Faeries are often depicted by artists with certain stereotypical traits including insect wings, pointed ears, among other things. Some even seem to believe that these traits define a faery (or "fairy" as those creatures with all of these attributes are generally called). The presence of these traits in popular faery art is discussed in the essay on faery art. In this section, I will present my own thoughts about the origins of these traits and why they are associated with Faery. Unless otherwise noted, these are my own personal hypotheses and ideas, and they are not supported by the research of folklorists or cultural anthropologists.

Insect Wings

Perhaps the popular representations of fairies with the wings of butterflies emerging from their backs derives from ideas held by the ancient Greeks. Within Greek cosmology, psyche was at once the Greek concept of the soul as well as a mythological figure, a mortal girl with whom the God Eros fell in love. A similar dual idea can also be seen in ancient Egyptian religion where Ma'at, which signifies justice, cosmic order, and truth, was at once a concept and a personified Goddess.

It is quite interesting to note that "[i]n addition to meaning 'soul,' the Greek word psyche also signifies 'butterfly'."1 When depicting the mythological Psyche, the Greeks, Romans, and later NeoClassical and Romantic artists utilized this play on words, and they often illustrate her with butterfly wings or, in some cases, with a butterfly floating above her head. A rather lovely example of this convention in art can be viewed in François Gerard's painting Psyche and Amor.2

If faeries can be regarded as the sentient, energetic, animating force and consciousness of the natural world, in other words, if faeries are the soul(s) of nature, the butterfly wings that they are generally drawn with may originate with the Greek notion of the soul and its shorthand visual indicator, the butterfly.

Pointed Ears:

In classical antiquity, satyrs and fauns were believed to roam the forests. Along with having the lower portion of goats instead of a human torso and legs, as well as small goat's horns sprouting from their foreheads, fauns and satyrs often had pointed ears to suggest the ears of goats or other wild animals. These mythological creatures, partially goat and partially human in appearance, were followers of the rowdy nature God Pan/Faunus.

As faeries are often associated with nature's capriciousness, it only makes sense that they may have acquired the pointed ears from equally capricious figures in Greek and Roman mythology.

Footnotes and Bibliography
1) Korn, Irene. Eros: The God of Love in Legend & Art. New York: TODTRI Book Publishers, 1999. 38.

2) Gerard, François. Psyche and Amor. Musée du Louvre, Paris. 1798. oil on canvas.
An online reproduction of this painting can be viewed here.

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