Category: The Wee Folk

Belief in fairies, or “Fair Folk” as they’re sometimes called, is an Appalachian tradition that springs from two roots: the old Scots and Scots-Irish tales and those tales told by the Cherokee and other tribes that lived in these mountains.

The Cherokee believed in beings called the “Little People” or “Yunwi Tsunsdi” and the spirit people known as the Nunnehi. The traditions told about these groups mingled with the European stories of fairies, leprechauns, and others brought here by the pioneers.

It’s said, for example, that the Fair Folk had powers beyond those of mortal men. And if a human man or woman married one of those Fair Folk their hybrid children would often become seers or healers. Fairies were also blamed or thanked for the results of hunts, depending on whether the hunt when well or not.

There are also several sayings that come from belief in fairies in Appalachia:

If you’re outside in the woods you can figure out if fairies have been out and about, partying and having a good time. Just look for a circle of mushrooms, a sign that the Fair Folk have been dancing in a circle.

Now, having found that magic fairy toadstool circle, you need to stand in the middle of it. If you do, then any wish you make will come true.

If you happen to have a fire going while you’re reading this, take a look at the fire. If any of the logs in that fire are burning with a blue flame, then you are being watched over by good fairies.

At the end of a long day, when it gets dark, make sure you don’t throw anything out, like sweepings or water. If you do you might accidentally hit one of the little people and piss them off. And you REALLY don’t want to know what a pissed-off fairy can do to you…

And if you are in a crowded room and things get quiet as a morgue at 20 til or 20 after the hour you’ll be glad to know that even if the party is dying at least angels came through the room.

Speaking of the little people and spirit folk, be listening to the MountainLore podcast over the next few weeks as we’re going to be telling a tale about the Nunnehi!

From old England comes this story of the Nis, or as we’d call them “goblins.”

At one time there was a Nis that was plagued by a mischievous boy. He went one night to the boy as he was sleeping in bed by the side of a tall man, and kept pulling him up and down, under the pretense of not being able to make him fit the others stature. When he was down he was too short; and when up not long enough.

“Short and long don’t match,” said he; and kept pulling him up and down all night. Being tired by daylight he went and sat on a wall, and as the dog barked, but could not get at him, the Nis kept plaguing him by thrusting down first one leg and then the other, saying, “look at my little leg!” By this time the boy got up, dreadfully tired with his dream, and while the Nis was wrapped up in his amusement the boy went behind him and tumbled him into the yard, saying, “Look at him altogether.”

The German settlers also told tales of goblins, which they called a kobold. It’s told that a husband who was preparing for a long journey gave one such kobold the charge of his wife during his absence. The good man departed, and the kobold had nothing to do from that day forward but assume frightful shapes, fling people down, and crack ribs, all in protection of his wife from anyone who might want to take advantage of the husband’s absence, if you know what I mean.

After his arduous journey the man returned home. When he opened his front door, he was greeted with a figure with a pale face, who looked delighted to see him.

“Who are you?” said the man, who didn’t recognize the kobold standing front of him, since he had grown so thin and pale.

“I am the keeper of our fair friend,” said the kobold, “but it is for the last time. Whew!”

He continued, blowing out a long sigh of relief. “What a time I’ve had of it!”

Have you ever seen or held a fairy cross? These rocks are shaped like small crosses, and are found in many places in Appalachia.

The story of the crosses starts with fairies, naturally. You see, years and years ago the fairies were happy creatures who lived in the woods and loved to dance. And they did this year after year after year, not a care in the world. That is, until a stranger showed up.

This stranger said that he had traveled the world and seen many things, like the pyramids of Egypt or the great rivers and high mountains around the world. But the one thing that affected this man the most was a death. What he termed the saddest death ever known.

According to the stranger a man had spent his life healing people and spreading love. And this man of whom he spoke was the Son of God. The stranger told the fairies that some men feared this man so they took him and nailed his feet and hands to a cross. They then beat him, starved him and cast lots over his clothes while they waited for him to die.

This news shook the assembled fairies to the core, filling them with profound sadness. They began to cry over the death of Jesus, their tears falling to the ground where they crystallized as stones shaped like little crosses.

Now, the scientific explanation for the fairy cross, which does exist, is that they are stones of staurolite, a combination of silica, iron and aluminum that crystallizes at 90 degree angles, forming a cross. But you can believe what you wish.

(Picture by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10122363)