The history of the words fey and fay illustrates a rather fey coincidence. Our word fay, “fairy, elf,” the descendant of Middle English faie, “a person or place possessed of magical properties,” and first recorded around 1390, goes back to Old French fae, “fairy,” the same word that has given us fairy. Fae in turn comes from Vulgar Latin Fata, “the goddess of fate,” from Latin fatum, “fate.” If fay goes back to fate, so does fey in a manner of speaking, for its Old English ancestor faege meant “fated to die.” The sense we are more familiar with, “magical or fairylike in quality,” seems to have arisen partly because of the resemblance in sound between fay and fey.

Fae, fair folk, or fairies - picking the right term is as difficult as picking the right definition for these elusive and mysteries creatures. What are they? Where do they come from? How are they different from other 'supernatural' creatures? Why does there appear to be so many contradictory and confusing stories about them?

I base my inquires into fairyland on the Robert Burton's, Anatomy of the Chthonic , one of the first modern treatises on the Fae, as well as Ted Andrew's private publication, Enchantment of the Faery Realm: Communications with Nature Spirits & Elementals. I encourage any who wish to explore this subject in more depth to try and procure these manuscripts as they were of invaluable assistance during my studies.

Part 1.