Have you ever wondered about what goes on while you are asleep? The mystical and mysterious fairies roam during the night on the British moors. While most fairies are quite content leaving other creatures alone, a few fairies are mischievous in nature and enjoy creating trouble.

In folklore, fairies are supernatural beings, miniature humanoid creatures that possess magical powers and, in some cases, they have a green or blue hue to their skin. Fairies are known to habitually meddle in human affairs but the interfering is usually benign. They often live in forests and in open bogs in the countryside. Fairy creatures are especially common in the British Isles, a region that contains England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. My studies in folklore led me to Celtic folklore, which is an extremely rich genre. Celtic culture comes from a group of Indo-European people who were spread over Europe before Christianity was introduced. Most of the Celts lived in the current British Isles.

A sub-species of fairies is Brownies; they are small mystical creatures, which are approximately the same size as a fairy. They live in the homes of the less fortunate and, during the night, they complete housework for the families that they live with during the night. Pixies are another creature in British folklore. They are small flying creatures, similar to fairies, and they are known to play harmful tricks on unsuspecting humans. Changelings are the children of fairies that are left in the place of human children. During the night, fairies switch their children, known to be troublesome, with the calmer children of humans. Be sure to read the Storybook Guide for extra information about the storybook, characters, locations, and other objects.

Story 1: The Changeling
A story about a child-snatching Aunt, and it shows that being different has consequences.

Story 2: Hefeydd and the Festival
Sometimes slacking on the job can affect a "nation."

Story 3: Pixy Mischievousness
Watch out! Entertainment by the unknown always has a hidden price.

Story 4: The Dumfrieshire Brownie
Every so often, good deeds are rewarded.

I am using Thomas Keightley's collection of stories, "The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries" for the storybook. The collection was published in 1870 and is organized by regions of the world. Thomas Keightly was a prolific writer and he wrote many books pertaining to mythology and history. Some of his works include: "The History of England, From the Earliest Period to 1839", "Classical Mythology: The Myths of Ancient Greece and Ancient Italy", "The History of Rome to the End of the Republic", and "Secret Societies of the Middle Ages." I have chosen to use four of Thomas Keightly's stories for information to use in the Storybook. These stories are "Fairy-Banquet," "The Brownie," "The Changeling," and "Pixy-Vengence."

My Storybook is about fairy mischief and vengeance in British folktales and mythology. The Storybook is about a fairy council of elders who are responsible for disciplining a group of troublemaking fairies. I chose to work with Great Britain's folktales because of the extensive amount of information about fairy folklore in that area of the world. I have always been fascinated with folklore and mythology and mythical creatures featured in mythological stories especially fascinate me. I suppose my fascination with mythology and folklore stems from my appreciation of classical, Greek and Roman, art and history. For me, mythology and folklore is a fantastical culture that is rich in detail and the type of richness in culture and detail inspires me creatively. I suppose that you could say that mythology inspires me to expand my own creativity and create new worlds through art. I also have an interest in religion and how religion affects society; mythology and folklore was, and still is today, an expression of religion and other personal beliefs. Mythology is a central feature in classical art and history. Because of my interest in classical mythology and folklore, I have searched for stories that have a similar feel to them.

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I want to thank a few people for their help with this Storybook, without their help, I am not sure if I would have ever finished the stories. Laura Gibbs, I always enjoyed reading your notes about the different stories. Angela Bevins, you always felt very detailed responses to the Storybook. They were always helpful. Shelby Teasley, you also always left excellent responses about the different stories. Finally, thanks to the wonderful people at OU's Writing Center. Everyone was very helpful and did a great job assisting me in polish the stories.

Image Information:

"A Fantasy - The Fairy Ring" by George Cruikshank (c) 1850
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