The Exeter Companion to Fairies, Nereids, Trolls and other Social Supernatural Beings, livre ebook

Fairies, elves, and other magical beings… they’re so much more than just children’s tales.

For centuries, Europeans believed in a parallel supernatural realm inhabited by these beings who lived much like humans in their own communities. This ‘social supernatural’ world mirrored ours with troll weddings, pixy battles, nereid picnics, dwarf migrations, and the like. Social supernatural beings were thought to interact with the human world in profound ways: they whipped up storms, ensured good harvests, and healed (and, all too often, caused) illness.

The Exeter Companion to Fairies, Nereids, Trolls and other Social Supernatural Beings dives into the rich folklore and oral traditions around the social supernatural across Europe; in fact, it pioneers the term ‘social supernatural’ as a folklore and supernatural category. Bringing together eighteen experts, this is the first comprehensive Europe-wide look at these beliefs and practices. Through in-depth studies, the volume explores how diverse cultures from Ireland to Ukraine, and from Norway to Greece, envisioned their supernatural neighbours and how these parallel societies reflected human concerns and desires. Our authors employ ancient, medieval, modern and, in some cases, contemporary material to tease out the ‘hidden people’ from obscure and, all too often, forgotten sources.

The book resurrects captivating stories and traditions. For anyone fascinated by European folklore, magic, and mythology, it provides a rich research seam with up-to-date bibliographies for a dozen European countries. It will be of use to folklorists, historians, ethnologists, sociologists and also the general reader interested in the supernatural beliefs of traditional European societies.

1. Introducing the Social Supernatural Simon Young and Davide Ermacora
DOI: 10.47788/NIFG1335
2. Ireland: The Tribes of the Gods and the People of the Hills John Carey
DOI: 10.47788/OFEV8836
3. The Isle of Man: ‘They Call Them the Good People’ Stephen Miller
DOI: 10.47788/YFYX8175
4. England: Small Fairies Are Beautiful Fairies Jeremy Harte
DOI: 10.47788/ULSI6409
5. Iceland: The Elves of Strandir Matthias Egeler
DOI: 10.47788/MOTK2852
6. Scandinavia: My Neighbour the Troll Tommy Kuusela
DOI: 10.47788/LHEL2533
7. The Netherlands: Witte Wieven and Other White Apparitions Yseult de Blécourt
DOI: 10.47788/YXVN8515
8. Iberia: Moors, Gentiles and Encantadas José Manuel Pedrosa
DOI: 10.47788/HUME1621
9. France: Humanlike Societies and Spaces among the Fées Andrea Maraschi
DOI: 10.47788/WYMP2420
10. German-Speaking Europe: Moosweiblein, Wichtel and Nixen Janin Pisarek and Florian Schaefer
DOI: 10.47788/ZCJG8520
11. Hungarians: Heavenly and Earthly Fairy Societies Éva Pócs
DOI: 10.47788/JVJT2813
12. Western Balkans: ‘A Vila Like a Vila’ Dorian Jurić
DOI: 10.47788/DDHP2327
13. Greece (and Italy): The Nereids, ‘Those from Outside’ Tommaso Braccini
DOI: 10.47788/NGJH2743
14. The Balts: Laume.s and Laime.s Francis Young and Saulė Kubiliūtė
DOI: 10.47788/HYYU5632
15. Ukraine: Courtship Rituals and Legends of the Bohyni Natalie Kononenko
DOI: 10.47788/UMXX7077