Fairies and Fairy Stories

Fairies and Fairy Stories traces the changing history of fairy belief, from dangerous beings in ancient myth and medieval folklore to the smaller, gentler figures familiar from later literature. Diane Purkiss examines how stories of child-snatchers, seducers, changelings and troublesome supernatural neighbours reflected anxieties surrounding birth, sex and death.

The book follows fairies through Shakespeare and Victorian culture, charting how threatening creatures became sanitised as winged figures associated with childhood and decoration. It also considers more recent interpretations, including claims connected with alien abduction, showing how fairy traditions have continued to adapt to new cultural fears, hopes and explanations. The emphasis is on the meanings attached to fairies and the reasons such stories endure.