Change in recent years

[Qualapec]

Something I've noticed that's kind of new with the Sci-fi/fantasy industry is that people are begining to spell fairy like faerie. Why the change? I kinda figured it was political correctness to avoid...uh...trashy remarks to sexual orientation?

Then again I'm probably looking way too much into it. Chances are it's just something cool that somebody did and now it's slowly spreading. (because I personally prefer the 'fae' spelling myself.)

Well, either way, I was wondering if anybody had any ideas what that was about.

~She-Wolf

[Mickey Finn]

It's got to be due to fae. I believe faerie is an older spelling, as well, but I could be wrong.

I've always spelled it fae and Faerie.

[Richelle Mead]

Yeah, I agree it's more of a resurrection than a creation of a new term.  And let's not forget the recent magic vs. magick spellings that popped up in the early 90s.

[Qualapec]

I figured it was an old english spelling. I'm just asking about the sudden change and why most books I run into spell it with the fae spelling. Is there a reason behind it?

~She-Wolf

[Valiar Marcus]

I figured it was an old english spelling. I'm just asking about the sudden change and why most books I run into spell it with the fae spelling. Is there a reason behind it?

~She-Wolf

I think it's actually gaelic-derived, as are many of the old stories of the fae.

[Richelle Mead]

I think they're trying to be different, honestly.  Just put a new twist and sound original.

[Mickey Finn]

Original as in the original spelling.

Honestly, I've always seen it spelled fae & Faerie (which is the land of Faerie) in older texts.

[novium]

I thought it was to look cool and not have fairy-tale or disney associations. to be more 'serious'.

[BigMama]

I've always thought that "fairy" was used to describe fictional characters like Tinkerbelle, and "Faerie" was used when refering to a world in which different forms of supernatural being resided.