What Is A Fairy Bride?
Accounts of Fairy Brides can be found throughout the British Isles and Scandinavian countries and go as far back as the tenth century.1 Dozens of stories about Fairy Brides have been passed down and retold up to the present day, but who are these mysterious fair folk? Fairy Bride is a term used to describe the phenomenon when an otherworldly woman marries a mortal man, though eventually she will leave him behind and return to her otherworld. The Fairy Bride brings with her wealth and prosperity, but also the danger of losing it. She has many forms and variations, benefits, and can be found in many different locations. So, how can you go about finding and obtaining such an elusive and mysterious fairy for yourself?
Different Types Of Fairy Brides?
There are three main types of Fairy Brides to pick from. For the purpose of this article, we will be discussing how to find and obtain a human Fairy Bride. However, there are two other types of Fairy Brides that I feel should be mentioned.
The Selkies and The Mermaids
There are the seal-women, or Selkies, often found in the stories of Scotland and Scandinavia.1 These seal-woman often have their seal skin stolen and hidden away from them by men when they come ashore. They marry these men, bear their children, and upon eventually finding their seal skin, they return to the sea never to be seen again. Another example would be Ireland’s mermaid Fairy Brides. These women, like the Selkies, have an important object such as a comb or clothing taken from them, and only upon retrieving that item can they return to their own world.
The Fairy Brides of Wales, however, are markedly different than its Scottish and Irish counterparts. These Fairy Brides are entirely human, and where the previous two Fairy Brides had something taken from them, this particular Fairy Bride seems to do the taking instead. She offers more to her mortal husband, than the other two, and sets the precedent for their marriage and when she will leave. She’s more assertive within the relationship, than simply marrying to retrieve something that had been taken.1
Where To Find A Human Fairy Bride?
If you’re looking for a human Fairy Bride, the best place to start looking would be in Wales. Although the surviving stories we have of the Welsh Fairy Brides is rarer than the Scottish/Scandinavian and Irish Fairy Brides, the fact that the distribution of these few stories were so wide throughout Wales points to their significance.1 From the surviving texts the most common places to find a Fairy Bride in Wales would be:
- Lakes
- Oat Fields
- and Dancing out in nature
If you happen to find a beautiful woman in one of these spots in Wales, then you’re in luck! She is probably a Fairy Bride.
How To Catch A Fairy Bride?
There are three main ways in which to catch a Fairy Bride.
- You must physically capture and subdue her.
- You must learn her name.
- You must offer her the right kind of bread.
It is a common motif amongst this type of Fairy Bride story that the mortal man, upon seeing the Fairy Bride, will overhear the secret of how to catch her from the maiden herself.1 So, if you come across your Fairy Bride dancing by the riverside, wait in the bushes and maybe you will overhear her tell you how she can be caught.
What Are The Benefits?
There are several benefits to having a Fairy Bride as your spouse. Some include:
- Children (Often these children become heroes and bring great fame to the family)
- Mystical protection for the children that the mother provides (even after she has left)
- Material wealth (from the cattle, and other goods and fortune she brings with her)
- Prestige for the family name and the descendants
- Mystical powers bestowed upon the family and its descendants
How To Keep A Fairy Bride From Leaving? (The Taboo)
The human Fairy Bride always comes with a condition. She will marry you, so long as you do not break a certain taboo that she has set for you. If you do break this taboo the Fairy Bride will immediately leave you either taking all or most of the benefits, she has brought to you. This can mean that your cattle, wealth, even your children will be taken back by the Fairy Bride.1 So as long as you avoid the specific taboo your Fairy Bride has set for you, you will be fine. Here are some common taboos that Fairy Brides have set in the past.
- Hitting her with a bridle
- Striking her with either iron or steel
- Giving her three blows
- Losing magical acorns
- Reproaching her with her origins (shaming her for being from the otherworld)
By CiCi Becker
Sources
1Wood, Juliette. “The Fairy Bride Legend in Wales.” Folklore 103, no. 1 (1992): 56–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1261034.