Chapter

Fairy

I lie shivering in bed next to my fellow travelers. They scream as they are plagued by nightmares. Our skin is blemished with blisters, and our lips swollen like strawberries. The malady struck us halfway to Sorsele. That night I dreamed that I was awake. I rose from my bed in the light of luminous little creatures that flew between trees and rocks. They giggled and mocked me in ways that ought not to be transcribed. Somehow I felt compelled to follow them on a path I had not noticed during the day. We arrived at a bright green lake, so vast that I could not see the shore on the other side. From the deep arose a creature that, for lack of better words, resembled a whale. It opened its jaws to reveal a mouth filled with gleaming treasures. The winged creatures prodded me to step inside and help myself to its riches. When I hesitated, they reviled me in the foulest terms. Something made me turn around and head back. This infuriated them. One of the creatures flew to my face and blew some form of dust which made me cough. Shortly thereafter I woke from my slumber, and we were all very ill.

— Carl Linnaeus, June 3rd, 1732

Fairies live and work in communities. They normally appear as luminous, palm-sized women, although they can take any form they like – often wisps of mist, insects, or frogs. Male fairies are called elves and look like tiny old men. Elves play their musical instruments while the fairies lead the fairy dance which plunges people into insanity and distorts their sense of time. Fairies love playing pranks. They are self-centered and easily offended, devoid of human morals. People who anger them are either bitten or infected with disease, and even when the fairies are in a good mood, they can bite the fingers of small children and feed on their blood. Fairies live in mounds, led by a fairy queen or an elf king. They move in processions on magical paths along underground streams. Fairies are closely connected to animals and plant life.

Ritual