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Post by Elix on Jan 27, 2006 17:34:56 GMT -5
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.
What are your thoughts on this??
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Post by cathrea on Jan 25, 2007 1:36:14 GMT -5
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.
Namarie, Cathrea
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Post by cathrea on Feb 5, 2007 23:07:13 GMT -5
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.
Namarie, Cathrea
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Post by Elix on Feb 9, 2007 15:44:57 GMT -5
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.
If any of that makes sense...
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Post by cathrea on Feb 13, 2007 2:18:20 GMT -5
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.
I hope this helps.
Namarie, Cathrea
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Post by Elix on May 1, 2007 10:27:54 GMT -5
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?
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Post by Mairi on Aug 24, 2008 22:42:47 GMT -5
I don't see there being a difference. I believe that elves and fairies are related. Now who came first will always be the top of the debate
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Post by Elix on Sept 2, 2008 13:46:02 GMT -5
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.
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Post by Arethinn aTinderel on Sept 6, 2008 20:54:06 GMT -5
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.
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Post by Elix on Sept 8, 2008 13:37:09 GMT -5
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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Post by Amenthyst on Sept 10, 2008 17:36:07 GMT -5
words of advise...never use the term eloi to refer to any of my kin. it is a disgraceful term.
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Post by Arethinn aTinderel on Sept 12, 2008 17:42:11 GMT -5
Well, going way back up to your top post, I think the main thing you hypothesized was that elves are more physical and more "humanlike" than faery, and I think this is probably generally true (although there are exceptions blah blah blah). The way they react and move in the world is different. As sidhe(/faery) I often find myself a little bemused by elves' apparent thought processes and values. We do not think in the same ways it seems. One energetic difference is that elves are not involved with glamour in the way that faery are. Aside from that sidhe glamour is different than faery glamour, but while I am told there is a kind of "elven glamour", I totally can't wrap my head around it. Definitely they can use magic, but that's something yet again separate. Origins -- elves can very easily come from other places than Earth. "Earth elves" and "space elves" (to use a silly phrase) are noticeably different especially if you stand them side by side. This isn't something I can describe very well in words; they just feel very different despite physical similarities and even cultural, mental ones. Faery on the other hand, well, the realm we call "Faery" is its own thing and is not just a spirit-counterpart of Earth, and yet I can't picture faery coming here from other planets in the same way as elves can. OTOH Faery overlaps with Earth's underworld and spirit realms, I suppose the exact same thing is possible for other planets. I don't know, I find the concept very weird. Amenthyst, I have heard the word "eloi" but I have no idea what it means...
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Post by Elix on Oct 29, 2008 13:14:06 GMT -5
words of advise...never use the term eloi to refer to any of my kin. it is a disgraceful term. What?
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Post by Elix on Oct 29, 2008 13:23:39 GMT -5
Great post Eshari, Basically we are on the same page, and I'm glad to see that someone was able to muddle through my babbling explanations Personally I can't understand fey thinking. Yes we elves do possess a sort of glamour but it's not at all like faery glamour. How do I put it... when someone says, wow you know so much, I say, no I can just make it look like I do. I think most elven glamour comes from how they present themselves amongst others. Our arrogance and aloofness somehow leads people to believe that we are much wiser than most of us are LOL.
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Post by Hawkril on Dec 19, 2015 9:45:52 GMT -5
I would say a big difference between Fae(Fay) and Elves is while elves are more "human like" they also carry similar "energy" or magic limitations i.e not very powerful energy reserves. Elves of any kind have also lost the ability to grant pact magic to others, while Fae maintain a stronger tie to nature and therefore are stronger in "green magic" or primal powers and can still grant others Pact magic or broker deals to other beings in exchange for the ability to tap into the Fae's connection to the primal world and primal powers (green magic). These pacts often are a give take relationship some grant others the ability to amplify their current connection to the primal world (i.e. druids)or simply grant a being the ability to even use primal powers "green magic" (i.e. green witch) in exchange for an understanding of the physical world without actually loosing them selves to like the elves have, or worshipers to make the Fae feel he/she still has meaning in its life (these can be for either benevolent or malevolent means depending on the Faes own aliment. Most Fae that I have interacted with that still grant pacts usually do it to help guide elves or humans down a path to protect nature or its habitations, while others have granted pacts for their own agendas often the one granted the pact has either limited or no knowledge of its benefactors agenda or goals. Either way like any pact or contract the receiver is given a set of rules or guidelines that one must follow or face consequences sometimes they just simply and instantly loose the powers granted by the Fae's pact to more serious consequences like death, disease or "mental" illness.
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