Fairies | Three Ravens Bestiary #26

For the final episode in our 26 part A-Z of mythical creatures we're slipping into some liminal spaces to talk about Fairies!

Starting with the question of what even is "a fairy" and how did that word come to be?

Should we think of them as handsome and seductive, like in the Romantasy genre, or as nature spirits that need feeding with human blood, via your sourdough starter?

Do we still identify with the pagan idea of fairies shaping human destiny as they fancy, or the post-Reformation concept of the fairy as a form of beautiful ghost seeking to lead us to damnation?

For most people today they're icons of cuteness and childish whimsy, but why did the Victorians shrink them down and give them wings?

Also, why does nobody explain the rules of Fairyland in any Fairy Tales, and what makes marriage so important in so many tales about these poor, fallen, yet somehow powerful creatures?

With examples from Ancient Rome to Medieval chronicles, Witch Trial transcripts to the case of the Cottingley Fairies, join us to explore how 'The Fairy' ultimately reflects the shape of human consciousness era-to-era.

So feed your green child her broad beans, don't get off your horse until your fairy dog does, and toss your wishes into the river, as it's a topic befitting the end of this series - massive, but also tiny, and constantly transforming to mirror the strange shape of life in the real world...

We also hope you increasingly pleased by our new Bestiary episode art, as drawn by our good friend Tom Peteuil of Creature Castle - check out brand new Fairy merch here and visit the Creature Castle shop for prints and other wonderful things here.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

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