Fairies: Real Encounters with Little People

Those who have fond memories of bedside tales about trolls, hobbits and gossamer-winged spirits should relish this compendium of (allegedly) real fairy sightings. Bord (A Dictionary of the Earth's Mysteries), who lives in Wales, uses the word ""fairy"" to refer to human-like beings of small stature, between four inches and four feet tall, who have magical powers. Those who have seen ""nature"" fairies report that they are tiny, often green-skinned, naked and delicately winged. The ""wee people"" are a larger type, usually dressed in rustic, medieval clothing. Although she admits that no recorded encounters can be verified, Bord proposes that the large number of reported encounters and the similarities among them indicate that our less rangy counterparts exist. But how to place them in time and space? Bord offers several possibilities: they may dwell in a parallel universe, or perhaps underground, in a fourth dimension, on other planets or in ""other worlds"" created by sorcery. With the exception of two short accounts that the author herself records, the sightings come from other published sources. And that's a shame, because more firsthand interviews with people who claim magical experiences with the little people might have added sparkle to what is a somewhat dry, albeit well-researched, digest. QPB selection. (Oct.)