Hey lovelies, welcome Spooky Saturday where I search the interwebs for information of different paranormal topics. It could be a person, place, thing or personal encounters. Who knows where the darkness will lead us.
Todays installment brings us to the world of Changelings.
Changelings come from European folklore and are usually the deformed offspring of elves and fairies who are used to replace human children. The human children were then given to the Devil or fairies to strengthen their stock. It is said that if you torture a Changeling then the real child will be put back in its place. However, this was used an excuse for child abuse.
Human infants were said to be replaced with Changelings by fairies for one of three reasons: servitude, love of a human child, or revenge.
The most beautiful children were usually the ones taken and believed to have the traits that the fairyfolk looks for.
If a child became ill or unable to move limbs or looked “strange”, they were believed to be fairy struck and the locals suspected the work of fairy.
During medieval times any child thought to have deformities or an unexplained illness were often abandoned or killed because they were thought to be replaced by Changelings. However, there were parents who still cared for the Changelings because they feared their child would be harmed or never returned if they didn’t.
The lore of Changelings comes from a very dark part of human nature during pre-industrial Europe: Survival.
Peasant family’s survival often depended on the productivity of each family member. If one was unable to do so due to deformity or illness then they became a strain on resources. Often times a family felt unable to care for the burden of a child that they deemed “useless” were easier to abandon as Changelings than to let their own child die.
Infanticide was a terribly real part of the medieval world and the Changeling stories just allowed them to easier follow down such a dark path.
Often times they held a darker backstory than the tale itself. So next time you find yourself perusing an unusual lore then dig a little deeper to find the truly darker aspects of the story.
References: Changeling | folklore | Britannica. (2019). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/changeling-folklore
Brent, H. (n.d.). Exploring Irish Mythology: Changelings. The Irish Post. https://www.irishpost.com/life-style/exploring-irish-mythology-changelings-170347
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