Fae

Fae is another word for fairies/faeries/however you spell it. They are, in general, short. The tallest normal fairy in today's world is only 3 ft high. There are, of course, some exceptions, but I won't go into it.

Imps are small, mischievous, and sly. Some have only weak magic (Nac Mac Feegle, Terry Pratchett), while some are much more powerful (Oberon, Titania, Puck and Company, William Shakespeare). The average imp likes to make trouble. They do steal children for their own and replace them with fairies. They are called changelings. In traditional fable, they will not go near iron. They often have green eyes. They bite. They cannot lie, though are excellent deceivers. They expect something permanent in return for help. They cause other troubles, too, including various illnesses.

Fae and fairies have a close relation to the moon. In Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer, The People (fairies and such) must put acorns in the ground at a magical spot under a full moon. Herbs to ward them are most effective when gathered under a full moon. In the middle ages, a cure for warts (often caused by Fae) was to wash ones hands in a silver basin under a full moon.

A fairy walking in the woods

Pixies are the storybook fairies- under a foot high, wings, and sometimes even flower dresses. They collect honey and such, and work very closely with animals and plants. They occasionally work with humans, but only when they need help.

Some fairies are really just small people with a bit of magic. They do not have the mystic qualities of true Fae, but can be called fairies. One example of this is in Artemis Fowl. They are excellent books, but The People in them are just fairies, not Fae.

Other human sized fairies (four or five feet) are in fact Fae. They have little form, though, and fly only by magic or sometimes on birds.

"These Siths or Fairies they call Sleagh Maith or the Good People...are said to be of middle nature between Man and Angel, as were Daemons thought to be of old; of intelligent fluidous Spirits, and light changeable bodies (lyke those called Astral) somewhat of the nature of a condensed cloud, and best seen in twilight. These bodies be so pliable through the sublety of Spirits that agitate them, that they can make them appear or disappear at pleasure."

~The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies

All in all, Fae are quite mystical. They rarely have a solid form.

Do not get them confused with: elves, dwarves, hobbits, gnomes, or other small and/or magical and/or mysterious creatures. For information on human sized, winged people, visit the Seraph post (currently in making).

This post was written by Malchah!
Edits by BlackSheik

A pixie child. Or something like that. Pixies' ages go untold.

Sources--

Thank you:

•Eoin Colfer

•Robert Kirk and Andrew Lang

•Terry Pratchett

•Shakespeare

•Wikipedia

Picture Sources--
•http://www.herbcompanion.com/Cooking/ Where-the-Wild-Thyme-Grows.aspx

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ MHYzuONMzVQ/TSGWa7E7 lMI/AAAAAAAAASU/gpQf7lplC-A/s200/Fairy_On_The_Moon.jpg

•http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TJLcmaV3Zsc/Tpd q3ym4KQI/AAAAAAA AAFc/1ONYr_lHAq0/s1600/fairy1.jpg

•http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3EDfc0Rfc5E/TpdqvgTyVm I/AAAAAAAAAF U/wHZv_pY3DRA/s1600/fairy2.jpg