The fairytale. Also written, “fairy tale.” That concept is synonymous with sweet and wonderful weddings, with Disney, with the Brothers Grimm, with fantasy romance, and with the Medieval and Renaissance time periods in European history. To be fair, many traditional fairytales arose from poetry created during the Age of Chivalry (also known as the Medieval Age, not the video game!), so it’s not surprising that many of them evoke romantic notions of honorable knights, beautiful princesses and valorous deeds.
What Exactly is a Fairytale?
Merriam-Webster defines it as both a noun: A story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (such as fairies, wizards and goblins) and as an adjective: characteristic of or suitable to a fairytale, especially: marked by seemingly unreal beauty, perfection, luck or happiness.
They further define a “fairy” as: a mythical being of folklore and romance usually having diminutive human form and magic powers.
I am certain I could write an entire book on the etymology of the word “fairy”, its various forms, and its meaning in the context of folklore to the various civilizations and cultures who held beliefs in such supernatural beings, but in general, the modern world seems to have accepted the definition of a fairy as simply a “mythical being” – often correlated with gods or demons or some kind of superhuman, magical entity that falls in between. On a certain level that makes sense, because “mythical beings” have existed in some form or fashion in every culture in the world.
I learned about the Othercrowd from Irish writers – and that plunged me into a lifelong obsession with Irish mythology and fairy lore. So the Irish “Otherworld” is the mythical being concept that resonates with me most. It’s usually what informs my writing and inspires my fantasy, in case you’re wondering.
When it comes to romance though, I think there is an argument to be made that all romances generally aspire to be fairytales – we want to read beautiful, unreal love stories that end in perfect happiness, whether the conflicts between the characters are real or imaginary. For me though, there is just something extra that draws me to a fantasy romance where the love story actually involves a fae. Is it the mystery of the unknown? The lure of the impossible? The danger in going too far? I don’t want perfect happiness and unreal love. I want love that was hard won, that took characters to hell and back, that struggled against seemingly insurmountable odds – all bound up in myth and magic.
It should be hard to make a bargain for someone’s heart. Treacherous even. It should require sacrifice. It should be a quest that makes us better than we are.
Again, my heart is deeply attached to Irish mythology – so when I think of fairies and romance, this is the lens through which I see them. True fairytales, in my humble opinion, have to be tied to myth and magic, and they have to be wildly, unpredictably dangerous.
Why Write About Fairies?
The easy answer is: I like fairytales. I love fairytale retellings. I like dark, spooky settings, goosebumps, prophecies, witchcraft and getting into (making?) trouble. Yes to all of that – except I think fairies should act like the terrifyingly mysterious creatures they are and not twee little sprites.
Personally, I think the modern concept of the fairy tale that we’ve all embraced is actually a stripped down, genericized, unromantic version of what we really wish it could be – dark, scary and filled to the brim with the kind of world-ending magical romance we would die for. What do supernaturals want from us? In mythology, that question is often left wildly vague or predicated on fickle motives, so for me, half the excitement of writing (or reading) stories about fairies is discovering what they want.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of making them lightly-glamoured versions of humans without considering why they ought to be different from us in the first place. The otherworldliness of mythical creatures is an elegant juxtaposition for our own rough humanity, but that ends when they stop being otherworldly. In my opinion, “what do supernatural creatures want from us and what do we want from them” is the truly important question writers should be trying to answer in a fantasy romance where fae are part of the character lineup. Why are humans falling in love with them? What does it mean to love a creature like that? How does it challenge our protagonists to evolve and choose that love over the alternative? What can we learn about ourselves from loving the fantastical?
Escapism is one thing, but why do we keep coming back to these kinds of stories if we’re not trying to answer these questions?
Humbly, I believe the answers to these questions give power to the human experience – giving us not just a story of love conquering all or good triumphing over evil, but defining humanity as necessary in a world that shouldn’t need us. I would argue that romance, and particularly fantasy romance, shows why fighting for love is worth it – and that, my friends, is the true power of the fairytale.