Pixie
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| AKA: Pixy Piskie Pigsie Pixi |
|
| Creature | |
|---|---|
| Grouping | Mythological creature Fairy Sprite (creature) |
| Data | |
| First reported | In folklore |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Region | Cornwall and Devon |
| Habitat | moor, forest |
| Status | Unconfirmed |
Pixies (also Pixy, Pixi, Piskies and Pigsies as they are sometimes known in Cornwall) are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon [1] and Cornwall, [2] suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.
They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Sometimes their eyes are described as being pointed upwards at the temple ends. These, however, are Victorian Era conventions and not part of the older mythology.
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[edit] Etymology
The origin of the name piskie or pixie is uncertain. Some have claimed that it comes from the Swedish dialectal pyske meaning wee little fairy.[3] Others, however, have disputed this, claiming that due to the Cornish origin of the piskie that the term is probably Celtic in origin, though no known Celtic ancestor of the word is known.[4]
[edit] Characteristics
Pixies are variously described in folklore and fiction. In the legends associated with Dartmoor, Pixies (or Piskeys) are said to disguise themselves as a bundle of rags to lure children into their play. The pixies of Dartmoor are fond of music and dancing. These Pixies are said to be helpful to normal humans, sometimes helping needy widows and others with housework.
They are often ill clothed or naked. [5] Lack of fashion sense has been taken by Rachael de Vienne, a fantasy writer, to mean that Pixies generally go unclothed, though they are sensitive to human need for covering. [6] William Crossing noted a Pixie's preference for bits of finery: "Indeed a sort of weakness for finery exists among them, and a piece of ribon appears to be ... highly prized by them." [7] In Ms de Vienne's book, the main character, a pixie child, delights in ribons made from her father's shirt.
In Devon, Pixies are said to be “invisibly small, and harmless or friendly to man.” Yet in some of the legends and historical accounts they are presented as having near human stature. For instance, a member of the Elford family in Tavistock, Devon, successfully hid from Cromwell’s troops in a Pixie house. [8] Though the entrance has narrowed with time, the pixie house, a natural cavern on Sheep Tor, still is accessible.
A location in Devon associated with Pixies was the inspiration for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Song of the Pixies. [9]
Many Victorian era poets saw them as magical beings. An example is Samuel Minturn Peck. In his poem “The Pixies” he writes [10]:
- ‘Tis said their forms are tiny, yet
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- All human ills they can subdue,
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- Or with a wand or amulet
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- Can win a maiden’s heart for you;
- And many a blessing know to stew
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- To make to wedlock bright;
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- Give honour to the dainty crew,
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- The Pixies are abroad tonight.
By the early 19th Century their contact with “normal humans” had diminished. In Drew’s Cornwall [11] one finds the observation: “The age of Pixies, like that of Chivalry, is gone. There is, perhaps, at present hardly a house they are reputed to visit. Even the fields and lanes which they formerly frequented seem to be nearly forsaken. Their music is rarely heard.”
Some Pixies are said to steal children or to lead travelers astray. This seems to be a cross over from Fairy mythology and not originally attached to Pixies. Thomas Keightley observed that much of Fairy myth is attached to Pixies by Devon mythology. [12] Pixies are said to reward consideration and punish neglect on the part of larger humans. Keightley gives examples. By their presence they bring blessings to those who are fond of them.
Pixies are drawn to horses, riding them for pleasure and making tangled ringlets in the manes of those horses they ride. They are “great explorers familiar with the caves of the ocean, the hidden sources of the streams and the recesses of the land.” [13]
The Victorian era writer Mary Elizabeth Whitcombe divided Pixies in to tribes according to personality and deeds. [14] Ann Eliza Bray suggested that Pixies and Fairies were distinct species. [15] Some find Pixies to have a human origin or to “partake of human nature” in distinction to Fairies whose mythology is traced to immaterial and malignant spirit forces. In folklore Pixies and Fairies are antagonists. They battled at Buckland St. Mary, Somerset. The Pixies were victorious and still visit the area. The Fairies are said to have left after their loss. [16]
Pixie mythology seems to predate Christian presence in Britain. They were subsumed into what passed as Christianity with the explanation that they were the souls of children who had died un-baptized. By the mid 19th Century Pixies were associated with the Picts. This is an improbable origin of Pixie mythology. Some 19th Century researchers made more general claims about Pixie origins, or have connected them with Puck, a mythological creature sometimes described as a fairy. The name Puck is of uncertain origin.
One British scholar took Pixie myth seriously enough to state his belief that “Pixies were evidently a smaller race, and, from the greater obscurity of the … tales about them, I believe them to have been an earlier race.” [17]
Pixies are said to be uncommonly beautiful, though there are some called pixie who have distorted and strange appearance. One Pixie is said to have some goat-like features. Another is said to be coltish in character.
Before the mid 19th Century Pixies and Faires were taken seriously in much of Cornwall and Devon. Books devoted to the homely beliefs of the peasantry are filled with incidents of Pixie manifestations. Some locales are named for the Pixies associated with them. In Devon, near Challacombe,a group of rocks are named for the Pixies said to dwell there. In some areas belief in Pixies and Fairies persists.
In modern fiction the fantasy author Rachael de Vienne is probably most faithful to Pixie mythology, weaving many of its elements into her work. Other writers pay tribute to Pixies by at least using the name, though they often stray from the mythology. The myths themselves are so diverse that many different and interesting approaches to Pixies can be taken without damage to original sources.
Until the advent of more modern fiction, Pixie mythology was localized to Britain. Some have noted similarities to “northern fairies,” Germanic and Scandinavian fae, [18], but Pixies are distinguished from them by the myths and stories of Devon and Cornwall as noted earlier in this article.
In some discussions Pixies are presented as wingless, pygmy like creatures. This is probably a later accretion to the mythology. The English poet Nora Chesson summarized Pixie mythology fairly well in a poem entitled The Pixies. [19] She gathered all the speculations and myths into verse:
- Have e’er you seen the Pixies, the fold not blest or banned?
- They walk upon the waters; they sail upon the land,
- They make the green grass greener where’er their footsteps fall,
- The wildest hind in the forest comes at their call.
- They steal from bolted linneys, they milk the key at grass,
- The maids are kissed a-milking, and no one hears them pass.
- They flit from byre to stable and ride unbroken foals,
- They seek out human lovers to win them souls.
- The Pixies know no sorrow, the Pixies feel no fear,
- They take no care for harvest or seedtime of the year;
- Age lays no finger on them, the reaper time goes by
- The Pixies, they who change not, grow old or die.
- The Pixies though they love us, behold us pass away,
- And are not sad for flowers they gathered yesterday,
- To-day has crimson foxglove.
- If purple hose-in-hose withered last night
- To-morrow will have its rose.
She touches on all the essentials, including even more modern accretions. Pixies are “in between,” not cursed by God or especially blessed. They do the unexpected. They bless the land. They are forest creatures whom other wild creatures find alluring and nonthreatening. They love humans, taking some for mates. They are nearly ageless. They are winged, flitting from place to place.
[edit] Fiction
Pixies serve as helpers of Santa Claus in L. Frank Baum's 1902 novel The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and his 1904 short story "A Kidnapped Santa Claus."
In Holly Black's works, pixies are green-skinned, human-sized faeries with shimmering wings. They have a command of glamour and a type of power to charm or seduce others.
In Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, pixies are one of a number of magical species that have been driven underground by humans and the pollution they have caused on Earth. Opal Koboi is the megalomaniac, genius pixie of Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky feature a race of fairies named "Pictsies," which are truly Pictish pixies.
In Rachael de Vienne's Pixie Warrior, Pixies are winged females with wings that color to show their emotions. They seek husbands from among humans. They are four feet tall on average, and have a gestation of two weeks.
In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart releases a cage of Cornish blue pixies into the classroom in an effort to teach the students how to defeat them in his Defense Against Dark Arts class.
In Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series, Rachel, a witch, works closely with Jenks, a pixie, to track down the missing, save various creatures, retrieve stolen objects, defend the defenseless, etc. Jenks, his wife, and large family live in, tend, and protect Rachel's garden.
UK rock band Alien Stash Tin included a short 'novelty' song called 'Bingo The Magic Pixie' as a bonus track on their 2007 debut album. Bingo is described as 'living alone' and making 'mushroom wine' which he shares with his friends.
[edit] Animation
Peter Pan (1953 film): In the Disney film based on the play by J.M. Barrie, Tinker Bell is described as a pixie but is actually a fairy. In the Disney versions she always uses "pixie dust" rather than the fairy dust in the play. "In Sir James M. Barrie's original play, Tinker Bell is traditionally staged as a flying point of light beamed from offstage. Animator Marc Davis' personification of her as a winged pixie with a very womanly figure was widely criticized as too sexually suggestive by Barrie purists, especially after it was rumored that she was modeled after actress Marilyn Monroe. Tinker Bell was actually modeled after Margaret Kerry, the actress who performed her live-action reference." [20] According to Barrie's original play: "Peter Pan ... explained, 'she is called Tinker Bell because she mends the pots and kettles (tinker = tin worker).' (Similar to 'cinder' plus 'elle' to get Cinderella)". [21]
In The Fairly OddParents The Pixies are dull, wear grey suits, speak in monotone voices, wear pointy caps and, unlike the fairies, treat magic like a business. Instead of wands, they carry cellphones. The Head Pixie (H.P. for short), Mr. Sanderson, and the other male pixies are all voiced by Ben Stein. The female pixies are not seen. This is due to them being named after pixels.
[edit] See also
- Goblin
- Korrigans
- Sprite (creature)
- Fairy
- Peter and the Piskies: Cornish Folk and Fairy Tales
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- Army-McCarthy Hearings
[edit] References
- ^ R. Totnea: Pixies, Once a Week, May 25, 1867, page 608, notes the prevalence of belief in Pixies in Devon.
- ^ The Folk-Lore of Devon, Fraser's Magazine, December 1875, page 773ff.
- ^ E. M. Kirkpatrick, ed. Chambers 20th Century Dictionary (New Edition, 1983,page 978 ed.).
- ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pixie
- ^ Robert Hunt: Popular Romances of West England, 1881, page 96
- ^ Rachael de Vienne, Pixie Warrior, Drollerie Press, 2007
- ^ William Crossing: Tales of the Dartmoor Pixies, 1890, page 5.
- ^ A Handbook for Travelers in Devon, 1887 edition, page 230.
- ^ Shed (editor): Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Vol. 7, 1854, page 24
- ^ Ballads and Rondeaus, 1881, page 47
- ^ The History of Cornwall From the Earliest Records & Traditions, to the Present Time, 2 vols. 1824.
- ^ The Fairy Mythology, 1850, page 299.
- ^ Devon Pixies, Once A Week, February 23, 1867, pages 204-5.
- ^ Bygone Days of Devon and Cornwall, 1874, page 45.
- ^ Legends, Superstitions and Sketches of Devonshire, 1844, page 169.
- ^ Katherine Mary Brigs: The Faires in Tradition and Literature, page 179.
- ^ C. Spence Bate: Grimpspound and Its Associated Relics, Annual Report of the Transactions of the Plymouth Institution, Vol. 5. part 1, 1873-4, page 46
- ^ eg. John Thackray Bunce: Fairy Tails: Their Origin and Meaning, 1878, page 133.
- ^ Nora Chesson: Aquamarines, London, 1902, page 81.
- ^ [1] Walt Disney Archives 2008, Tinker Bell charater
- ^ [2] Project Gutenburg edition of public domain Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) by J. M. Barrie, 1991, 2006.
[edit] External links
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