There are many tales (mostly in Europe) regardling elves, fairies, pixies, dryads, nymphs, you name it. I was wondering if anyone here has ever done a lot of research into this? I've dipped into it a little bit, and I'm curious to see what else is out there on it...

Also, in regards to the nastier versions, such as goblins, trolls, kobalds, etc.

Why do you think there are so many references to such creatures? Is it possible that there is really a basis in reality for one or more of them? The idea of "little people" seems to be all over European folklore.... I'm especially interested in the viewpoints of Europeans, who have grown up with such tales....Thanks!

Nice article...

Still though, I'm wondering what began all of this...what's the basis? Such folk appear in stories that are centuries old, and even fairy tales (pardon the pun) had to come from somewhere....even if only the imagination, but in several different regions and countries?

You will be hard pressed to found out where these stories originated from especialy in the West. The far east has a"fairy" story which is significant to the religion of Budisam(sp) i believe. If i remember the bed time story correctly Budha was nursed by fairys while making a journy through the forest. They protected him by enveloping him in a growing light which the dancing fairy's emitted. After serving their purpose these fairy's would soon die and shrival up. People have reported seeing fairys at night circiling their campfires, some have also claimed to find their shriveld bodies in the woods. Some of these supposed fairy bodys have even been sold to tourists. I know some supposed remains were studied but I am not a ware of the findings. I am also somewhat foggy on the legend as well. If anyone can enlighten me i would appreciate it much. My point is that fairy stories come from all over the world and are present in a number of religions. Do i by that fairys exist, no because no real evidence has been found to support that arguement, but it is intriguing that the popularity of these stories has with stood boundries and time.

It is believed that these stories originate from the "Spirits of nature" religions, where all things in the nature hadits own living spirit.
Quite similar to the religions you can find in e.g africa today.

Do a search on the forum. There's a thread with a few nice pictures of faries! Most of them are accepted fakes though...