The Faerie Realm

Where is faerieland? Its position is elusive. It is sometimes just over the
horizon and sometimes beneath our feet. Yet there have been periods when
faerieland was thought to be an actual geographical area, although even
this had tended to shift. For instance, the Welsh first thought it was to the
North of their mountainous land, rocky and misty west peninsular
of Pembrokeshire. Later it moved to an island lying in the Irish Channel
off the Pembrokeshire coast. It was seen sometimes by sailors, and even
landed on, but would then disconcertingly disappear. Nevertheless, its
faerie inhabitants were said to be frequent visitors to the markets of
Laugharne and Milford Haven. The Irish called the phantom isle Hy
Breasail and, for them, it lay to the West. To Britons it was the
Isle of Man that was the faerie isle. The Isle of Man
is a rich source of faerie lore.

Avalon is probably the most famous of faerie islands. The
legendary King Arthur described by the XVth century poet Lydgate
as a "King y-crowned in Fairye", was brought here mortally wounded
to be tended by four faerie queens. Arthur is believed still to lie with
his knights, in the heart of a faerie hill, in a deep sleep from which he will
awake in our hour of need again to rule over this land.

Faeries can reveal itself, bright and glittering without warning, anywhere
and just as suddenly disappear. The inhabitants of faerieland can be divided
into various different species according to habitat. In addition to the
solitary-living faerie, there are many rural elf-types who make their
homes in the forests (or sometimes, more specifically, "Adopt" a tree to such
an extent that the faerie and the tree become more or less synonymous).
fields, hills, and mountain caves. There are those that live on faerie
islands or in countries under the oceans while there are also water faeries
inhabiting the seas, lakes and rivers. Finally there are the domestic
and house-spirits (brownies and so forth).

Amongst the various species, life-styles vary considerably between
the small family units, the hierarchically-organized communities
(often inhabiting hollow hills) and the solitary independent faerie such
as the Leprechauns.