Looking for legends of fey

[Psykenthrope]

Does anyone know of a good book or web site to look up faerie legends and myths in? I'm specifically looking for legends on fey that could safely touch iron, if such legends are a thing. My internet searches have been clogged by fantasy series' and other stuff, making it hard to find what I'm looking for. Any help would be appreciated.

[Pyromancer999]

What specific type of fey/Faerie? For that matter, what do you define as Faeries? Are you looking for just Faeries from Irish/Scottish/Celtic folklore, or are you looking for them in the sense of more general European nature spirits? Because off the bat, don't recall Nymphs and other nature spirits of Greek myth to be vulnerable to cold iron. If you want to go even more broadly for nature spirits, nature/animal-affiliated Youkai, such as Kappas, Yuki-Onna, Kitsune, Bakenekos, and so on are never stated to be vulnerable to Cold Iron.

It is also worth noting that while Cold Iron in modern literature harms fey and other otherworldly creatures that touch it, it is more historically noted as something to repel/contain them(the harm is also historical, but from the older stories I've read have not had a lot of that), so technically none of those are capable of touching it to find out.

[JCarter426]

Most fairies are the byproducts of preexisting mythologies, so it's easier to go straight to the source (or the internet) if you have something specific in mind. But one book I use for broad information on the subject is Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128992.Spirits_Fairies_Leprechauns_and_Goblins).

[Ninja_Prawn]

*Ninja_Prawn's Obligatory Post*

The thing with faerie stories is that all of them exist in multiple forms, which have been adapted, remixed and distorted beyond recognition. This means that fey can be whatever you want them to be; they're practically a blank canvas onto which anything can be projected. See our trolls are different (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllTrollsAreDifferent).

Therefore, I find the best way to get a sense of what any given fey creature 'means' to people is to google it and 'take the average' of whatever comes up. I wouldn't trust any single source, even in book format. Especially Victorian-era books; that period is notorious for re-inventing and re-purposing legends (not to mention real history).

Something to be aware of: for a lot of creatures (not just fey ones; the lich is a classic example of this), the versions in the old D&D monster manuals have become the 'prototype' or 'trope codifier'. The people who wrote those books wove together a good amount of real-world legend and then embroidered a lot of detail on top, in a time when the average reader did not have access to the wealth of information that the internet now gives us. Thus, their interpretations have tended to catch on, and it's often a good idea to check the MMs as part of your research.

[Serpentine]

The Enchanted World series would be a great start if you can get a hold of it. Especially Fairies and Elves and Water Spirits, but they come up in many of the other books, too - The Lore Of Love, Fabled Lands, Spells and Bindings, etc. And I'm recommending that series not just for the books themselves, but because they each have a huge bibliography in the back for further research.

[Psykenthrope]

This is all great stuff. Thanks for the quick response. I'll be sure to check out as many of these sources as I can when I have the time.

Pyromancer999 I'm looking for something that might be compatible with a DFRPG game, specifically something that I could build a changeling off of. (Yes, I know Jim Butcher got changelings wrong in his books, but that's neither here nor there.)

[2D8HP]

The Encyclopedia of Fairies (etc):

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Fairies-Hobgoblins-Supernatural-Creatures/dp/039473467Xttp://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0394739930/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1460753330&sr=1-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Katharine+Briggs&dpPl=1&dpID=51KRoVWqrGL&ref=plSrch

British Folktales:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0394739930/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1460753330&sr=1-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Katharine+Briggs&dpPl=1&dpID=51KRoVWqrGL&ref=plSrch

And everything else by 20th century folklorist Katharine Briggs:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s//ref=mw_dp_a_s?ie=UTF8&i=books&k=Katharine+Briggs