The
following annotated bibliography was written by Annie Gately for
Kip Wheeler's English 199 Class ("Writings About Medieval Monsters")
on July 19, 2001.
Annotated Bibliography on Faeries
Arrowsmith, Nancy, and George Moorse. A Field Guide
to the Little People. New York: Hill and Wang, 1977.
This book provides physical description, habitat, and characteristics
for a variety of fairy-people, as well as gives various accounts of
encounters with these beings. All information is presented as factual.
Irish fairies are called Sidhe, they are described as domestic and
gentle, however, the book says, if their lives are interrupted they
can become violent.
Bord, Janet. Fairies: Real Encounters With Little People.
London: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd.,1997.
This book contains a variety of accounts of fairy encounters, as
well as proposes a number of theories to explain these encounters.
These explanations include, but are not limited to: the use of hallucinogenic
mushrooms in Irish sweathouses, collective, non drug-induced hallucination,
fairies as ghosts, fairies as holdovers from paganism, and the idea
that fairies could be a folkloric memory of some primitive pygmy tribes.
Briggs, Katharine. An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins,
Brownies, Bogies and other Supernatural Creatures. New York: Pantheon,
1976.
This book presents a variety of information on a number of mystical
creatures, including entomology. Irish fairies are referred to as
the "Tuatha de Danann," the people of the goddess Dana, who are traditionally
supposed to be the race who inhabited Ireland after conquering the
Firbolgs, and whom were forced to seek refuge under the hills and
lakes of Ireland.
MacManus, Diarmund. Irish Earth Folk. New York: The Devin-Adair
Co., 1959.
Another collection of accounts of "seeings," (encounters) with fairies
in Ireland. These encounters are chronicled as real fairy sightings
with a variety of kinds of fair-folk.
Silver, Carole G. Strange and Secret Peoples. New york:
Oxford University Press, 1999.
This book proposes many theories on the origins of fairy lore and
fairy sightings, including fairies as real supernatural entities visible
only to those in a state of religious ecstasy, fairies as relics of
an aboriginal people, and fairies as a scientific phenomenon.
