Fay in middleearth?

[Arantha]

an article in german inspired by Art of Taras Susak
https://funkenflug.ag/wach-auf/

[Bauglin]

Huh - Google Translate actually did a pretty good job with that.

Unfortunately, the words "fairy" and "fay" are pretty much interchangeable in English (and apparently in German), but Tolkien treated them differently in his unpublished writing. He used "fairy" (or variations of the word) to describe the Elves and things made by them. However, that's probably not what the writer of the article meant.

I don't remember if he ever used the word "fay," but when I search for it in the Tolkien Gateway, it redirects to "sprite." Such beings existed before the world was made, and followed the Ainur into it after its creation. Whether that means they served the Ainur, or just went along for the ride, is never stated (at least not that I remember). However, he may have dropped the idea in favor of the Maiar - but they could certainly take the form of the being in the picture if they so desired.

Anyway, here are a few links to fan-made sites that talk about all this:
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Fairies
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Sprites
https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Sprites

[Arantha]

Thanks Bauglin
I know these differences. Also the german translations from the hobbit exists in two different lines: Scherfer translates Fay, Krege translates Elves.
The hint with the developpement of the thinking of Tolkien was really helpful. Perhaps in the early thoughts Fays were there and later the got transformated into maiar or so. In the lost tales exists also fays as servants of Yavanna, also similar like other Valars helped Maiars.
Have a good day

[Bothketbog]

an article in german inspired by Art of Taras Susak
https://funkenflug.ag/wach-auf/

I have more commonly seen this word spelled "fey" in English.

[Arantha]

My translator sais to me Fay, but i'm not native

[Altair6]

Fay is singular and Fey plural according to one source I found (DiffSense). But I suspect they may just be alternate spellings or that fey (doomed to die) has become confused with fay (a fairy) and now both mean the same.

Both words have various meanings when used as adjectives or, in fay's case, a verb.

[Radhruin_EU]

Fay is singular and Fey plural according to one source I found (DiffSense). But I suspect they may just be alternate spellings or that fey (doomed to die) has become confused with fay (a fairy) and now both mean the same.

They have different etymologies, they're not at all the same. (According to the etymological dictionary I used and am quoting from below). Some people may simply confuse the two.

'Fay': "fairy," late 14c., from Old French fae (12c., Modern French fée), from Vulgar Latin *fata "goddess of fate," fem. singular of Latin fata (neuter plural)

'Fey': "of excitement that presages death," from Old English fæge "doomed to die, fated, destined," also "timid, feeble;" and/or from Old Norse feigr, both from Proto-Germanic *faigjo-


Tolkien uses 'fey' in its correct sense (e.g. to describe Feanor's behaviour shortly before he got himself killed). One use of alternative spellings you do often see in fantasy is 'fae' in place of 'fay', as that's an older spelling which I assume some writers prefer for its archaic air.

[Arantha]

In the Hobbit: Tolkien used the word "fairy wife".
In the books of the lost tales also and "fays" and "fairies".

Here some additional informations: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Fay
(The mentioned fay in the hobbit is not yet mentioned)

[Radhruin_EU]

In the Hobbit: Tolkien used the word "fairy wife".
In the books of the lost tales also and "fays" and "fairies".

Here some additional informations: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Fay
(The mentioned fay in the hobbit is not yet mentioned)

The Hobbit was originally written as a stand-alone fairy tale for kids, not firmly tied into anything else (which is why it also has giants, which LOTR and the Silmarillion don't). He just borrowed stuff from elsewhere to flesh it out. Also, there's a twist: just like anybody else, superstitious people in Middle-earth could imagine things that weren't real or had only a loose connection to reality and tell stories about them. Hobbits might believe in fairies without those really being a thing, or it could be fanciful folklore loosely based on Elves or even supernatural beings like Goldberry. In The Hobbit the Elves sometimes act in a way that's familiar from folklore about Faerie, as for example when Bilbo and the Dwarves find the Elves feasting in the forest but each time they try to approach all the lights go out and the revellers disappear, leaving them befuddled in the dark until the lights reappear somewhere else as if by magic. The Elvenking fits in with that 'faerie' trope, with his crown of berries and red leaves (or woodland flowers, in springtime). In LOTR Galadriel is very much in the mould of the Fairy Queen, Lorien is otherworldly, and the Rohirrim have folklore about her: mostly superstition, as they didn't know what she was really like and had imagined her as a sinister sorceress who entrapped people.

As for BoLT, that material's very old compared to the rest and you have to watch the context, just because Tolkien wrote something in the dim and distant past (some of his early writings are now more than a century old) doesn't mean he stuck with it later or meant it to be generalised.

[SavinDwarf]

Fay is singular and Fey plural according to one source I found (DiffSense). But I suspect they may just be alternate spellings or that fey (doomed to die) has become confused with fay (a fairy) and now both mean the same.

Both words have various meanings when used as adjectives or, in fay's case, a verb.

Possibly "fey" would have been used by Tolkien the same way it was used in the 40's, 50's and 60's in England. When you called someone fey it was a little disapproving. The person was a tiny bit strange and not very practical. My Grandmother also used to refer to one of my aunts as "fey." She was into astrology and tea leaves.

[Arantha]

Thanks a lot for these intersting points and discussion

[Radhruin_EU]

Possibly "fey" would have been used by Tolkien the same way it was used in the 40's, 50's and 60's in England. When you called someone fey it was a little disapproving. The person was a tiny bit strange and not very practical. My Grandmother also used to refer to one of my aunts as "fey." She was into astrology and tea leaves.

That's synonymous with saying someone's touched or weird, whereas by all appearances Tolkien very much meant fated or doomed, as if death is calling to someone and they run heedlessly towards it. It's used that way several times in LOTR.