Traditional Wisdom

Any attempt to understand the motivations and material expressions of past peoples requires a grounding in every aspect of their cultural milieu. Some of the most fundamental components of cultural expression are the beliefs, stories, customs, architectural forms, and material creations known collectively as a group’s folklore. Many practices based on traditional modes of knowledge are not noted in historical sources. However, in some cases, aspects that researchers usually relegate to folklore surface in historical accounts. Beliefs about the reality, power, and danger of fairies provide one such example. While folklore collections offer copious evidence of belief in fairies, people