Celtic Fairy Elements in Three Medieval Romances

Abstract

The concern of this essay is to trace these elements back to their ancient sources and to show that fairies and enchanted lands were not mere whims and fancies of poets, but rather part of an entire tradition that evolved from works more ancient than the eleventh century Welsh Mabinogion. The first portion of the study will be a general introduction to Celtic mythology. Of the myriad motifs and concepts that run through this bulk of this literature, we will consider the following for close examination: 1) the character of the Celtic Fee; 2) the dual aspects of the Other World; 3) the Other World location and landscape; 4) the fairy feast; 5) barriers to the Other World; 6) color; 7) time and abduction motifs. Moving from this introduction, the essay will then examine these elements in each romance (noting those which may be present only in a particular work).