The subject for this essay was revealed to me after a heated discussion I had with a friend. She insisted that nymphs and water fairies were the same thing. I disagreed. Nymphs, I said, are the spirits and fairies of wells or streams. Sea fairies are fairies that take on a translucent, bubbly, watery form, and who dwell near the sea.

I recognize several types of fairies.

Elvish ones: strong, manlike, portrayed by Tolkien.

Archangel ones: again, strong and manlike, but completed with wings.

Wood fairies: all green and gold and earthy.

The aforementioned sea fairies: glistening like jewels.

Selkies: the seal people.

Camouflage fairies: fairies that change size, color, and location when the notion strikes them.

Dryads: spirits of trees.

Nymphs: spirits of wells and streams.

Tooth fairies: round and jovial (and of course, filthy rich!)

Pixies: wee green or blue beings that shed showers of sparkles.

These are of course, only a few of the types of fairies. No doubt you disagree with one or more of my definitions. Maybe one is not scientific, or one does not parallel with your imagination. I very rarely come across a person who shares the exact same fairy ideas.

Even though there is a difference of opinion concerning the classes of fairies, some characteristics are always the same. For one, fairies are immortal. They may choose to give up their immortality in order to become mortal, but they have that feature until they consciously give it up. Second, fairies are beautiful. Have you ever read a story about an ugly fairy? Third, fairies love to party! Whether it is good clean fun or involves playing practical jokes on mortals, fairies love a good time.

Webster’s English dictionary, concise edition, defines a fairy as “An imaginary supernatural being.” It is a loose definition indeed.

You could research the definitions from every dictionary, and all the essays or histories on the subject, in order to discover a solid definition that everyone agrees on. Still, it would eventually be determined that, although the books we read influence our descriptions and definitions of fairies, our images of fairies come from the realms of our own imaginations.

The End

(c) 2002
By Elizabeth van den Enden
All Rights Reserved

Elizabeth van den Enden is a frequent contributor to the pages of TOI, and the general (in)sanity of the magazine's editors. She lives in Canada, and is looking forward to attending Ave Maria College in the U.S.ofA. this upcoming fall.