Wee Folk: The Most Underappreciated Creature in Mythology 

CURIOSITY STREAM ➤ curiositystream.com/talefoundry Click here to watch the all the additional content we don't upload here on RU-vid!

This "tiny humans" idea has always been fascinating to me, just being a tiny humanoid trying to survive against toads and the like, building tools jury rigged from the big peoples stuff

While not having an illustrous folklore of little people in my country, I did fantasized greatly about shrinking my sense of self through toys and figures as a child, and learned the ways of using the world around me as an overly sheltered creative kid to expand my world. Through little effigies [toys] I built my first narratives. Stairs became mountains of wonder, fences became bridges of doom, playgrounds became entire battle fields and beaches endless deserts with endless oceans. Like the Wee Free Men, my toys of varied worlds, origins and goals explored a world where gardens became jungles and tables where gladiatorial arenas, beds where cavernous snowfields where giants slumbered. A giant world of never ending trials and wonders for the tiniest of champions. To this day, I continue to view my surroundings as inspiration for magnified and enlarged fantastical worlds, and it helps a lot to build maps and dreamscapes for my books!

One of the best bedtime stories that I used to read my kids was 'Tomte Tummetott' by Astrid Lindgren. For the uninitiated: a Tomte is a type of Swedish house elf. The story follows Tummetott on his nightly ritual of caring for the animals and protecting the people on a small farm. I like it because if the children hear strange noises at night they can think, "It's just the Tomte going about his business."

I have a memory that defined my interest in mythology and comparative religion pretty intensely- As a teenager i lived on my family farm and our barn was always rat-infested, pretty big ones. I'd always walk in while the lights were off, and the room was pitch black, and hear loud banging and shuffling and the very clear pitter patter of little feet all over the place, and when the lights went on, the room would be empty. I very distinctly and immediately thought- 'oh, i totally understand why elves and goblins are a thing now.' it literally sounded like a bunch of tiny people running around. i can imagine ancient people walking into their food stores in the night, hearing this, and telling stories of the tiny men who take food or cause mischief.

Tiffany Aching is one my favourite characters of any book. “Always face what you fear. Have just enough money, never too much, and some string. Even if it’s not your fault, it’s your responsibility. Witches deal with things. Never stand between two mirrors. Never cackle. Do what you must do. Never lie, but you don’t always have to be honest. Never wish. Especially don’t wish upon a star, which is astronomically stupid. Open your eyes, and then open your eyes again.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

In my universe, called Plain of Creation, all natural movements and processes are done by 'Giants'. They're nigh invisible and they're tasks range from dropping acorns from trees to moving the planets around their stars and stars about they're galaxies and even moving the galaxies around each other. But their size depends on their task, afterall, dropping a single acorn would be tedious for a 20 foot behemoth, so instead that would fall to a 'seed giant' no larger than an acorn itself but still just as important and powerful as 'galactic giant'. In my world the folklore of fairies dwarves, etc... comes from these mini giants being spotted, usually by imaginative children, who then tell the stories to other children, leading to them spreading.

I've been slowly working my way through Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories." It's a bit rambling, and, like most scholarly essays, mostly written in frustration at other scholars. However it does have some interesting points. Such as what can qualify as a "fairy story," how our own human behavior gave the gods their personalities, and how seeing a completely different world with it's own logic can make you understand your own. He refers to a forever developing culture, mythology and literature as "the Soup," which I love. Unfortunately, I left the book out of reach for now so I can't finish it. I just love that there is a continuing fascination with fairies and tiny people (even though they aren't always the same) and why we like to tell the same stories throughout time and all over the world.

I remember growing up, whenever something happened in the house that no one remembered doing (undiagnosed adhd was quite prevalent in our household) like something was moved or stored in the wrong place, my mom would say "it must have been the gnomes". Looking back it feels kind, like deciding not to try to place blame on anyone when it's clear no one did it on purpose.

Finally, a video about Fairy Folklore!

I really liked Tiffany's first attempt to go through the portal. The text goes into great detail of how beautiful and magical world she sees once she opens her eyes, only to point out she's still at home. Maybe not what she was trying to achieve at that moment but a good way to show her innate talent with magic, she can already see the world for what it is.

I made little forest children who make uncommon things happen more often. People catch them and smuggle them into gambling houses to win more often but every so often the owner gets stuck by lighting or their food goes rotten faster. They have a special place in the life cycle of my fantasy forests, my forests get so big that younger trees can't grow. So they increase the likelihood of one of my flamemouths creating a forest fire burning away the old and making way for the new flame proof seeds to grow again.

What I always found quite amazing about this show is how it can always stay so wonderfully positive. Just while watching this it reminded me of a podcast called Lore on Spotify(checked who was made by Aaron Mahnke) and it is a amazing show but it really dwells in the negative constantly talking about how the origins of mythical creatures comes from racism or about plague out breaks and just violence of every kind and how it caused origins of cultures and they made a episode about little people and just remember how it stayed on the Irish little helpers (no clue what they were called cause listened to it two years ago or longer) and it talked about the little helpers themselves and then the Irish culture being erased by the English and just I loved the podcast it’s great but we really do have enough negativity in our lives and just really love how no matter the content it manages to be positive, we all need an extra ray of sunlight and a whole new perception on topics from a more wholesome view! Just even in the rabbit video it still managed to give a cozy feeling and a message of everyone having their own strengths when it easily could have done a dive into negativity of how we are all flawed but your perception just made it so amazing. Just love your videos, thanks for being a sunshine in the sea of negativity currently!

I've always thought there was a connection between being a child and stories of giants and little people. To a child, the world is massive and full of danger and wonder, full of giants chasing after then shouting "fee fie fum, ready or not it's time for bed." For an adult, living with a child is like dealing with a miniature which may look like us but can act illogical and magically. Demanding they give back something can lead to chaos but bartering, leaving an offering of a cookie will do it every time. Equally, any child may wish to imagine what it must be like to be the giant, stumbling around peoples so much smaller than them.

The aboriginal spirits you refer to are usually called "Little brothers" in different languages. The Little brothers are the other side to the Big Fella's - the tall slenderman like figures often shown in artwork. The Big Fella's basically translate to Ents, or guardians of the Land, and can be dangerous, the little fellas almost directly equate to fairies but where as english faeries are tied more to plants, these are tied to insects and little animals.Those who are normally protected by the Big Fellas. It's said that plagues, pestilence and illness are caused by little fellas and some dreamtime stories involve little brothers and sisters becoming animals, or vice verser.

I’m currently reading “Lords and Ladies”, which is a book about elves, so when I read the title my mind immediately went to that. Turns out I was wrong, but Pratchett is still involved! Yay :)

Just this May I finished the 41st, and final Discworld book. This accomplishment brought me both great joy and heartache because it was the end of a long, wondrous road. Just the sight of the Nac Mac Feegle in the thumbnail put a warm smile on my face. I always appreciate the love toward Terry Pratchett on this channel.

It's not one of the biggest, grandest superpower fantasies. But I think we've all imagined out a little story of shrinking down and exploring our worlds from an inch high perspective, it's a wonderous, romantic notion that I got from the Borrowers and Ant-Man/Atom comics personally.

After I saw the movie, The Secret World of Arrietty, I thought it was amazing that there are an entire group of people called The Borrowers that are the same size of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. If Thumbelina hadn't gone to the realm of the fairies, she would've crossed paths with The Borrowers sooner or later and maybe even be friends with the Soot Spirits as well but the Soot Spirits only live in long abandoned homes as oppose to ones that are already occupied and given life. Either way, I thought it would be nice if Arrietty would befriend Tom Thumb or Thumbelina since they're the only small folk that aren't Borrowers like her and her family that she's met.

One of the creatures in the story I'm writing are pixies. I've decided I want them to be really mean and easily annoyed, but a couple minutes into this I thought maybe I could make that a result of their version of the world. Maybe everything is more tedious since everything is so large? Or maybe they insist on using human objects (so they can be equals) but have a hard time doing so?

I see Discworld, I click It's quite simple, really

You'll be happy to know that you're the creator, after all these years getting bombarded with creator ads, who finally convinced me to bite the bullet and subscribe to Nebula and Curiosity Stream. Thanks for making such fantastic and sublime content!

Thank you for all the wonderful stories and themes you people bring to light in your videos. Lately i've been falling victim to a hopeless depression that has sapped me of will and joy, but Tale Foundry videos help me hold onto the wonder and imagination that the world seems determined to tear from me. From the bottom of my heart: Thank you for what you do.

I have found this channel only recently and have binged just about every video so far. Thank you so much for the amount of work you guys pour into these videos - the art and general content is absolutely amazing and often makes my day!

Have you read Berserk? If not read past the golden age and do not judge the first few chapters it is a masterpiece. The author has some very interesting takes on mythical creatures.

This is delightful! And now I'm wondering how to create techno-brownies to do my housework.

This channel is a treasure! Really helpes me to get rid of all the negative thoughts and find the will to keep on living, and also really inspires me as an artist. Thank you very much.

There's a book series I remember reading quite some years ago in elementary school called 'The Indian in the Cupboard' by Lynne Reid Banks. It's about a kid named Omri who gets a seemingly normal cupboard for his birthday, but he soon discovers that whenever he puts a tiny plastic figure inside and turns the key it brings that figure to life. This idea was so fascinating to me as a kid, and I always used to daydream about what it would be like to have all these secret little friends that I could just conjure up whenever I wanted in my own magic cupboard. When you're so little yourself at that age it can make you feel rather insignificant and powerless, so I always imagined myself as the protector of these tiny people, the one they could count on to keep them hidden from the grownups in the house and shield them from the dangers of a world that was ten times too big for them. Of course the book series details just how big a responsibility it would *actually* be for a child to suddenly find themselves in those circumstances, emphasizing how the little people Omri brings to life aren't just amusing toys but real human beings, but the idea has always been an intriguing one to me, nonetheless. And of course I used to wonder what the world must be like at just a few inches high, as well, especially after reading 'Alice in Wonderland' for the first time. Lynne Reid Banks also wrote a lesser-known book, but one I loved just as much as a kid, that dealt much more directly with fairy folk called 'The Fairy Rebel.' The thing I always found interesting about that story is it's the grownups who first discover the existence of fairies, and it's their little girl who is largely kept in the dark for most of the book, whereas with most stories it's the exact opposite.

The thing about life of tiny people makes me SOOO inspired

What an insightful, deep, and unique way of looking at these types of creatures. You gave me a whole new perspective on them. This was so well written.

This is crazy today... I JUST got finished listening to a narration of a creepypasta about Dullahan when this popped up!

Are those Nac Mac Fleegles on the picture!? 🤣

Trespassing on Fairy Territory -> Why are fairies so small? -> Why you never ignore a Fairy Was I halucinating or did these changes actually happen?

I've always imagined: what's it like to be 6 inches tall, or smaller? Would it be full of danger? or would it be something more... adventurous? Seeing buildings larger than what I see them; being small enough to go through ductwork and sewer pipe; being so small and going through places never even touched by a human soul. My imagination can do so much, but it's only imagination.

Someday I want to write a toddler protagonist. I feel like that would be fun,

What sweet thoughts about us wee folk. Even though I'm small you make me stand tall with pride hearing your lovely thoughts about us. ☺️ Thank you

one of my favorite games, both while growing up and still to this day, was part of a larger series and happened to focus on its own set of "wee folk" called the Minish. these Minish were the size of mice and looked fairly like them [so absolutely adorable to me], they ended up being the explanation for why the player could find money and supplies in the grass [retconning them in as something that exists in all other games even if you never see them], and some minish let you know that they do all that they do because they enjoy bringing happiness to the "big folk". it almost feels like they're a race of tiny artists happily creating purely for the happiness that could be wrought, even if no one could ever thank them for their deeds.

When I was a child, there were numerous stories of "little people" that tickled my imagination: the Borrowers, Thumbelina, The Tooth Fairies (which were technically just mice playing the role of the Tooth Fairy), Gossamer (a story of fairies who gave people good dreams), Issun Bosshi and of course, the story of the little cobbler fairies. At night, I would always wonder if there were little fairies who came out when I was asleep. Never really saw one, of course, but still~

Ooh! Great example of the proper use of an adverbs! "They dont just look different, they look differently!"

I highly recommend the Tiffany Aching series, it is truly beautiful and helped me feel both great and tiny. Since reading those tales (or listening to the audiobooks) I now observe the little things, the little changes, the signs of little creatures in the bushland opposite my home in Western Australia. Through this mindfulness and connection with the land where I live I even discovered a rare threatened carnivorous plant species. It hasn't been observed (or at least recorded) in this region previously. It's only around 7mm (or quarter of an inch) in size; looking like a faceted gemstone with tiny ruby red leaves, sticky drops forming jewel-like traps for ants. It was hidden in thick mosses and lichens; under a dense abundance of groundcovers, shrubs and grasses; amongst the towering old Jarrah, Marri and Sheoak trees. I was looking for interesting fungi to photograph and found treasure. Treasure in a tiny area of bushland FULL OF TREASURES, where in one hour we recorded 13 Western Ring-tail Possums (a critically endangered species) and see threatened Red-tailed Black Cockatoos almost daily. Since that discovery I've been fighting to get that tiny remnant of urban bushland land protected from development (which is imminent), and joined a little community group that is trying every angle we can to save it. I can imagine the Nac Mac Feegle would be proud of me. I've been brave enough to address local council at their meetings; to speak to Senators, MPs, and politicians; to do interviews and photos for radio and press; to ask for advice from experts in biodiversity and conservation, to even request a video meeting with our Minister for Environment. All because I'm trying to be a witch, not using magic or thinking someone else will do the work or take responsibility. As Tiffany Aching knows; witching isn't about the magic but about helping the land and community and animals and environment...ALWAYS doing the difficult, uncomfortable, unpleasant and endless work.

It's crazy to think America's so new that your folk law isn't as established as here in Europe.I'm so glad your trying for 3 video's a month.ThankQ.TkEZ>UK

Why hasn't this blown up more?? This is such a beautiful video that is wonderful to watch!

Giant and Tiny Folk have fascinated me a lot. Your channel is great.

Pausing this video at about 7 minutes to shout you out. As an Aboriginal person the respect you show my culture is wonderful tale foundry. You're truly one of the best RU-vid channels around. I promise you, if you're ever in Victoria and see me behind a bar the drinks are free. The entire creative team are family as far as I'm concerned ❤

A thought about "little people": sometimes when context doesn't point to low hight, it instead can mean unimportant, like the way Rome viewed the Picts.

I agree the idea of fairy folk in so many different cultures is fascinating!!!!! I sometimes like to ponder whether it stems from some ancestral memory of humans encountering other hominid species when many other than just us lives on our planet at once. By far the most interesting use of fairies in fiction, I'd say, has got to be John Crowley's masterpiece 'Little, Big'.

Yay, FAIRY FOLKLORE!!! Very much appreciated

I recognized the Nac Mac Feegles from the icon!!! :D AHHH.

A really great example of this is the Secret World of Arietty. It’s a movie you should check out if you haven’t seen it before.

I thought this was going to be a video on The King of Elfland's Daughter

I see, so every culture has their own Dwarf like creature, in my language they are named Kääpiö and Tonttu, Kääpiö is the wild one what protects rivers and mushrooms and etc... and Tonttu is in other hand the one who protects or Houses and Saunas, and are the who sometimes steals our food and somethings but they give great protections and luck, so we live in peach, And there is more in our culture but they wouldn't really fit to this video right now, so I don't gonna say. And I really like to know how other countries say their own little creatures who protects their houses and forests. And as always great job doing this Tale, loved it and have a nice day

I knew it… 🪁 There’s so elusive although, they do like me… And my neighbors the deer the butterfly the bees the cats the dog the raccoons that live nearby, I see them everywhere they take care of the forest and the redwood trees very nicely as well. And they love when II am able to get out and fly my kite 🌬🪁🌬🪁🌬

Ferngully is also a good example I'd believe

To quote the fegles "it's all in the ankel ya ken."

I listened to the story of the witch on an audiobook! I had forgotten what it was called and it was so obscure I couldn't find it again! In the part I remember the young witch was being followed by a dark swarm and had to confront it. She was given aid & courage by those little people!

I’ve talked to people who have seen little people at a certain peak in the mountains here in northern utah.

Thank you for creating this lovely video essay. Things are difficult here right now (as they are most places). I really appreciate this tea time moment with your words & images. It helps me say “crivvens!” to my anxieties. Anyone anywhere reading this: send up a good cry of “crivvens!” & steer clear of the “special sheep liniment”. Good fortune to all y’all out there. GNU Sir Terry

Beside the Fire by Douglas Hyde is a book for anyone interested in fairy folklore to check out

Being the size of about 2-8 inches is probably one my oldest personal fantasies, running around on a desk so high up off the ground. Of course getting onto the desk is the hard part, so an ability to fly, even if limited, would be tremendously convenient, and specially a form of mechanical flight. Simply lifting myself into the air wouldn't do (it would be too boring), it needs to be something that actively provides propulsion when I will it. So something like Iron Man's repulsors... or wings. As an aside, looking into the traits that faeries are often given can yield some interesting patterns, but looking back at what people would've actually been able to reliably observe and record can yield some surprising insights. Most fair folk are notoriously difficult to observe and report on their precise features, but changelings in particular are somewhat of an exception to this. They were fae who directly took the place of a human and would live among them... at least until they were discovered. Since these changelings would be plainly visible for all to see, reports on what one should look for to identify one can be remarkably detailed, and, for a small portion of the population, eerily familiar.

In German speaking countries we have "Wichtel" and "Heinzelmännchen", which are more akin to house elfs than "Zwerge", which are dwarfs.

Thanks for this. A brilliant topic. And also interesting to see how it developed from the Carpet People and later the gnomes of the Bromeliaed trilogy.

There is a Russian and Slavic household spirit whose name similarly translates to "master of the house", the Domovoy, Damavik, or a few other names, there is also a Spanish version called a Duende which has the same root meaning, and they each have very similar tendencies and descriptions to that South American one.

🌊🏄🏼‍♀️✨ You have no idea how lovely it is when your videos and post show up… 🎩You are a highlight of my week, and every week from here on after. Thank you very much for sharing your mind.🪁

Thumbelina was also a bedtime story about a little person

Loved the thumbnail with the wee free men~

I turned the gnomes and halflings in my dnd game into a people called keepers whom take up residence in old places, guarding and dwelling sights they say were sacred to the sun prince and moon princess of old. Being persuaded by other peoples to be unbribeable watchmen.

In my head-canon, the Foundry is now a part of Kyle Hill's Facility.

I been trying to understand humans for over 800 years, but in the end, there is only 1 way I ever could. Only one way I can know the human perspective. What is the meaning of hatred?

As a kid i really believed there were little people living in my backyard not bigger than 2 cm in height...i dont know how that came to be since it would be years later that i would be exposed to stories with little people in them for the first time...my brother told me recently he also believed that little people were living in our backyard but he didnt tell anyone because he saw that nobody believed me... he even claims to have seen something once but it wasnt clear to him what he saw... I remember one summer watching the grass from the window for hours trying to see them and sometimes i could swear i almost did...one time i found something resembling a spear made with a small shard of glas... I miss being a child...😢

The number of titles used for this video is pretty impressive

Why is this making me teary eyed?

I saw Isaac Arthur in the Nebula ad!

thank you, this helped me breathe again...

i have recently been interested in the origins of the little people with hats. theres the obvious gnomes but also many representations of dwarves, pixies and menninkäinen have pointed hats

I just joined Discord to learn that the wee folk are Taleoids. I guess I hadn't watched enough episodes.

We got tale foundry lore before gta 6

Yes, I am watching backwards, and that's WHY I suggested you read, apparently, what you read for this story. Odd you didn't mention Tif when you mentioned the uncalled hero. She called HERSELF.

A movie you can watch to show another perspective of "little people" is 'Epic' where girl discovers a world hidden within hers where tiny humanoids live but are imperceptible to the human eye due to the fact they move rather quick compared to humans as if they are living in fast forward meanwhile to them us humans appear to be moving slow.

My little people live in my head- they never leave

One correction. The little people in Scandinavia, or rather all of the Nordics, are not the dwarves (or 'dvärgar'). The size of the dvärgar were never mentioned, only their uglyness and skill with magic smithing, and it can be assumed they were as tall as humans. The little people were were instead called 'vättar', 'vittror' or 'huldrufolk'. There was also a type of house god, called the 'tomte', wich was tiny and made sure the farm was cared for. Unless you angered him, wich was easily done.

Sees thumbnail: Nac Mac Feegle wahey!

This is beautiful

How'd you do that? This video has a different name every time I look at it??

Place spirits deserve their own video. The original gods, before that concept’s great collapse into rarity and increasingly extreme super-powers over the last nine thousand years. Every culture identified them differently. In the British and Japanese Isles, they were classified as groups. In Rome and Mongolia, they were named as individuals. The thing-ness of a location has always had a special magic to us, worthy of honors we don’t even offer our greatest.

Ooh! I like the new thumbnail!

I've always been especially interested in art and stories of very large and very small creatures, people, and objects. Particularly juxtapositions of very small versions of things normally large and very large versions of things normally small. Everything from Borrowers to Godzilla.

I don't know. Next time I come close enough to one of their bars to ask, I'll let you know what they said

Terry Pratchett is the greatest writer in human history. A man is not dead while his name is still spoken.

In classical Irish and Scottish folklore, the term fairy referred to a wide variety of supernatural beings. Not all fairies are small. In fact, a lot are around human sized.

Im really curious about the facility and lore about the taleoids does anyone know which videos i should watch?

Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled again!

heh that soft implication that talefoundry is a less than completly safe place outside its walls is an exelent example of and implication doing more than a statement

You make the best videos

Thank you for acknowledging Indigenous myths

yay tales foundry

GNU Terry Pratchett ❤️

I swear this title changes every day

ACH! CRIVENS! Nac Mac Feegle! The Wee Free Men! Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled again!

I know this comment will be incomprehensible to the general population, but this video just further proves my point that jedtavius is inherently Vast-aligned.

WHY DOES THE TITLE KEEP CHANGING