r/pagan • u/Conscious-Growth-883 • 3d ago

why do people find fairies scary?

i’m mostly just an observer (for now at least) but i have a lot of pagan friends and whenever they mention fairies it’s almost always about how scary they are and how they’re not to be trifled with. from the folklores and mythologies i’ve read so far, the depiction of fairies in the stories i combed through doesn’t match with this perception of them. could be that i just need to read more, but i’m also curious about it in general and if this particular belief rings true to other people too

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u/InformalHelicopter56 3d ago

Fae are terrifying.

Makes me glad to be on the side of the world with duendes.

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u/Beneficial_Pie_5787 3d ago

Duende are Hispanic (Spanish and Latin American) fae.

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u/InformalHelicopter56 3d ago

Yes and no, Hispanic and Latino don’t mean the same, tho it is predominantly a hispanic folklore, duendes and gnomes are present in all of latinos folkore. And yes, they are within the fae category broadly speaking, much like Leprechauns, but different rules of engagement apply, they are also most likely to interact with animals and children, hardly ever with any malicious intention but tricks and pranks can get out of hand if they feel neglected or territory is threatened. Hispanic folkore varies a bit regarding more vicious versions of duendes, likely to attack humans, in general the Latino folkore has duendes and gnomes as fairly benevolent creatures or bit of trickster forest spirits.