Fairy Tale Spotlight: Fairies Becoming Animals

Fairies would sometimes take the form of animals in fairy tales--especially in the Grimm stories. Sometimes, they would do this by choice, but there are quite a number of cases where it was forced upon them. As to the latter, these animals may actually be humans who have been transformed; however, I personally think they were fairies all along. Let's chat a little about these specific type of fairies.

Fairy creatures come in all types. They are magical and often have the ability to change their forms. What animal they choose often reflects their character. A talking finch or a bunny might be a very pleasant sort of fairy, while a talking vulture or snake might be ones to be wary about. Nevertheless, I would rather focus on the nice ones. The reason for this is because the outcome generally reflects the nature of the human that runs into them.

Some of these animals are just trying to help without exposing what they truly are. Call it shyness! Either way, these animals will often offer to assist the protagonist with something. They may give them a present or tell them the direction they wish to go. More often then not, these encounters are good. A fairy who changes themselves into a nice animal willingly generally does so because they already like the person they are going to help.

As I said earlier, there are a number of incidences where princes were enchanted into animals. I have mixed feelings on the wording used in these stories. Many of these so-called princes seem to have an understanding of fairy magic that they should not be privy to. Why would a creature turn them into an animal as well as give them very useful magic they can use. Seems a bit like being sent to prison where the prison is a paradise resort. No, I think these princes may be fairies. They may be princes too. Why not? But the fact remains that they are simply not normal.

Probably the most famous example of the latter situation would be the Grimm story "The Fisherman and his Wife." By the way, this is one of my all time favorite fairy tales. It is a very bold tale and even frighting at times. The fairy prince in this case is some sort of fish--often a flounder.

This fairy animal had powers that were pretty much off the chart. These powers seemed--at times--next to God's. I've heard some speculation that the fish was actually Satan; however, this is only a theory. Not even I am prepared to admit to that. The fish had the power to grant almost every wish no matter how grand. In the story, the wishes were so extravagant that it began to reflect the darkness and corruption in the one making said wish. When it came down to it, the fish was not really the one who was causing the problems. For all its power, it was the one making the wishes who was truly evil. I'll go into this story a bit more in depth later.

Now, here is a question: If you met an animal who tried to assist you or perhaps asked you if you wanted a wish granted, how would you react? I believe these things have really happened in our history. Sometimes the encounters have been good and other times they have been very bad. It is something to think about.

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