ycleaped _Fawnes_, _Satyres_, _Dryades_, and _Hamadryades_," he spoke more
truly than he knew.[48]

First of all, let us consider the word _fairy_. Strictly, this is a
substantive meaning either "the land of the fays," or else "the fay-people"
collectively; it is also used as an equivalent for "enchantment." It was
originally, therefore, incorrect to speak of "_a_ fairy";[49] the singular
term is "_a_ fay," as opposed to "_the_ fairy." _Fay_ is derived, through
French, from the Low Latin _fata_, misunderstood as a feminine singular; it
is in fact the plural of _Fatum_, and means "the Fates."

Reversing the chronological order, let us proceed to compare the functions
of these beings. The Fates, whether the Greek _Moirae_ or the Roman
_Parcae_, were three in number, and were variously conceived as goddesses
of birth or of death; the elements of the primitive idea are, at least,
comprised in the conception that they allotted man his fate; we may also
note that the metaphor of _spinning_ was used in connection with their
duties.

Leaving classical lands and times, we find in the tenth century, amongst
the Eddic Lays of northern Europe, the following passage:--

"It was in the olden days ... when Helgi the stout of heart was born of
Borghild, in Braeholt. Night lay over the house when the Fates came to
forecast the hero's life. They said that he should be called the most
famous of kings and the best among princes. With power they twisted the
strands of fate for Borghild's son in Braeholt...."[50]

Here the "Fates" are the "Norns" of the northern mythology. We find them
practising the same functions again in twelfth century Saxo