be of either sex, could marry, and could be rulers as well. Students were taught by apprenticeship to master wizards, and must have spent a great deal of their time with their noses to the grindstone, for as well as being great engineers and astronomers, the wizards were the master physicians of ancient Europe. They sought exclusive control of poisons and hallucinogens, for they knew the terrible power of these drugs for evil as well as good, and this may have been the motivation for the creation of the wizardry. In the Mabinogi, the word 'witch' means nothing more than an unlicensed practitioner. Some of these were tolerated, for they did not pose a major problem.
Faery music was performed on woodwind and harp, and employed Pythagorean harmonies. This was the entertainment provided during castle banquets and in travellers' hostels. Classical ballet technique comes from the dances of the Faery, which involved a great deal of jumping with arms bent and legs 'turned out'. Unfortunately, their prowess in this area was not matched by draughtsmanship, at which they were abysmal. It is believed that toward the end of the fourth millennium the Ogam alphabet was introduced to them by the Atticans, inscribed on bark bound into books like those we use today. Something remains of an early chant or song which is clearly drawn from an oral tradition.
Shellfish were favourite food items among the Faery. Wild boar, seal and deer were hunted, and the forests were stocked with vegetables and herbs. Wheat, barley and rye were cultivated in small fields. Sheep and ponies were bred, with domesticated pigs introduced during the fifth millennium. Pottery was used, and cooking was done in large clay ovens.
The Faery have been credited with the invention of lye soap. Although they favoured knitted garments in later eras, there is no evidence of this craft during the Golden Age, nor is there evidence of weaving. The later fashions associated with these people -the striped stockings, jerkhins, blouses, tights, caps and little vests- were far in the future, along with items that would become trademarks of their people -the blue robes of the wizards, the curly toed moccasins, and the ubiquitous black, broad brimmed conical rainhat of all their kind. During the golden age, they wore leather. Their later prowess at tailoring suggests that they preferred tight fitting clothes.
The Faery were a very humourous people, and their socializing was marked by a seemingly endless stream of complex role playing. Loquacious to a fault, they were the originators of social satire in western Europe, and had a keen ear for an unexpected psychological twist. They reacted with glee to any sign of pomposity or paranoia, for they raised their children to be immune to insult and psychologically resilient. Some of their words are still part of the Welsh language, and their 'singsong' intonation has survived through the ages. It is a lasting reminder of a culture that has been a civilizing influence throughout European history.
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