Tales of Fey Encounters

[Palanan]

I’m looking for stories about fey and their interactions with mortals—their tricks and traps, bargains and enchantments. Looking in particular for stories which have an eerie, otherworldly feel to them.

Can anyone recommend a collection of folktales or other stories along these lines?

[Eldan]

Folktales specifically, or is fantasy literature fine? Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell is a recommendation either way. And a bit of a list by Neil Gaiman, if you want it.

[Palanan]

Ideally I'd like a collection of original folktales, but I'll take fantasy recommendations if they involve the theme of fey tricks and bargains.

I keep hearing about Strange & Norell, so I really need to look into that. I'm not as much of a Gaiman fan, but if he has stories touching on the themes I'm interested in then I'd be glad of those recommendations.

[JoshL]

Okay, you'll want to start with Lang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang%27s_Fairy_Books
Stephens' Irish Fairy Tales is a good read too
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Fairy_Tales
If you want a specific Gaiman, Stardust is the one you want (tricks, bargains and enchantments are all well covered). But if we're going for modern fantasy fiction, I can't recommend Charles de Lint highly or often enough. Jack of Kinrowan is stand-alone, so you can read that and see if you dig what he does, but where he shines is his Newford books/short stories.

[Eldan]

If you find JS&Mr.N intimidating in length and writing style, there's also The Ladies of Grace Adieu, which is a small short story collection in the same universe and they are mostly written as fairy tales and quite interesting.

[Zalabim]

They're not personified, but the interactions with the various Mushi in Mushi-shi have a very fey-like quality to them. The Mushi are like natural magical spirits and the people in the folksy stories often just have to deal with them being how they are. Like a tiny hermit-crab-like spirit that eats noise and is sometimes drawn to human settlements in the dead of winter.
/ObligatoryAnimeRecommendation

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by JoshL
*Lang & Stephens*

Much appreciated, thanks. Those look like good places to start.

Originally Posted by JoshL
…I can't recommend Charles de Lint highly or often enough….

As it happens, I have Waifs and Strays, but when I tried reading a couple of the stories I was supremely unimpressed. Something about the feel of it just didn’t work for me.

Originally Posted by Eldan
If you find JS&Mr.N intimidating in length and writing style….

Not at all. The writing is lovely and absolutely perfect in its tone. From reading the first few pages in the Amazon preview, it sounds like a magnificent book.

Originally Posted by Eldan
…there's also The Ladies of Grace Adieu….

This is just the sort of thing I was looking for, thanks.

Originally Posted by Zalabim
They're not personified, but the interactions with the various Mushi in Mushi-shi have a very fey-like quality to them.

I’d never heard of this, and I don’t usually watch anime, but I’ll keep it in mind.

.

[Ninja_Prawn]

If you haven't already, you could check out some of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales as originally written, for example there's a Penguin collection translated by Tiina Nunnally that adheres more closely to the original style. They're a lot weirder than the earlier translations and various adaptations make them seem.

I'd also strongly recommend Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle. The whole thing is shot through with in-character fairytales - the books could be read as a love letter to the art of storytelling - and in the second book the protagonist spends some time in the fey realm. Deals are struck, tricks are played, it's all good stuff.

You said you don't watch much anime, but honestly Japanese media could be a good resource here. A lot of yokai fit comfortably into the 'fey' mold (as defined by D&D). Princess Mononoke is a must-see, for sure. Another that comes to mind is Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-, which is packed with fey creatures and otherworldly feeling.

[comicshorse]

tuff.

You said you don't watch much anime, but honestly Japanese media could be a good resource here. A lot of yokai fit comfortably into the 'fey' mold (as defined by D&D). Princess Mononoke is a must-see, for sure. Another that comes to mind is Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-, which is packed with fey creatures and otherworldly feeling.

Good stuff. To add I'd also highly recommend 'Spirited Away'. It covers most of the traditional elements of Fey stories. Innocents tricked into a strange realm of weird creatures which abide by their own rules and with who you have to be very careful when making bargains

[dps]

For a modern take, The Dresden Files feature a lot of interactions with fae, though there are a lot of other supernatural powers involved as well (the series pretty much runs on a basis of "all myths are true", so if it exits in myth or legend, its probably in there somewhere).

[Manga Shoggoth]

This may not be exactly what you want, but Tam Lin by Pamela Dean is a rather interesting take on the idea. It is based on the eponymous scottish ballard.

The actual story is set in the 1970s and follows Janet, a college student attending the college where her father teaches. The thing about the story is that although they appear almost from the very start of the novel, none of the fantastical (or at least fey) elements in the story are obvious at first, but start to build up towards the end.

[Glimbur]

You could try A Tale of Two Tricksters. It's an urban fantasy short novel by an up and coming author. Personable characters and the story is long enough without overstaying its welcome. I liked it!

[Telonius]

Obvious one, but "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (and the fifty bajillion works inspired by it).

Wikipedia lists several historical references to Oberon.

[uncool]

There are some modern fantasy examples where the Fair Folk appear as an integral part of a larger world. Some are already mentioned; I'd add Discworld's Lords and Ladies and the Chronicles of Prydain; they also appear in the web serials Pact by Wildbow and A Practical Guide to Evil.

[HandofShadows]

The SCP Foundation has a few. The biggest one would be Restricted per protocol 4000-Eshu.

[paddyfool]

You could always dip into Lord Dunsany, with The King of Elfland's Daughter https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_...d%27s_Daughter

It's pre-Tolkein, and did quite a lot to create the modern fantasy idea of elves / fey.

[comicshorse]

If you don't mind comics may I heartily suggest 'Lords of Misrule' (Written by Dan Abnett, Dark Horse comics)

Or 'Mage : The Hero Discovered' (Written by Matt Wagner, Comico comics)

Both have been collected into single books