" These are the wise words of a
sound folk-lorist,[47] and should be laid to heart by all who take up the
study.
We cannot begin to investigate the origins of the fairy superstition in the
cradle of the world; we must be content to realise that there was a creed
concerning supernatural beings common to all the European branches of the
Aryan peoples, Greek, Roman, Celt or Teuton. When Thomas Nashe wrote in
1594 of "the Robbin-good-fellowes, Elfes, Fairies, Hobgoblins of our latter
age, which idolatrous former daies and the fantasticall world of Greece
ycleaped _Fawnes_, _Satyres_, _Dryades_, and _Hamadryades_," he spoke more
truly than he knew.[48]
First of all, let us consider the word _fairy_. Strictly, this is a
substantive meaning either "the land of the fays," or else "the fay-people"
collectively; it is also used as an equivalent for "enchantment." It was
originally, therefore, incorrect to speak of "_a_ fairy";[49] the singular
term is "_a_ fay," as opposed to "_the_ fairy." _Fay_ is derived, through
French, from the Low Latin _fata_, misunderstood as a feminine singular; it
is in fact the plural of _Fatum_, and means "the Fates."
Reversing the chronological order, let us proceed to compare the functions
of these beings. The Fates, whether the Greek _Moirae_ or the Roman
_Parcae_, were three in number, and were variously conceived as goddesses
of birth or of death; the elements of the primitive idea are, at least,
comprised in the conception that they allotted man his fate; we may also
note that the metaphor of _spinning_ was used in connection with their
duties.
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