Nowadays, when fairies are so very rare,
most people would be delighted to meet them.
But in olden times, when they were more
plentiful and, it would seem, more powerful,
people were often quite afraid of them. These
fears chiefly centered around the dangers of
offending them (see People and Faeries) and
around the possibility of being lost in Fairyland.
It was considered worthwhile to be able to ward
off fairies. Rue is a powerful anti-fairy herb.
So are St. John's wort and yarrow. Carrying a
piece of iron (especially a cross or a horseshoe),
four leaf clovers, walking sticks made of mountain
ash or rowan wood, and trinkets made of coral
or amber were also said to be good protection.
Fairies are also repelled by the sound of church
bells, and it has been said that the decline of
the fairy population (in the British isles, at
least) directly parallels the increase in the
number of churches across the land.
