THE ELEMENT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES: An A-Z of Fairies, Pixies, and other Fantastical Creatures

Fairy Treasure

Humans have long been drawn to fairyland by tales of treasure and untold riches. But where fairy treasure is concerned, it is wise to tread carefully, for the path is often beset with glamor, curses, and taboos.

“The Old Wandering Droll-Teller of the Lizard, and his Story of the Mermaid and the Man of Cury,” collected by William Bottrell in Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (1870), is a reminder of the old adage that all that glitters is not gold—especially when it is fairy gold.

In the story, a mermaid attempts to entice a mortal man, Lutey, into her underwater kingdom with promises of glittering treasures. Her description of the merpeople’s grottoes mixes the wondrous with the macabre, and reveals the fate that lies in store for many who are tempted to enter the fairy realm in search of riches:

“In our cool caverns we have everything one needs,” said she, “and much more. The walls of our abodes are encrusted with coral and amber, entwined with sea-flowers of every hue, and their floors are all strewn with pearls. The roof sparkles of diamonds, and other gems of such brightness that their rays make our deep grots in the ocean hillsides as light as day.”

Then, embracing Lutey with both her arms round his neck, she continued, “Come with me, love, and see the beauty of the mermaid’s dwellings. Yet the ornaments, with which we take the most delight to embellish our halls and chambers, are the noble sons and fair daughters of earth, whom the wind and waves send in foundered ships to our abodes. Come, I will show you thousands of handsome bodies so embalmed, in a way only known to ourselves, with choice salts and rare spices, that they look more beautiful than when they breathed, as you will say when you see them reposing on beds of amber, coral, and pearl, decked with rich stuffs, and surrounded by heaps of silver and gold for which they ventured to traverse our domain. Aye, and when you see their limbs all adorned with glistening gems, move gracefully to and fro with the motion of the waves, you will think they still live.”

In some cases, it is possible for the pure of heart to elude death and reap the reward of fairy treasure, providing specific conditions are met. In The Science of Fairy Tales (1891) Edwin Sydney Hartland describes the fairy island of Rügen in Germany, where long ago a king amassed piles of gold and jewels in the chambers beneath his castle. It is said that he still keeps watch over his treasure and occasionally he is seen wearing a golden crown and riding a gray horse around the lake, or glimpsed in the forest at night, wearing a black fur cap and carrying a white staff. At other times, he appears in the form of a black dog. The only way to get past his enchantment and win the fairy treasure is for a pure virgin on St. John’s Eve between 12 and 1 o’clock to:

… venture naked and alone, to climb the castle wall and wander backward to and fro amid the ruin, until she light upon the spot where the stairway to the tower leads down into the treasure chamber. Slipping down, she will then be able to take as much gold and jewels as she can carry, and what she cannot carry herself the old king will bring after her, so that she will be rich for the rest of her life. But she must return by sunrise, and she must not once look behind her, nor speak a single word, else not only will she fail, but she will perish miserably.

According to one tale, a princess whose chastity had been brought into question ventured to claim the treasure and prove her virginity. When she entered the vault the king bestowed the treasure upon her and sent servants after her laden with more riches. All went well until she turned to see if the servants were following behind her. At that point the king transformed into a black dog that leaped at her with a fiery throat and glowing eyes. The door slammed shut and she fell into the vault, where she has remained for 400 years. She awaits a pure youth who must find his way to her on St. John’s night, bow to her three times, and silently kiss her. The enchantment that keeps her there thus broken, he may then take her hand and lead her forth to be his bride—and they will inherit untold riches.

In Hungary, too, there are tales of buried fairy treasures that can be obtained only under a specific set of circumstances. It is said that although the Hungarian fairies have disappeared from the surface of the Earth, they continue to live in caves under their castles, where their treasures lie hidden. According to The Folk Tales of the Maygars (1886), these subterranean habitations are:

… no less splendid and glittering than were their castles of yore on the mountain peaks. The one at Firtos is a palace resting on solid gold columns. The palace of Tartod, and the gorgeous one of Dame Rapson are lighted by three diamond balls, as big as human heads, which hang from golden chains. The treasure which is heaped up in the latter place consists of immense gold bars, golden lions with carbuncle eyes, a golden hen with her brood, and golden casks filled with gold coin. The treasures of Fairy Helen are kept in a cellar under Kovaszna Castle, where the gates of the cellar are guarded by a magic cockerel. This bird only goes to sleep once in seven years, and anybody who could guess the right moment would be able to scrape no end of diamond crystals from the walls and bring them out with him. The fairies who guard the treasures of the Poganyvar (Pagan Castle) in Marosszek even nowadays come on moonlight nights to bathe in the lake below.

In Brittany, at the Castle of Morlaix, there is no need to slip past a sleeping magic cockerel or wait until the guards are bathing beneath the moon. Thomas Keightley, in The Fairy Mythology (1828), states that:

… a number of little men, not more than a foot high, dwell under the castle of Morlaix. They live in holes in the ground, whither they may often be seen going, and beating on basins. They possess great treasures, which they sometimes bring out; and if any one pass by at the time, allow him to take one handful, but no more. Should any one attempt to fill his pockets, the money vanishes, and he is instantly assailed by a shower of boxes on the ear from invisible hands.

As is often the case with fairies, the modest, pure, and well-intentioned are rewarded, while the greedy are punished.

Entrances to Fairyland

In spite of—or maybe sometimes because of—the dangers, glamor, and taboos, fairyland has always exerted an irresistible pull on humans. While careless trespassers may face retribution from disgruntled fairies, those who approach and observe fairyland with respect may be rewarded with a glimpse beyond the veneer of the everyday world and into the curious wonders of the fairy realm.

Fairy Hills

In Celtic lore in particular, tales of fairy hills abound. Fairies are said to dwell beneath or within the mounds and hills in the countryside of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Circular ring forts, known as raths, are a favorite haunt of the Irish little people. In Scotland, the people of peace make their homes beneath hills or knolls called knowes. The Irish name for fairies is Daoine Sidh. Daoine means “folk” or “people,” and sidh means “hill” or “mound,” so Daoine Sidh is literally “people of the mounds.” This is often shortened simply to sidh.

There are many tales in which people have accidentally stumbled upon these fairy mounds and into the realm of fairy. It is said that walking nine times around the hill at full moon will reveal the secret entrance to the fairies’ abode.

In the British tale “Childe Rowland,” the eponymous hero enters Elfland via a hill to rescue his sister, Burd Ellen, from the Elf King’s Dark Tower. He circles a terraced green mound three times “widdershins”—in the opposite direction to the sun—saying, “Open, door! Open, door! And let me come in.” This grants him entrance to fairyland.

In Scandinavia, there are tales of fairy mounds being raised up on red pillars, so that the occupants can feast with their neighbors. In one Danish account, a lad named Hans saw three hills raised on pillars, with much merriment and dancing going on beneath. In Scotland, Robert Kirk recorded a similar belief about Scottish fairy mounds. According to Kirk, every quarter-year, with the changing of the season, the inhabitants of the Scottish hills moved from one place to the next. It was considered dangerous to walk about at night at these times, for the entrances to fairyland were open and the little people were abroad. The “fairy paths,” the well-trodden routes running in straight lines between fairy hills, were especially to be avoided at these times.

In America, the Sioux believe that dangerous spirits reside in a mound near the mouth of the Whitestone river, named the Mountain of Little People or Little Spirits. Humans are wary of visiting this hill, for the little people are said to be armed with sharp arrows, which they are skilled in using to defend their abode from human incursions—a reminder that human visitors are not always welcome to enter fairyland, and any attempts to do should be made with caution.

Fairy Rings

Circles of grass known as “fairy rings” mark the fields and meadows where fairies dance and cavort during their moonlit revels. In some places, these appear as bright, lush patches of grass, in others as bare circles of earth. Sometimes circles of mushrooms, known as Marasmius oreades, sprout from fairy rings, some of which are believed to be hundreds of years old. In Orkney, one such ring appears as a patch of bright green on bare moorland, which mushrooms sprout from at certain times of year.

Many are the tales of individuals who have stepped into a fairy ring, lured by the sound of pipes, harps, or fiddles and the irrepressible urge to kick up their heels and dance. Once inside the ring, one is swept up into the wild dance of the fairies, unable or unwilling to leave. Time takes on a different dimension and when a mortal stumbles out into the human world after what seems a single night of dancing, it is not unusual to find that many years have passed.

A Welsh tale collected in Thomas Keightley’s The Fairy Mythology (1828) relates the dangers of stepping into the fairy ring to dance:

Rhys and his friend Llewellyn were farm laborers who worked in the mountains. One day they were returning to the farmhouse with their ponies when Rhys stopped and asked Llewellyn if he could hear music. Llewellyn could not, but Rhys insisted that he could and was eager to stay. He urged his friend to take his pony back to the farm so that he might linger a while and listen.

Llewellyn put the ponies in their stable, ate his supper, and went to bed. The next morning Rhys had not returned and Llewellyn informed their master of what had happened.

A search of the countryside ensued but to no avail: Rhys had vanished.

Suspicions grew that Llewellyn was responsible for his friend’s disappearance and he was put in jail, though there was no evidence of any wrongdoing.

An old farmer, well versed in matters of the fairy world, suspected he knew what had happened and asked whether Llewellyn and several others could accompany him to the spot where Rhys had vanished.

On arrival, they saw a circle of grass and Llewellyn heard sweet music. The old farmer asked the group to place one foot on the edge of the fairy ring and be sure to keep the other outside the circle.

As they did so, the music grew louder and, to their astonishment, they saw dozens of little people, the size of three or four-year-old children, dancing round and round. Rhys was among them. Llewellyn grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the circle. He pleaded to be allowed to finish the dance, convinced he had only been there five minutes. His friends managed to pull him back to the farm, but he took to his bed in a state of melancholy at leaving the revels and a couple of days later he faded away.

Barrows and Megaliths

Ancient standing stones, barrows, and cairns the world over have fairy portal associations. In Brittany, near Carnac, Ti Goriquet (House of the Gories) is composed of more than 4,000 large standing stones. According to local folklore, the ancient monument is the work of the crions or gories—little men between 2 and 3 feet (nearly a meter) high, who, despite their small stature, possess the strength of giants. Every night they are said to dance around the stones. Any traveler within their reach is forced to join in the dance, where he is whirled about until, breathless and exhausted, he falls down, amidst peals of laughter from the little people. In this instance, the visitor is offered only a brief glimpse of fairyland, for the fairies vanish with the break of day.

In India, some megalithic remains are also believed to be gateways to the realm of the little people. According to some accounts, certain stone cairns and tombs in southern India are believed to be the work of a race of bearded dwarves known as the Pandayar, who, like their European cousins, could move and handle the huge stones easily. It is said that the Pandayar built the monuments for the purpose of hiding their treasure and placed spells upon them to guard against marauders.

Fairy Rocks

In America, the Iroquois people summon spirits by knocking on a special stone. In Somerset, England, a fairy rock touched with the correct number of primroses opens the way to fairyland, but the incorrect number of flowers angers the fairies.

In the Scottish Borders, Habetrot, a spinning fairy, lived beneath a “self-bored” stone—a stone with a naturally formed hole through the middle. At sunset, she allowed visitors to enter via a hidden door in the side of the stone.

Caves

From the cavernous entrance to the Underworld of Greek and Roman mythology to humble holes in the cliff, caves repeatedly appear in folk tales as portals leading to other worlds and fairy realms.

In the classical tale of Psyche and Cupid, Psyche must enter the Underworld and bring back a box containing the beauty of the goddess Proserpine in order to win back her lover, Cupid. It is through a cave that she gains entrance to the Underworld to carry out her task.

In England, the legendary King Herla entered the fairy realm via a cave in a high cliff that led to a dwarf’s splendid palace. Returning to the mortal world, he discovered that hundreds of years had passed. According to a taboo placed upon them by the dwarf, he and his men were prevented from dismounting from their steeds and went on to roam the land as the wild hunt.

A down-to-earth account in William Bottrell’s Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (1873) tells of a Cornish cliff cave as an entrance to fairyland:

A few days since, a woman of Mousehal told me that not long ago troops of small people, not more than a foot and a half high, used – on moonlit nights – to come out of a hole in the cliff opening onto the beach, Newlyn side of the village, and but a short distance from it. The little people were always dressed very smart; and if anyone came near them they would scamper away into to the hole. Mothers often told their children that if they went under the cliff by night, the small people would carry them away into ‘Dicky Danjy’s holt.’

Wells

In folk beliefs from around the world, wells and springs traditionally represent an entranceway to the spirit world. People from many different cultures have gone to such places to petition gods, spirits, or fairies, perform divination rituals, and make offerings. The idea of a “wishing well,” where a wish is granted in exchange for the offering of a coin, has roots that stretch back to ancient times.

Trees growing near a well or spring are often believed to possess special healing properties. “Cloutie trees” are still found in the British Isles today. Clouties—pieces of cloth—are tied to the tree to bring luck or good health. Traditionally, a piece of clothing was torn from the afflicted area of the body, for example to cure a bad back a piece of cloth was ripped from the back of a shirt or a dress. As the rag disintegrated, health was restored.

Wells that were once shrines to water fairies and water spirits have now often been rededicated to Christian saints, continuing the tradition of wells as portals to the spirit world.

Trespassers in Fairyland

Entranceways to fairyland tend to be rooted in the natural world—and sometimes humans have, unwittingly or otherwise, meddled with the territory of the little people. In such cases, the fairies have usually been quick to make their displeasure known and to demand that trespassers rectify their transgressions or face a punishment.

In Ireland, houses built blocking fairy thoroughfares have been subjected to fairy disturbances. In some cases, it is said that fairies have levitated buildings that blocked their path and moved them to a new position. So dwellings are now often built with the front and back doors opposite one another, and the doors are left open to facilitate the easy passage of fairy traffic. In recent years, a bypass was re-routed to avoid a thorn bush said to be frequented by fairies.

In Iceland, a member of parliament saved a 24-ton boulder from being buried during work on the national highway. Believing it to be home to three generations of elves, he had it and its inhabitants shipped to his own home, where it would be out of harm’s way.

The message here is for humans to be mindful of the impact of their interactions with the environment and to approach the fairy world with respect.

Fairy Places to Visit

In Welsh tradition, fairyland was once located in the Vale of Neath, in Glamorganshire. A certain steep and rugged crag there, Craig y Ddinas, bears a distinctly awful reputation as a stronghold of the fairy tribe. Its caves and crevices are said to have been their favorite haunt for many centuries, and some believe the last fairy court in Wales was held upon this rock before the Welsh fairies vanished.

Other fairy places include:

Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, where King Sil is said to be buried, wearing his golden armor and sitting astride his steed.

Bryn Yr Ellyllon, “Hill of the Goblins,” near Mold in Clyd Flint, Wales, where an apparition clad in golden armor is said to haunt the hillside. An archeological dig here in the 1800s unearthed a skeleton and gold corselet.

The Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. The Oxfordshire fairies were last said to be seen here before they vanished.