Meeting the other crowd

“Meeting the Other Crowd” is a collection of fairy lore collected and edited by Eddie Lenihan, an Irish lore-master or story-teller of some standing. Yes, it´s Lenihan who is the “activist” I mentioned in a previous review who tried to save a tree from being cut down by the Irish authorities, in the un-ironic belief that said tree was a “fairy fort”.

I read about half of “Meeting the Other Crowd”. I think Lenihan wants the tales to be as timeless as possible, and the book therefore contains little information on where, when and how they were collected, or what exact time-period they are from. Some mention the potato blight, while others seem to be set during the 1950´s. The oldest story-teller is said to have passed away during the 1990´s. Most of the stories were collected in southwest Ireland: Clare, Limerick, Kerry and parts of south Galway.

The fairies are described as human-like, but usually of smaller stature. Sometimes they are distinctly uglier than humans. However, there seems to be a caste of fairies which are tall and very attractive. The fairy are not the cartoonish and sweet characters we remember from a childhood of watching too many Disney films. Quite the contrary, they are dangerous, frequently abduct or attack humans, and their “forts” and paths are forbidden territory for us. Many of the stories collected in this volume are disturbing. In one, a fairy learns that he will never be saved (i.e. saved by God on Judgment Day) and reacts in a very bizarre manner. In another, a man who accidentally shot a fairy is almost abducted by human-sized fairies dressed as undertakers, complete with a huge coffin! He eventually has to leave Ireland altogether. Building a house across a fairy path can lead, at the very least, to a severe case of poltergeist-like haunting. Cutting down hawthorn bushes (believed to be sacred to the fairies) can lead to the guilty party dying. Another consequence could be nasty traffic accidents, if a highway is built where the fairy fort once stood.

The Irish fairies are divided into tribes or nations, and fight frequent wars against one another. They travel at night with their fairy horses at a lightning speed (compare Odin´s “wild hunt”). I already mentioned the existence of several castes. The fairy queens belong to the higher one, naturally. And yes, they really do dance in circles. Some of their pastimes are more unexpected. Thus, two of the stories in the book are about humans who were temporarily abducted by fairies who needed a referee to their hurling games! (Hurling is a traditional Irish team sport. Think field hockey combined with rugby. Apparently, fairies take it very seriously indeed.) Clearly, these are not the Celtic cousins of Tinkerbell, that´s for sure…

If something “objective” is behind all these observations is another thing entirely. A few stories mention strange lights in association with fairies. Many other stories could perhaps be given a psychological explanation. They are attempts to explain sudden death or paralysis, or cautionary tales about not going out late at night. The jealousy typical of poor peasant communities form the subtext of many tales. Riches are due to luck (“from the fairies”) and the money soon turn out to create more problems than they are worth (once again, due to the fairies). If anything objective is left after all these interpretive layers have been peeled off, is left for the reader to decide. One thing I noticed is that the fairy don’t act as “pure” spirits or ghost, but rather like a race of little people living in our dimension of reality, albeit with unusual abilities. Unless I misunderstood the book somehow, it claims that fairies are mortal: they are born, and they do die. As already mentioned, they live at actual physical locations in the landscape, usually Bronze Age burial grounds or hawthorn bushes. They are also strongly connected to the country of Ireland, and apparently cannot leave it (or don´t want to), since one way of escaping them is to buy a one-way ticket to Ellis Island. I´m almost tempted to call them cryptids…

Recommended, if folklore and fairy-lore is your thing.