Francis Young has narrated this article for you to listen to.
Among the many options available for Halloween costumes and decorations these days, from witches to zombies, from mummies to serial killers, there is one traditional Halloween character you are unlikely to see: fairies. But in Irish and Scottish folklore, which provides the basis for modern Halloween traditions, fairies were central to this festival. In Scotland, it was on Halloween night that the ‘fairy rade’ (procession) was said to be seen going through the countryside, bearing the souls of the unbaptised dead or those who were snatched away in life by the fairies. In the ballad of Tam Lin, Janet has to wait until the fairies ride at Halloween to rescue her otherworldly lover from the clutches of the Fairy Queen. In Ireland, it was at Samhain (Halloween) that the fairies emerged from the ancient burial mounds (sídhe) in which they dwelt, and heroes such as Fionn mac Cumhaill did battle with them by throwing his spear into the mounds as they opened.
So why do we seem to have forgotten the association between Halloween and the fairies? One reason is that the Halloween now celebrated in England with ‘trick-or-treating’, pumpkins and ghoulish costumes is primarily a transatlantic borrowing from America. The intimate association between fairies and the land meant they did not always travel well, despite the deep Irish influence on American folk culture. Another reason is that fairies themselves have undergone a transformation in folklore. Most people today think of small and benevolent winged beings, not of the terrifying Fairy Queen who declares her wish to tear out Tam Lin’s heart and replace it with a heart of stone.
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