Abducted by fairies

There are plenty of stories about being abducted by fairies. This is hardly an exhaustive list but let me tell you about a two types.

The first is the idea of the changeling. A human child will be stolen by fairies, and they will leave one of their own in its place. The fairies' motive, as always, is not really clear. Often children abducted in this way (they may be adult children) are introspective dreamers and hence perhaps attractive to the fairies and ripe for abduction. Generally the parents will think that this is their own child but its behaviour will perplex them. In one story I read, the replacement child never spoke, but ate and drank insatiably. The new child was a horrible burden, where the old one was a blessing.

In this type of story a wise outsider - a neighbour, local elder, or some similar figure - will diagnose the problem, and propose a solution. This may involve something drastic, like throwing the imposter in the fire, or something odd, like surrounding the changeling with eggshells full of water. After getting rid of the imposter they need to recover their own child from fairy custody - this might involve finding their home under the hill, and using an iron implement to prevent the fairies from closing the door until the captive is released. The fiaries are likely to give in a make the deal before daybreak to avoid being trapped in the sunlight. (Note the fairy powerlessness against iron which is a repeated motif of fairy tales). Such a rescue is not without risk - the rescuer may be struck dumb, or the fairies may attempt to imprison him too.

There is a obvious mental illness link here, with a slightly "strange" child turning into someone who seems a complete stranger. Magical rituals took the place of treatment. I'm glad we're not expected to throw mentally ill people into the fire these days but the idea that courageous devotion can bring them back still strikes a chord.

The second type of story is that of the revenge abduction. In one instance, a piper claims to surpass the fairies in musical ability and challenges them by entering their cave playing his pipes. He is condemned to wander in their caverns forever playing the same tune. This is of course a moral tale - don't boast! In other tales, the crime is simply being too curious - humans will try to find where fairies live, trace their home under the hillside, and find themselves trapped. Some types of fairies (like nixies, for instance) seem intent on entrapment, dragging unsuspecting young men down to their watery homes where they either drown, or live a life of underwater slavery.

Of these stories, Thomas's is somewhere between the changeling story (he is ripe for abduction but there is no replacement) and the story of the curious person who is trapped (instead of seeking the fairies home, he asks the Queen for a kiss). As in either of these tales, he is not entirely a victim - he contributes to his own fate, and to some extent embraces his visit as an adventure rather than being simply whisked off despite himself. This curiosity and goodwill seems to be what eventually allows him to return - his admiration for the Queen earns her protection, and she guides him through the perils of the land to ensure that he does not become trapped.