Newfoundland is rife with stories of fairies who mislead, play tricks, or sometimes, spirit folks away. A rustle of a leaf, a glint at the corner of one’s eye—these fairies lurk, menacing and amoral, at the edges of settled life.
The pages of Spirited Away are populated by people who wander onto fairy paths or fall under the spell of mysterious music, who find themselves lost in surroundings long familiar, or find family members grown strange—people irrevocably changed by their eerie encounters.
Passed on as rumours and whispers, told at a remove, stories of fairies are still heard today. These literary renderings of stories and anecdotes Tom Dawe has collected across the island offer an accessible and engaging introduction to one of Old Newfoundland’s most powerful and peculiar folk traditions.
- Recipient of the 2018 Children’s Folklore Section American Folklore Society Aesop Accolade
