Fairy Rings
On a recent walk to the park, Mickey and I saw a fairy ring. Or, a ring in progress, the mushrooms to the left were still emerging and couldn't be seen well.
As the root-like parts of the fungi move outward nutrients are depleted, the center dies, and an ever expanding ring is formed. Rings are common in fungi. If you've ever had ringworm (which I have, twice), which is a fungus, you know what I mean. At first it looks like a bug bite, but then it turns into a ring, while the center clears. The ring keeps growing. Both times I caught it from a cat. Once pet-sitting, once from petting a stray. It's easily cured with anti-fungal ointment, as long as you use it until all traces are gone. And longer to be sure.
In Celtic folklore they were formed where fairies danced. If a human joined in the fairies would punish them by making them dance until they passed out, died, or went mad. A minute in a fairy ring would be equal to weeks in the human world. In Northumberland, England, there was a tradition for safely investigating the interior of the ring. Make sure to count accurately! (The book sounds so incredibly fascinating I interrupted this sentence to buy it used on Amazon!)
German folklore took a different view, calling them "witches' rings." Witches would dance there during a spring celebration called Walpurgis Night, April 30 - May 1.
Austrians believed the rings were burns from dragons' tails, while the Dutch said it's where the devil kept his milk churn, and any cows entering the ring would sour their own milk.
Other myths include never stepping into the circle or you become invisible, or they are portals to another world. A more positive believe was they meant good luck, and a fairy village was underground.
I believe they are fun to find!
If interested, here's a poem I wrote, and posted in 2020, about Faeries in the Garden. If these are the kind that leave fairy rings, I'll keep my distance!
https://lisasgardenadventureinoregon.blogspot.com/2020/11/faeries-in-garden-garden-poetry.html
The above font is set to the same size as the rest of the post, yet you can see it isn't, and this is. Sigh...
Edited to add another fairy ring I saw in the park this morning, a smaller full ring fairy ring.
Cool
ReplyDeleteI think so! Strange though to think how ringworm makes the rings the same way, on our bodies.
DeleteI don't think I've ever seen a fairy ring in real life.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember seeing them until recently.
DeleteLisa, I loved the fairy rings and the information about fungi and the myths! That was fun and I learned some new things. AND I linked over to your poem and that was wonderful... what fun. (I kind of wish I'd had more fairies as an excuse to get out of chores.) You are so talented. I hope any fairies you catch dancing in those rings (and I'm positive they are there!) will treat you kindly. (Maybe they have mellowed in the ensuing years! If so, your son will have to make a new illustration.)
ReplyDeleteI love myths! I hope to find some fairy ring myths from areas outside Europe, surely there must be some. I learned why ringworm gets cleared up in the center as it gets bigger! Makes me shudder to think how it's growing on skin like mushrooms in soil.
DeleteI wonder if ringworm makes tiny fruiting bodies like mushrooms. And, I wonder how the mushrooms feel about us eating them. They aren't plants, and anyway I'm not sure the plants appreciate it either. Except fruit. Fruit wants to be eaten, because that's how the seeds spread.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by all the different folklore. Fascinating!
ReplyDelete