A fairy, according to the modern understanding, is a small winged human-like creature with delicate wings which protrude from its back. Tinker Bell is probably the most famous of fairies in our day. “Pixie” is another term for these creatures. But the term “fairy tale” is used more widely than simply to refer to stories which contain one or more of these particular creatures. The term has come to be used to refer to almost any tale which is generally unbelievable, fantastical, magical, and which ends “happily ever after.”
While these kinds of stories are very popular, they are not popular with everyone. Some people object that such stories as these portray a kind of idealism which will set children up for disappointment with “the real world”. Others object to them on the basis of the presence of magic (which is, of course, not real…right?). Still others object because they teach moralism but not true morality. Still others object because they perpetuate false ideas.
All of these objections being acknowledged, I would argue that there is a certain kind of value in presenting pictures of idealism, which the fairy tales generally seek to do. Of course, many of them do not accomplish this so well. But insofar as a Prince Charming is presented as a virtuous man, who courageously places himself between the dragon and the maiden, so well and good. I want my boys to be ready to slay a dragon at a moment’s notice when the time comes. I do not say “if the time comes” but rather “when”, for the dragons always come.
I also applaud the notion of “happily ever after” because it is a true notion. It does no one any good to believe there is no hope when there is hope. Despairing when we ought to hope is a very great vice. For Christians there is always hope. Hope is not wishful thinking, it is the virtue of confident expectation based upon the never failing character and promises of God. We should march confidently toward the eschaton (or indeed realize it marches confidently towards us) knowing that for those in Christ a happily ever after is really on its way. That happily ever after, by the way, involves a hero who has placed himself between his bride and the great dragon, who has given his life slaying that dragon but who burst the bonds of death itself in the process, and who returned from the land of the dead. The story isn’t over, the prince is away preparing a place for his bride and he will lead her, in the end, to that place he has prepared and there will be a great feast and celebration which ushers in an everlasting kingdom where he and his bride will reign forever and ever.
All good fairy tales are based upon truth, not upon fantasy.
As far as objections about magic in fairy stories, well, don’t read your Bible too closely if you object to reading about magic. Moses the wizard who had a magic staff and practiced its transfiguration into a serpent, and changed the water to blood, called water from stones, and parted the Red Sea, might not sit too well with such an objection. Of course I acknowledge there is bad magic in the Bible. There is a kind of sorcery that is utterly demonic and meddles with things God says not to touch. But magic is quite real, and whether you call it magic or miracle, it is a supernatural activity. The question really only amounts to whether or not it is authorized by God or not? We live in a world of spirits, we as ensouled creatures have one foot in the material and one foot in the spiritual realm at all times. Too often we moderns try to ignore half of who we are and the rest of that invisible world that we in part belong to. But sometimes it won’t let us ignore it. Sometimes it grabs us by the throat and says, “look at me.” The best kind of fairy tales remind us that magic is real, some of it is good and some of it is very bad and we are fools if we think we can be neutral to all of it.
As to the perpetuation of moralism and not real morality, this is a real danger. It is not, however, a danger only in fairy tales. It is a danger in pulpits and, as Lewis would warn us, in English text books. Everywhere we look we are told “do this and not that” and the this and that we are told to do is often not given any explanation as to why. Moralism without foundationalism is a tower built on shifting sand. There must be a sufficient grounding for moral truth or nothing will stand for long. All of us need to know the God of the universe who alone is a sufficient ground for true morality. But it is not necessarily a fault that fairy stories teach moral tales without providing the philosophical groundings. If we attend to the philosophic and religious instruction of our children, pointing them to the source of all truth, goodness, and beauty, then fairy tales can bear witness to moral truth without having to do the heavy lifting.
As to the final objection, that fairy tales inculcate false ideas or sentiments, this is certainly a danger. But once again this is no fault of the genre, just of certain stories. More than ever before parents need to take this warning seriously. Story is powerful. It can just as easily impart truth and model virtue as it can imprint lies and give a pattern for vice. Those pushing certain godless agendas know that if they can captivate the imagination and tell entrancing stories they can quietly slip in whatever poison they like. Be discerning, but don’t write off the usefulness of stories. In fact, let us embrace storytelling and let us do better than our secular counterparts.
The word “fairy” is derived from an older word, “faerie” which referred to the land of the “Fays.” A Fay was simply a magical creature of any sort. It included pixies but also trolls and goblins, witches and wizards, and more. In the Arthurian legends Morgan le Fay is a witch that causes Arthur and his knights endless trouble. Morgan is a faerie. This is to say, faeries are not necessarily good, nor are they bad, but they are magical.
Older fairy tales, indeed faerie tales, were not always filled with happy endings. Sometimes it went that way, sometimes it did not. But what they did do was remind people that we live in a magical world and that magic is all around us, often just under our radar. There are times though when someone, just living their life, finds themselves thrust into the midst of magic, adventure, perilous danger, and often they have to make some gut wrenching lay difficult choices. They have to leave their home not knowing if they will ever get back. Sometimes they are torn as to whether or not they even wish to go home, sometimes they find they are home in a place they had never been to before.
The older faerie stories actually tend to do a lot of the heavier philosophical and theological work that modern fairy tales are often devoid of or only retain hints toward. There is nothing keeping the genre away from such work and sometimes we can even teach philosophical and religious truth better by means of story than we can by mere didactic instruction. Story has a way of pouring ideas into our soul so that it takes deep root in us. I for one am 100% convinced that I love Christ more having spent time in Narnia, Malacandra, and Middle Earth, than I would be able to by mere preaching alone. It is not for nothing that our Lord often taught us through telling stories.
Post Tenebras Lux is a story (still in development) about a young man named Thomas who didn’t believe in magic.
Post Tenebras Lux: A Faerie Story
More coming soon…
Appendix A: Thomas’ Sketches: