As Southern Discomfort involves sidhe living in 1973 Georgia, it draws heavily on British folklore and fairylore. The book that helped me the most was one I’ve had for years, folklorist Katharine Briggs’ AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies and Other Supernatural Creatures.
This 1970s book is exactly what it sounds like, an alphabetical list of British fairy creatures: kelpies, barguests, grims, elves, cluricanes, nuckelavees, redcaps, black annis, etc. Frequently with quotes from relevant folktales. It also includes common themes and tropes such as how to deal with fairies, fairy weaknesses, fairy magic such as the stray sod, and so on. Without it I doubt I’d have been able to write Southern Discomfort.
The other major source for this stuff was a book I read a decade ago, THE LORE OF THE LAND: A Guide to England’s Legends from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson. The book is a geographical tour of England looking at ghost stories, stone circles, witch tales, black dogs, dragon slayings, bad baronets, buried treasure and stories of the knight who slew the last wolf in England (a whole bunch of different legends have credited a local chap as the guy who pulled it off).
For example, I incorporated folklore about a prominent nobleman who was too godless and blasphemous to be buried in holy ground, but too important to bury outside it. The solution: a crypt half in and half out of the church wall. I incorporated that into the story of how Aubric and Olwen fabricated a family history in Pharisee County to keep newcomers from learning they’re two immortal elves. Part of the fakery was having a place to bury their non-existent ancestors. The Pharisee Irish-Americans wanted them buried in St. Bridget’s, the dominant church; the McAlisters, not being Christian,
In one chapter I explain when my elves, Aubric and Olwen, began fabricating a family history (so newcomers to Pharisee County wouldn’t wonder where all their non-existent ancestors were). That include figuring out where they were buried. The old Pharisee families who knew the secret couldn’t accept the McAlisters being buried anywhere but holy ground; Aubric and Olwen, being non-Christian and (so they believe) soulless, objected to being buried in a churchyard. One John Blake came up with the crypt as a solution.
A third source: THE MABINOGION, a 19th century collection of Celtic tales (though rewritten and Christianized over the centuries). I borrowed one or two ideas from the Arthurian romance Culhwch and Olwen, such as someone running over grass so fast and lightly the blades don’t even bend from their weight.
While I’ve incorporated genuine folklore, I haven’t required absolute fidelity to folk belief. As I mentioned last year, I gave Olwen a healing touch, even though that’s not a part of sidhe powers in folklore. There are other changes. Hopefully the book is good enough nobody will object. If you do, Wisp will disapprove.
All rights to cover (I don’t know the artist) remain with current holder.
