Fantasy Terms

[NightIntent]

I thought this would be interesting. Just post a term and the definition of any phrase or word that pops up in fantasy books. These can be terms that you can find universally, or in specific books. If you have multiple at once, please put them in one post and not multiple. Here's my input for right now.

The Unicorn:
The unicorn is a legendary creature usually depicted with the body of a horse, but with a single – usually spiral – horn growing out of its forehead (hence its name – cornus being Latin for 'horn'). The unicorn's blood and horn supposedly have mystical healing properties. (From Wikipedia)

There are tales of unicorns all over the world. The earliest reference to unicorns are from India. These unicorns are described as fierce, and often attack men, impaling them with their one cubit horns. In China, the unicorn is called a qi-lin, and is a gentle, majestic creature. They can't kill any living thing, even a blade of grass, and live for long periods of time. Qi-lins are said to be good omens, and the sign of a good period in time. Since no qi-lin has been seen for yearsd, it's taken to be an omen that we live in a bad time. A qi-lin appeared in front of Confucius' mother when she was pregnant with him, and stopped Genghis Khan from invading India (I think that was the country, at least).

The Japanese unicorn is called the ki-lin, similar to the qi-lin. The depictions of it are different, however, than the qi-lin, and is more closely related to the western version of the unicorn. It's a fierce animal with a single, long horn. The ki-lin can tell whether a person is guilty or not, and often appears at trials and runs a guilty party through with its horn.

The European unicorn is what people usually think of when they think of a unicorn. It has a lion's tail, a goat's beard, and cloven hooves. This one, too, is depicted as fierce, but also good, much like the ki-lin. Over time, many people depict the unicorn as simply a horse with a horn and cloven hooves.

The horn of the unicorn is said to have magical properties. The most common is the ability to neutralize and cure poison. Some stories tell of its ability to bring the dead back to life, or heal any wound.

The fact that unicorns are associated with virgins most likely comes from it also being associated with Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Supposedly, the unicorn was the first animal named by Adam, therefore giving it a special place in the world.

The unicorn isn't found in Greek mythology, but in natural history and folklore. At the time, it was a given that unicorns existed. Many famous people throughout history have believed in unicorns, among them Confucius, Genghis Khan, Marco Polo, priests, and many noted scholars (the names all desert me at the moment).

Many think that the unicorn was derived from mistaken identity. It's supposed that people saw oryxes, rhinos, and other animals with long horns from afar and mistook them for having only one horn (in the case of the oryx, at least). The Chinese, however, seperated rhinos and unicorns from each other in their writings, and know them as distinctly different animals. Oryxes, too, are distinguished from each other in many of the old writings. (All this is from various different sources, which I haven't read in a long time.)  

[Shanti~dragongirl]

ooooh I like this! I'll put some in later!  

[Rose Of The Devil]

Fairies

A fairy (sometimes seen as faery, faerie, or even fae; collectively wee folk) is a spirit or supernatural being that is found in the legends, folklore, and mythology of many different cultures. There are many definitions of what constitutes a fairy, sometimes describing any magical creature, like a goblin or gnome, and at other times to describe a specific type of creature, with short wings.

They are generally portrayed as humanoid in their appearance and have supernatural abilities such as the ability to fly, cast spells and to influence or foresee the future. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, females of small stature, they originally were of a much different image: tall, angelic beings and short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned fay. The small, gauzy-winged fairies that are commonly depicted today did not appear until the 1800s.

Etymology

The words fae and færie came to English from Old French which originated in the Latin word "Fata" which referred to the three mythological personifications of destiny, the Greek Moirae (Roman Parcae, "sparing ones", or Fatae) who were supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life. They were usually described as cold, remorseless old crones or hags (in contrast to the modern physical depiction). The Latin word gave modern Italian's fata, Catalan and Portuguese fada and Spanish hada, all of which mean fairy. The Old French fée, had the meaning "enchanter." Thus féerie meant a "state of fée" or "enchantment." Fairies are often depicted enchanting humans, casting illusions to alter emotions and perceptions so as to make themselves at times alluring, frightening, or invisible. Modern English inherited the two terms "fae" and "fairy," along with all the associations attached to them.

A similar word, "fey," has historically meant "doomed to die," mostly in Scotland, which tied in with the original meaning of fate. It has now gained the meaning "touched by otherworldly or magical quality; clairvoyant, supernatural." In modern English, the word seems to be conjoining into "fae" as variant spelling. If "fey" derives from "fata," then the word history of the two words is the same. [1]

Strictly, there should be distinctions between the usage of the two words "fae" and "faerie." "Fae" is a noun that refers to the specific group of otherworldly beings with mystical abilities (either the elves (or equivalent) in mythology or their insect-winged, floral descendants in English folklore), while "faerie" is an adjective meaning "of, like, or associated with fays, their otherworldly home, their activities, and their produced goods and effects." Thus, a leprechaun and a ring of mushrooms are both faerie things (a fairy leprechaun and a fairy ring.), although in modern usage fairy has come to be used as a noun.