Many people familiar with Trad music such as Irish session tunes or Child ballads will be aware of pieces of music with origins relating to the concept of the Otherworld, or concerning the lore about sentient beings with whom humans sometimes share space. I have been collecting examples of these from many places, and to understand why this matters as a distinct subgenre (of many different larger genres of traditional music), let’s explore how common folklore about mystical beings is, and the different intersections these have with music. Then I will list descriptions of forthcoming posts that I have planned, to give more specific examples, and hopefully something to anticipate.
First, let’s widen the geographic and cultural scope of what many people think of when discussing faeries and other mystical beings, and look at the fuzzy edges of how these beings are categorized in their respective traditions. The perception of what these mystical beings are like – within and outside of one’s own heritage- has been influenced in each area by the power dynamics of prestige and marginalized cultural groups. In the United States, which has a significant role in the cultural diaspora of Celtic-Language nations, it has taken over a century- since the Irish Literary Revival, Walter Evans-Wentz’s The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, and collected balladry before both- to transform the popular perception of faeries, mermaids, and other beings to be based on traditional accounts and experiences, rather than deus ex machina plot devices. The novels currently printed more often depict the fae in terms of traditional folklore. What shifted, along with the many fits and starts among literary circles, was how American descendants began to value and embrace Celtic folklore mirroring the many movements for cultural self-determination that occurred in Ireland and Great Britain. Similar changes to the perception of trolls and other Scandinavian beings has resulted from artistic movements coming out of Nordic areas. Via overlapping media culture, in the form of anime and manga, younger generations of westerners often have an appreciation for some of the denizens of Japanese folkore, like the kitsune, tanukis, and kappas.
Now, as artists and folklorists of these subjects, we have to help grow the perception beyond viewing faerielore as an exclusive phenomenon of western Europe. Most cultures of the world have legends and personal accounts of related phenomena. I will give some examples below as I give you a preview of my posts to come. It is of particular importance to look at faerielore of the Global South and Indigenous communities. A book I would highly recommend to anyone in this field is American elves : an encyclopedia of little people from the lore of 380 ethnic groups of the Western Hemisphere by John E. Roth.
Another major perceptual shift that will help you better understand the scope of what we’re looking at is to understand what the essential categories are, and how they relate to humanity. You may have to rethink certain notions. In Science Fiction, we have many examples of multiple sentient species interacting. (You can imagine the cantina scene from Star Wars: A New Hope, or various Star Trek scenes, per your preference.) Species is the key word here. The differences between the various creatures is genetic and immutable. In faerielore, the essential difference is exactly that, about essence, and the way one moves through time. Interactions with the Otherworld changes one’s place relative to humanity, and the language used in faerielore reflects this. Troll originated as a term that applied to both humans working magic and to those born within the rules of this magic. Many terms that translate as “witch” or “hag” (gwrag, cailleach) are determined not by which world someone was born into, but by the ability to interact differently with the rules of physics. In that light, and because of taboo, much faerielore loses explicit mention of the supernatural forces understood implicitly to be part of the story. Case in point, Riddle Songs that survive in Appalachia often only contain the riddles themselves, and not the story behind the challenge.
Finally, a word of advice I received from a visiting linguistics scholar when she was discussing fieldwork, on the importance of asking the right questions. When trying to find out how many fluent speakers of a language still survive, a querent received the same answer from most people they asked: only about ten still knew the language. When they started asking people to name the elders who still spoke the language, most of the people each person listed were not the same, and it was determined that many more speakers than anyone presumed could still speak the language. Perhaps her account was apocryphal, but it has served me well as something to consider while doing my own research.
Here are some posts you can expect from me in the coming year. For many of these posts, I hope to interview specialists in that field:
- How a Scottish fiddle composition changed names and acquired numerous variations as it became shared in the faerielore of various Celtic nations, the Shetland Isles, and eventually became a part of American Country music.
- A description of the various instruments played by the menehune of the Hawaiian Islands.
- The influence of waterfalls and the spirits who lived in them on the repertoire of the Swedish nyckelharpa.
- The influence of banshees on the piobaireachd repertoire of Great Highland Bagpipes.
- The Rusalka musical traditions of Eastern Europe, with particular attention to recent folklore research of Ukrainian repertoire.
- Trollstille tunings and tunes of the hardinfele, a sympathetic fiddle of Norway.
- Igbo songs from the forest spirits of the Niger Delta.
- Patupaiarehe songs of the New Zealand Maori.
- Chinese songs of Fairy Queens and the Immortals which served as traditional music for birthday celebrations.
- Piping repertoire referenced in a changeling story from Ireland.
- The resurgence of faerielore music in modern Manx cultural education.
- Elf music from legends of the Picuris Pueblo.
- Shetland trow tøns from multiple sources.
- The Chullachaqui and his role in the nature of cumbia music.
- Biddy of Muckross and several of her melodies she learned from the faeries.
- The history of the ballad “King Orfeo” and how it relates to different European descriptions of the Otherworld and the concept of Three Strains of Music.
- Some history behind Ziryab, and how the djinn influenced his music, which transformed Andalusian Spain.
- Some repertoire of the Welsh Tylwyth Teg.
- Notable faerie tunes from County Donegal fiddlers, including Junior Crehan.
- Huldreslåtten and how it relates to natural overtone scales and instruments such as munnharpe and seljefløyte.
And there’s much more. I appreciate feedback about what you’re most looking forward to learning, and additional subjects you would like me to explore.