Post by Clovis Merovingian on Jun 25, 2022 18:49:08 GMT
Currently I am reading a book that I bought on Amazon Kindle by historian Simon Webb called the Origins of Witches, Wizards, and Fairies, which argues that things fairytales, Arthurian Romances, and fantasy stories like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and A Song of Ice and Fire, are based on subconscious cultural remembrances by European and other Western societies of Bronze Age Europe. To give an example, he believes that our stories about fairies are based upon remembrances of the Neolithic farming natives of Europe (the builders of Stonehenge) that were driven into hiding by the invading Indo-Europeans. Below is an excerpt from his book detailing this theory. It's from chapter 10, "On the Nature of Fairies."
Here is a fable, or tentative account, which might perhaps offer a non-supernatural explanation for the origin of fairies and elves. About 5,000 years ago Europe, including Britain, was home to a race of short, dark-skinned farmers. These Neolithic people had no metals and lived largely by subsistence farming, supplementing their crops by fishing, hunting and the gathering of wild berries, mushrooms and so on. They were small and wiry because for much of the time they lived more or less on the edge of starvation. These
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (pp. 118-119). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
aboriginal inhabitants of Europe spoke dozens, perhaps hundreds, of different languages, just as in New Guinea today there are many mutually unintelligible languages, with people unable to understand even those living a few miles away in the next valley. Around 2500 BC, the quiet life of these Neolithic farmers was overturned as invaders from the east surged across the continent. The newcomers had wagons and metal swords, against which the flint weapons of the indigenous inhabitants were useless. All they could do was make hit-and-run attacks against the marauding tribes. These people were taller, stronger and paler than those living in Europe. They were bigger because they were better nourished. They drove their herds of cattle and sheep with them as they travelled. This provided them with a protein-rich diet of dairy products and meat, rather than the thin gruel
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 119). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
made of wheat and barley which was the staple diet of the Europeans. As the years passed, the Yamnaya, for it was they and their descendants who were sweeping in from the steppes, consolidated their grip upon the continent and established their own settlements. They disposed ruthlessly of the men they encountered, putting them to the sword, but some of the women they allowed to become slaves and concubines. Slowly, but inexorably, the original inhabitants of the land withdrew into the forests and mountains. There, they eked out a wretched existence, making guerrilla raids on those who had stolen their land. Sometimes they would fire flint-tipped arrows at men working in the fields. Hunger drove them to desperate action such as sneaking into barns at night and milking cows dry or stealing as much fruit from an orchard as they could carry away. For obvious reasons, these resistance fighters ensured that their clothes
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 119). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
would not stand out at a distance. They dressed in material which had been dyed green with plant material and they would cover themselves in sprigs of heather, twigs and leaves, in an attempt to blend into the landscape. This led superstitious countrymen to mistake them for nature spirits. As the bands of those who fought back against the usurpers dwindled in size, inbreeding took place, cousin marriages or even coupling between brothers and sisters. This led to genetic defects and the birth of sickly and deformed babies. To improve their own stock, those who were now known as the ‘hidden people’ would sometimes find a way to exchange one of their own sickly babies for a robust and healthy one belonging to the invaders. As time passed, some of those in hiding gave up and came to work as servants for the new owners of the land. These small, stocky and dark-skinned men became known as ‘brownies’ and they
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (pp. 119-120). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
worked around farms in exchange for food. Those who maintained the struggle, however, would come at night and take the metal tools which they were unable to make themselves. The question of metal is an interesting one for the Yamnaya were keenly aware that it was their mastery of smithing which had given them the edge over those who had once lived where they did. So it was that a piece of folklore arose that iron provided protection against fairies. As the decades became centuries and eventually millennia, the history of the invasion and occupation of Europe became forgotten. All that was recalled was that a small people had once lived here and could still be glimpsed from time to time. It was considered taboo to speak aloud of these little ones and so a number of euphemisms were devised, such as the ‘good people’. This hidden race could cause problems if one was not careful to placate them with gifts of food. They were quite
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 120). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
capable of wreaking havoc at night and playing mischievous tricks. Although they seldom did so these days, at one time they fired arrows with stone points at people and these would sometimes turn up in ploughed fields.
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 120). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (pp. 118-119). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
aboriginal inhabitants of Europe spoke dozens, perhaps hundreds, of different languages, just as in New Guinea today there are many mutually unintelligible languages, with people unable to understand even those living a few miles away in the next valley. Around 2500 BC, the quiet life of these Neolithic farmers was overturned as invaders from the east surged across the continent. The newcomers had wagons and metal swords, against which the flint weapons of the indigenous inhabitants were useless. All they could do was make hit-and-run attacks against the marauding tribes. These people were taller, stronger and paler than those living in Europe. They were bigger because they were better nourished. They drove their herds of cattle and sheep with them as they travelled. This provided them with a protein-rich diet of dairy products and meat, rather than the thin gruel
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 119). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
made of wheat and barley which was the staple diet of the Europeans. As the years passed, the Yamnaya, for it was they and their descendants who were sweeping in from the steppes, consolidated their grip upon the continent and established their own settlements. They disposed ruthlessly of the men they encountered, putting them to the sword, but some of the women they allowed to become slaves and concubines. Slowly, but inexorably, the original inhabitants of the land withdrew into the forests and mountains. There, they eked out a wretched existence, making guerrilla raids on those who had stolen their land. Sometimes they would fire flint-tipped arrows at men working in the fields. Hunger drove them to desperate action such as sneaking into barns at night and milking cows dry or stealing as much fruit from an orchard as they could carry away. For obvious reasons, these resistance fighters ensured that their clothes
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 119). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
would not stand out at a distance. They dressed in material which had been dyed green with plant material and they would cover themselves in sprigs of heather, twigs and leaves, in an attempt to blend into the landscape. This led superstitious countrymen to mistake them for nature spirits. As the bands of those who fought back against the usurpers dwindled in size, inbreeding took place, cousin marriages or even coupling between brothers and sisters. This led to genetic defects and the birth of sickly and deformed babies. To improve their own stock, those who were now known as the ‘hidden people’ would sometimes find a way to exchange one of their own sickly babies for a robust and healthy one belonging to the invaders. As time passed, some of those in hiding gave up and came to work as servants for the new owners of the land. These small, stocky and dark-skinned men became known as ‘brownies’ and they
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (pp. 119-120). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
worked around farms in exchange for food. Those who maintained the struggle, however, would come at night and take the metal tools which they were unable to make themselves. The question of metal is an interesting one for the Yamnaya were keenly aware that it was their mastery of smithing which had given them the edge over those who had once lived where they did. So it was that a piece of folklore arose that iron provided protection against fairies. As the decades became centuries and eventually millennia, the history of the invasion and occupation of Europe became forgotten. All that was recalled was that a small people had once lived here and could still be glimpsed from time to time. It was considered taboo to speak aloud of these little ones and so a number of euphemisms were devised, such as the ‘good people’. This hidden race could cause problems if one was not careful to placate them with gifts of food. They were quite
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 120). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
capable of wreaking havoc at night and playing mischievous tricks. Although they seldom did so these days, at one time they fired arrows with stone points at people and these would sometimes turn up in ploughed fields.
Webb, Simon. The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies (p. 120). Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition.
No, but do they exist? Refer to my comment responding to Eugene above. I happen to think fairies have their origins in the minor deities and spirits of pagan religion. The Bible teaches that the pagan deities are demonic in nature. For example in Acts 16 Paul runs in to a woman possessed by, "a spirit of divination." In the original Greek its called a, "Python spirit." Python is a Greek snake god associated with prophecy and divination.
