Joined: Apr 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 253 Location: Chicago, IL
differences between fairies and elves « Thread Started on Jan 27, 2006, 5:34pm »
One of the questions I get asked ALL the time is: What's the difference between a fairy and an elf?
When asked this question, I usually ask the person to be more specific because they are both very general terms used to describe everything from shoe makers to sprites.
I assume that when one asks, they are referring to what most everyone thinks as an elf... a tall, thin, pointy ear creature from the books of Tolkein and D&D, and not little winged insect looking energy beings.
My opinoin is the elves are still of the fey races and have fairy blood, however they embraced their earth bound bodies and gained banality. They became more human as a result of their enviroment. With an ever-changing world, new species coming and going, humans dominating the Earth, one would need to adapt or cease to be.
The fairies on the other hand did not embrace a physical body. They remained part of nature and became the rivers and trees. They are still spirits and did not gain banality. In a time when there was majick and superstition, fairies were plentiful, but as the majick wained, so did the fey.
This is one of the main differences between and elf and a fairy. The elf is more human, can adapt easily and cantrol emotions and actions. The fairy is not... they react as they feel, like a summer rain to a thunderstorm to a rainbow. They are not able to control themselves as much, simply because they never had to. They were as wild as nature. And those that now inhabit the bodies of humans, or those that are of the changeling clans, find it difficult and confusing. Their bodies tell them one thing, but there upbringing tells them another. Nature vs nurture, and depending on how strong the fey blood runs through the person, will determin what course of action they take.
We as elves don't get as confused. We were not as wild. We commune with nature, but we are not nature. We react to reasoning not emotion. We are very physical.
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #1 on Jan 25, 2007, 1:36am »
Oh I have a dispute with this big time! My full legal name is Catherine Anne Colchan Leslie-Faye. And I tell you right now I am most certainly fully physical and so were all my ancestors when they had children. My mother is of the Sidhe and my Father of the Faye, both are different types of people and neither are Human. Though the Sidhe are Gray Elven in nature and the Faye are Wood Elven in behavior... I do know the physical differences between all four kin groups. They all lie in my ancestry and sing in my blood.
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #2 on Feb 5, 2007, 11:07pm »
OK at the risk of sounding arrogant I'm going to post some tidbits that have come down through family...
There are two surviving branches of the Tuatha de Danu left on Earth. One is within the Irish folk including the Scots and Manx and the others now call themselves Danes. This gives a whole different slant on European history... For it makes the Danish invasion of the British Isles not an invasion but an attempted reclamation of ancestral lands by a hard pressed indigenous group who were going to the aid of family being suppressed by Celtic and Pictish oppressors.
The other tidbit is that the Fae are still found openly among the Sinti and Romany where they are a family group not a separate species of people... and to the memory of the Trooping Faeries of Medieval Scotland being a subgroup of the Sinti and also some of the Romany with Natsias meeting in joint councils.
Sigh, well I have put this up for what it is worth... not sure where to put it but it does apply to Elves and Fae. Or at least to Sithe and Faa in their many and numerous variations of spellings.
Joined: Apr 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 253 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #3 on Feb 9, 2007, 3:44pm »
You can post it here, or start a new thread in either the elves or fairy board. I would be interested in reading the whole Dane thing.
I do have a question in regards to the "4 kin groups" you mention in your first post? Which 4 groups and how do they differ from each other.
I also want to point out that you should take no offense to my original post.
I am not a "Seely fairy", nor am I a "pixie type fairy" and when people ask if I'm fey I ask them to be specific. There are many fey types out there. I am most closely associated to what the majority of kin would refer to as an Elf.
So as an Elf, I have to explain how I am different that say someone who is a pixie or a brownie.
Now I'm not trying to be rude, but besides singing blood and name dropping, if someone asked you what sort of fey are you, how would you answer, and how would you define yourself as oppose to anther fairy kin type? What's the difference between gray and woodland? What's the difference between Seely and UnSeely, or is there even a difference? Is it only regional? Is it physical? Why do some fairies have wings and others don't?
These are questions that I get asked, and I can't say... well I just know... that is not acceptable. I need some sort of answer, something feasible, something that can be researched, or compared to with others.
I'm not saying I disbelieve, hell... how can I if I myself claim kinship... I'm looking for more common ground, more answers and similarities to help myself understand.
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #4 on Feb 13, 2007, 2:18am »
OK as I posted on another group Fae no matter what the spelling is a family name. The Scots spelling is Faa, the Natsia or nation that they are decended from is Saporashti. Their tribal colors are silver and white. Fae are Dunn-Sidhe tall and thin, dark in hair and eyes but sometimes fair skinned, and frequently prone to mood swings; they are not the only Dunn-Sidhe but I can not speak of other Dunn-Sidhe as I speak of Fae. De Dannan are Bean-Sidhe in the archaic meaning White Folk. They are fair of face and eyes, some are white haired with lavender eyes and milk colored skin but they sometimes have red hair and green eyes. They are known for justice and being of a steady even mood. Gray elves and Wood elves are a miix. Gray Elves are Dannan and High Elven or Quendi. and they retain the coloring of de Dannan but have a wider range of magical or supernatural abilities or gifts. Wood Elves are a mix of de Dannan and Pritani or Picts they tend to be smaller and darker then de Dannan but they retain the gifts and abilities of their de Dannan ancestors.
The four I meant are Bean Sidhe, Dunn Sidhe, Celequendi [Gray Elven], and Taurequendi [Wood Elven].
Elenari are Elves but if they are Quendi or de Dannan or of the race from which all Elves descend is not known to me.
Seelie Court is the court of the Folk of Peace and many races and species gather there for council. UnSeelie Court is [last I went there] reserved for Elven Folk only.... Indeed did I not hold the Bean Sidhe Seat at Seelie Court I would not be allowed to enter Un-Seelie Court for my Fae Blood which is seen by some Elves as less then pure Elven.
All the Folk of Faerie that I spoke to who had wings called themselves something other then Fae... Sprite was the most common term they applied to themselves. The next most common were the Eloi who look like winged High Elves but are shapechangers far beyond the abilities of the Phookas...
When one of the Eloi mates with a Wood Elf you get offspring that Humans often call Faeries but they call themselves Illani and view themselves as of the changeling races not the Sprites.
I've also seen Phookas who were either Gray Elven or Unicorns depending if they were at formal court or out having fun. I always treated with them as though they were Elves and got along fine even at their Phooka Court.
This is the best I have so far... if I get more from the Winged Folk I will let you know. I did post a bit on Seelie Court under Seelie Court Memories but I can see that I need to post more there.
Joined: Apr 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 253 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #5 on May 1, 2007, 10:27am »
Actually that does help. It seems that your history is based mostly from the Celtic fairy. But what of the Elves of LappLand or Scandinavia? Those would fall under a completely different point.
what makes and elf...an elf..and a fairy... a fairy. What is the difference in the terms I guess is what I am getting at more?
Joined: Apr 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 253 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #7 on Sept 2, 2008, 1:46pm »
First let me clarify, Elf as in those Tolkein like creatures with pointy ears and fairy as in Tinkerbell (just to break it down into it's most mundane understanding) Related yes, but are very different from one another. I would consider them cousins.
Joined: Mar 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 10 Location: California
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #8 on Sept 6, 2008, 8:54pm »
Well, if you are asking "what makes a Tolkien elf different from a Tinkerbell" then I think you have answered your own question. Just look at them, for a start. But not all elves are like Tolkien's Eldar and I'd say most faery are not like Tinkerbell. (There are "littles" that are like that, but not most.)
@Mairi, yes, I'd say we are related, although that gets complicated. Not all elves are from Earth, for starters, and Faery is vaster than the bit of it that overlaps with / connects to Earth's spiritual realms. For me elven-sidhe-faery is a kind of spectrum, muddied even more by the fact that there can be literal crossbreeding. It's not "there isn't a difference" though.
Joined: Apr 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 253 Location: Chicago, IL
Re: differences between fairies and elves « Reply #9 on Sept 8, 2008, 1:37pm »
My example is the most mundane of understandings. I didn't say ALL elves are Tolkein Elves, however, when one refers to elf, the majority of people, if not thinking Keebler or Santa will think of Tolkein or D&D. Same with fairy, if you refer to someone as a fairy, the majority of people will immediately think pixie sprite, 6 inches tall with wings. Perhaps you misread what I wrote. But the question still remains unanswered as in, what is the difference between elf and fairy? I receive disagreement on my theory, however no one seems to be able to come up with an argumentative theory for debate.
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