Folklore: Faery Queen
A Faeries and Folklore by Ronel post
Welcome to Faeries and Folklore by Ronel.
You can listen to this post in English or Afrikaans at the end of this post.
Foklore in a Nutshell
The Faery Queen has always been this powerful, otherworldly beauty cloaked in mystery and whispers. Not a lot can be found in folklore about her, but what is obvious is that she goes by many names and can be found across the globe.
In Irish folklore, Aoibheall, is the queen of the fae. Her name means “beauty” or “burning fire”, depending on how old you think her name is. She is a favourite in Irish literature.
Mab is the faery queen in English folklore and makes her appearance in sixteenth and seventeenth century literature.
Titania is also the faery queen in English folklore thanks to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
There are other named faery queens, but most I cannot even fathom how to pronounce – and I daren’t mess it up as faery queens are most volatile where it comes to courtly manners and being respectful of that all-important name, as there is power in a name.
Faerie is almost always said to be ruled by a queen. Though there are many named fairy kings, they only rule small kingdoms, not the entirety of Faerie.
Though faery queens are always beautiful, powerful, and seemingly gracious – they are still fae and still have the propensity for cruelty, and thus their capricious nature should never be forgotten. Even if Faerie seems to favour girl-power.
Origin of the Fae
Formal name: Queen Andromeda (used to seal compacts, curses, etc. There’s power in a name.).
Known as: Mae.
Known love-interest: Jamie MacKinnion, leader of the Galno, laird of clan Kinnion.
Weaknesses: none known.
Mae is the all-powerful queen of the fae. Though she shares the responsibility of Faerie and all fae with the Dark King, it is on her mercy fae (and others) fall when they have transgressed. She makes the rules; she enforces the rules (sending the Assassin or the Seelie Knights after the perpetrators).
Only the Assassin, the Dark King and the Cù Sìth can rival her powers. Even Ankou, King of the Dead, defers to her.
She can be volatile, merciful, caring and careless depending on her mood. The Rift was caused during one of her careless moments.
She is Faerie. Everything lives and dies by her whim. Everything comes into being or disappears at her command. After the Rift that divided Faerie, she no longer has such power over the Dark Lands belonging to the Unseelie Court and the Dark King.
When she decides to interfere in the Mortal Realm it is rarely a whim: she had foreseen something in her waterfall that is the Eye of Time, and it had most likely been confirmed by one of her Seers or even the Fates.
Mae is a powerful, independent woman in charge of a whole race of beings. It is her job to make sure that peace prevails between Man and Fae, to make sure the Dark King doesn’t do more damage than he already did by creating the Rift and the Labyrinth, and that everyone survives the unexpected.
You can read the full folklore post with references on my blog.
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