Episode 11: The Fae Realm: Iron and Fae

The folklore of iron and fae in a nutshell, how I reimagined them for my writing, and the elements translated into Afrikaans.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2021 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about iron and fae here.

Get the transcript here.

Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With nearly a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my book Once… Tales, Myths and Legends of Faerie available in eBook, paperback and audiobook. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/my-books for more.

We’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

Today’s subject: Iron and Fae

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Knowing that the fae are part of our world, necessitates knowing how to interact with them. And how to protect oneself from them. A popular and effective way is iron.

Since iron was turned into a usable product, it had been believed to repel the supernatural. Nailing a horseshoe to a door repels evil spirits. Surrounding a graveyard with an iron fence keeps the ghosts inside. Burying an iron knife to the entrance of your home will keep witches from entering. Using an iron bedframe to sleep in will keep faeries away. Iron scissors kept in a cradle will prevent faeries from steeling the infant and replacing it with a changeling.

Cold iron is a poetic form of iron and in modern times, cold steel is used in its place. This is basically a weapon forged from iron that can draw blood.

Iron is lethal to faeries and burns them on contact. Perhaps iron has natural anti-magic qualities as it symbolises the fading of magic and the march of industrialisation. It should be noted that “faery” means all supernatural creatures and that not all fae are affected by iron, only most.

From Pliny the Elder touting the protective properties of iron back in 79 AD to people nailing iron horseshoes to their door frames today (when we bought our house a little over a decade ago, it had several horseshoes and other iron defences nailed around the entrances), we know that iron has value as much more than just scrap metal.

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an origin of the fae: Iron and Fae

Fae are allergic to iron. Some more than others. Iron drains them of their magic and then their life-force.

The mortal realm reeks of iron. Only the most desperate fae still reside in the mortal realm.

Some fae, such as the Court monarchs and the Assassin are immune to iron.

As a little bonus, let’s look at the translation of…. into Afrikaans:

Iron and Fae. Yster en Feë.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faerie.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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