in folklore, one of a variety of supernatural beings endowed with the powers of magic and enchantment. Belief in fairies has existed from earliest times, and literatures all over the world have tales of fairies and their relations with humans. Some Christians have said that fairies were the ancestors of the ancient pagan gods, who, having been replaced by newer deities, were therefore hostile. Others thought that fairies were nature deities, similar to the Greek nymphs . Still others identified fairies with the souls of the dead, particularly the unbaptized, or with fallen angels . Among their many guises, fairies have been described as tiny, wizen-faced old men, like the Irish leprechaun ; as beautiful enchantresses who wooed men to their deaths, like Morgan le Fay and the Lorelei ; and as hideous, man-eating giants, like the ogre. Fairies were frequently supposed to reside in a kingdom of their own—which might be underground, e.g., gnomes ; in the sea, e.g., mermaids ; in an…