Once upon a time, fairy tales were simply stories, tales that might or might not be true, but were thought plausible.

When science made them implausible, they became material first for the folklorists and then for the children.

But the modern world would find a whole new use for them.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music Episode 302, When You Wish Upon a Star.

What image comes to your mind when I say the word fairy?

Most people would answer that question by describing a creature that is human in appearance,

but smaller than a human being, perhaps much, much smaller than a human being, probably

equipped with wings, and capable of casting magic spells.

In short, Tinkerbell, a character that originated in J.M. Barry's 1904 stage play, Peter Pan,

but you probably visualized based on the character in the 1953 animated film of the same title,

produced by Walt Disney.

The English word fairy is a borrowing from French.

The older Anglo-Saxon word is elf.

Elf and fairy are essentially synonyms, and folklore about these beings goes back at least as far

as the cultures of medieval Germanic-speaking Europe,

and may be rooted in the much older Indo-European cultures.

But the elves of medieval times were not cute little creatures like Tinkerbell.

As Exhibit A, I direct you to The Green Knight in the celebrated medieval English

poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. You may be more familiar with the character from the

2021 film, The Green Knight, written and directed by David Lowry and starring Dev Patel.

In the poem, The Green Knight is a fearsome warrior.

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