Fairies In Elizabethan England

We call them faerie. We don't believe in them. Our loss. ~Charles de Lint. Although, unlike in modern times, where the general populus does not believe in the supernatural beings or happenings, during the Elizabethan era and surrounding time periods, fairies were not only believed in but were thought to be part of everyday life in The British Isles. Fairies were embedded in Elizabethan culture and literature.
Fairies are beings that take a resemblance to humans. Usually, they are described as shorter versions of humans with extraordinary abilities. These abilities always seem to affect humans in many different ways. Whether this was for good or ill will depended on how the humans acted towards fairies and their customs. If someone, even accidentally,

intruded upon or disturbed a fairy ritual they could be blessed with a number of unfortunate occurrences. Things such as spoiled milk, bad crops, and sick livestock were all effects of negatively interacting with a fairy (“Fairy”).
Not only did fairies exist outside of human society, but could also coexist inside of it too.

Because of their close resemblance to humans, fairies could intermingle with humans, even so far as to become the mothers or wives of legendary heroes in mythology (Taylor, Tuatha de Danann). In the tale of the hero-bard Osirin and his fairy-wife Niam of the Golden Hair, Osirin is convinced by Niam to come to her homeland. Niam comes from the Otherworld where fairies dwell. The Otherworld is a place with no death or sorrow. After his and Niam’s marriage, Osirin accidentally steps on a stone that he wasn’t supposed to. At once, he is struck with irresistible homesickness and has to see his own native land one more time. Reluctantly, Niam gives him the same horse she used to find him in her trip to our realm and warns him not to step foot on the ground. Almost immediately after arriving home, he is asked to help some men with a job. As soon as he steps off the horse Osirn ages the 300 years he spent away from home in The Otherworld (Taylor, Irish Otherworld)

.
In the beginning, a race of elder fairy gods came to earth.

These ancient beings are known as The Fomorians. They are the first inhabitants of the British Isles. Ages after the Fomorians took over the area, the Tuatha de Danann drove them from the land and became the rulers. The Tuatha de Danann forced the Fomorians into the Otherworld or Annwfn. Soon after the Tuatha took over, humans discovered Ireland, Scotland and the surrounding areas and forced the second race of fairies into the Otherworld alongside the Fomorians (Taylor, Samhain).
Annwfn is the Otherworld where fairies are known to come from according to Celtic mythology. Annwfn is a land of magic and is shrouded in mystery. It is described as a magic glass castle that appears and disappears and random times. Because it does not have physical boundaries, Annwfn has no specific location and is simultaneously not above or below ground and is somewhere over the Western Sea, or the Atlantic (Taylor,

Annwfn).
The only reliable way into Annwfn is through burial mounds. Burial mounds, because they are usually a right reserved to kings or people of power, held a reverence for the Celtic people. Important individuals would hold meetings over these mounds to show power and wealth. Because of their importance and association with the dead, these mounds were seen as entrances to the Otherworld (Taylor, Annwfn). In the epic called “The Four Branches of the Mabinogi”, humans seem to have no restrictions when entering the fairy world except for the requirement of a story-worthy adventure. For example, in the first branch of The Mabinogi, Pwyll, who is the prince of Dyfed, goes on a hunting party, and, after setting the dogs loose, hears another hunting party coming towards him.The other dogs are ultimately the ones to take down his charge, but Pwyll noticed something strange about the dogs. The dogs were otherworldly in appearance, all-white with blood-red ears. Soon, Arawn, the King of Annwfn, shows up and claims that the abnormal hounds are his. Pwyll then realizes he is in Annwfn and they both agree to trade places and identities for a year (Walsh, Mabinogi).transition
Inversely, on the Celtic New Year, or Samhain, is when fairies are the most active in the human realm and were more likely to pass over into the physical world. Samhain falls on November 1st. This event marked the end of the “summer half” of the Celtic year and the beginning of the “winter half” (Taylor, Samhain).