The origins of current fantasy fiction go back centuries

Fallen angels and demigods

Debate continues over what exactly fairies are – fallen angels, demigods, and human spirits – and some see their ancestors as the likes of Lilith. Possibly originating from Mesopotamia, Lilith is adopted in some Jewish folk traditions as the first wife of Adam who was expelled from Eden after demanding to be his equal. She has sex with men, often while they are asleep, in order to get pregnant. Lilith is often associated with Lamia, a character from Greek mythology. Lamia also seduces men, and steals children, like Lilith, which is common behavior.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when or why fairies began to transform from the skittish, fearsome creatures of folklore into the bright-winged, cheerful do-gooders that many think of them as today. According to the book Folk Magic: British and Irish Fairies from 500 AD to the Present by Simon Young and Siri Holbrook, the first fairy wings “appeared only at the end of the 18th century in paintings, and were the invention of a cabal of British artists and not a feature of traditional folklore. It took another 70 years for fairy wings to be mentioned in fairy tales, and then another 50 years for the first claims that people had seen fairies with wings.”

Scientific

The book itself notes that belief in fairies declined from the mid-nineteenth century with the advent of the industrial age, perhaps as a result of urbanization and the decline of the kind of rural places favored by young folk, or perhaps as a result of increasing scientific knowledge and skepticism about popular superstitions. Perhaps improving infant mortality also contributed to the disappearance of fairies.

In some ways, J.M. Barrie’s creation of Tinker Bell, from Peter Pan, represents both ancient and modern traditions: she physically resembles the kind-hearted type of fairy but is messy and cruel—and sexually jealous of Wendy.