Pixie

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Pixie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Pixies are mythical creatures of English folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall. In regional dialect, these mischievous little folk are sometimes referred to as piskeys or the little people. They are usually depicted as wingless, with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Sometimes their eyes are described as being pointed upwards at the Tempel ends.

Mythic Origins

One myth states that pixies were a race of people who were not good enough for Heaven or bad enough for Hell and were therefore forced to remain on Earth forever. Another legend claims that they were Druids who resisted Christianity and were subsequently sentenced by God to grow smaller and smaller until they accepted Christianity.
More recently a theory has developed that they are named after the race of Picts that inhabited Scotland prior to the Celts. It is thought that other mythical folk of the British Isles, such as leprechauns, could be based on this race.[edit]

Characteristics

Pixies are said to enjoy playing tricks on people, for example by stealing their belongings or throwing things at them. At night, they steal horses and bring them back before dawn, leaving only tangled manes as evidence of the prank. Some pixies are said to exude pixie dust, which is left in their footprints or floating behind them as they fly.
On Dartmoor, in Devon, travellers who became lost on the moor were sometimes said to have been "pixie led," in other words, deliberately led astray by the little people. It is said that if travellers feel the onset of the pixie spell, they can turn their coats inside out to confuse them and escape.
Pixies can be repelled by objects made from iron or iron ore as contact with the metal is said to harm them, a trait they share in common with other fairies of the British Isles.
Those who deliberately follow pixies often vanish without a trace. For example, a farmhand at Rowbrook, situated on the steep, wooded flanks of the River Dart valley, is said to have been lured down towards the river by mysterious voices, calling his name: ‘Jan Coo.’ He was never seen again.
Even within living memory, some rural families left small gifts, such as bowls of food or saucers of milk, for the pixies in order to placate them. When shown this respect and attention, pixies would sometimes even help the family by tidying up the household during the night.[edit]

In modern popular culture

Italian cosplayer Francesca Dani in a Gothic Lolita pixie costume

Pixies commonly appear in popular culture. Fantasy books and movies such as The Black Cauldron feature the creatures. In film, their first appearance was in the 1912 film As Others See Us. The Monster Rancher video games and anime series feature humanoid pixies that resemble angels and fairies. The candy Pixy Stix, made by Willy Wonka, is named after the species. In addition, the influential alternative rock band The Pixies is directly named for the creature.[edit]

Modern Medicine

It has been speculated by some medical professionals that the legends of Pixies and Elfs(Elve's), was inspired by a real Genetic Disorder known as Williams Syndrome. Some of these afflicted have pointed ears and sloe eyes and elongated faces that make them look like real Pixies and the Syndrome is often called Pixieism.[edit]

Harry Potter

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart brings a cage of Cornish Pixies to class as part of a lesson. The pixies are small, blue, humanoid creatures which fly without the aid of wings and create havoc when released.[edit]

Artemis Fowl

In Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, pixies are one of a number of magical species that have been driven underground by humans and the pollution they have caused on earth. Pixies in the novels are the only species that still have their wings. Other species fly using mechanical wings. Chix Verbil the pixie often hits (unsuccessfully) on Holly Short.[edit]

Tithe

In Holly Black's novel Tithe, pixies are green-skinned and slender with butterfly wings.[edit]

See also