You’re lost in a forest. It’s dark, and the path you’ve been following has narrowed into nothing. With the eerie creaks and chatters of the forest nightlife surrounding you, you find yourself terrified and in need of help. When you’ve nearly lost all hope of returning home, a pair of tiny wings flutter past you. But these wings don’t belong to a bug. No, these wings are attached to a tiny person, and they’re here to help! Or are they?

You see, finding a winged critter in the forest can go one of two ways. On one hand, you may have just discovered that fairies are real and arguably the sweetest, most caring fantasy creatures out there. On the other hand, that creature could also be a faerie, and these nasty, mischievous little things will not make your journey easy. Then again, it could always be some weird type of dragonfly, right? You never know in fantasy.

A lot of people mistake the fae with fairies, but they’re actually quite the opposite of each other, and if you really had encountered a faerie in the forest, the last thing you’d want is their help. In fact, you’d probably need help after your encounter. That’s why today we’ll be talking about what these creatures are, and how you can tell them apart. That way, if you ever do find yourself lost in a forest, you can keep yourself safe.

Fairies

Starting with fairies, these are the tender-hearted little mythical beings we’ve grown to know and love. By now, you’ve probably seen a great deal of them in movies, shows, or books. Sometimes they’re human-sized like the fairy godmother in Cinderella, or small enough to fit in your palm like in Tinkerbell.

Regardless, they’re always charming and ready to drop everything to help out. Fairies are the last thing you should be afraid of when it comes to fantasy creatures. They’re the purest and most hardworking little souls.

Faeries

The fae, however, are quite different from these sweet little winged critters. Most people consider fairies and faeries to be one and the same, but that’s just not true. In fact, not knowing the difference could cost you your life.

Faeries are the vermin of the fantasy world. They’re annoying, troublesome, and always show up just to bother you. They’re known for being cruel and taking solace in others’ misfortunes.

Most people know that they can get quite rowdy by playing tricks and degrading humans, but don’t know how dangerous they can be. In folklore, they’ve known to kidnap children, steal souls, and kill in the name of revenge. They may look innocent, but they are not to be messed with. 

Unlike fairies, when encountering a faerie, there are some important rules to remember when you interact with them to keep out of harm’s way. While it’s ideal to avoid interacting with a faerie at all, if you end up in their way, be sure to refer back to these simple rules:

• Never eat any food that they give you.

• Never tell them your name (you can give them a fake one, instead).

• Never stand in a fairy ring.

• Never say anything that they might take offense to.

• Never accept a gift from them (if you do, don’t thank them for it and be sure to destroy it later).

Ideally, you wouldn’t be encountering any fantasy creatures on your stroll through the creepy forest at night, but if you do, I’m confident that you’ll be alright now that you can identify the differences between fairies and the fae.

Just remember that a faeries’ intentions are never good, and always keep the rules of interacting with one in the back of your mind. And with that, your fairy blog mother wishes you good luck (or farewell).

Madison Costeira

Maddy is a professional writing student at Algonquin College and an aspiring writer. She’s a certified procrastinator, overthinker, and owner of a depressing amount of cats (remember: two’s a party, three’s a crowd).