Fairy-locks
Encyclopedia
When young children, especially girls, wake from an evening's slumber with tangles and snarls in their hair, mothers with a tradition of fairy
folklore might whisper to their daughters that they had caught fairy locks or elf-locks. Faeries, they say, tangled and knotted the hairs of the sleeping children as they played in and out of their hair at night.
in Mercutio
's speech of the many exploits of Queen Mab
, where he seems to imply the locks are only unlucky if combed out.
Therefore, the appellation of elf lock or fairy lock could be attributed to any various tangles and knots of unknown origins appearing in the manes of beasts or hair of sleeping children.
It can also refer to tangles of elflocks or fairy-locks in human hair. In King Lear, Edgar impersonates a madman, "he elfs all his hair in knots."(Lear, ii. 3.) What Edgar has done, simply put, is to make a mess of his hair.
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
folklore might whisper to their daughters that they had caught fairy locks or elf-locks. Faeries, they say, tangled and knotted the hairs of the sleeping children as they played in and out of their hair at night.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare references such elflocks in Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
in Mercutio
Mercutio
Mercutio a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend of Romeo, and Romeo's cousin Benvolio, and also a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, being neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is one of the few in Verona...
's speech of the many exploits of Queen Mab
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...
, where he seems to imply the locks are only unlucky if combed out.
- "She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
- In shape no bigger than an agate stone.......
- That plaits the manes of horses in the night
- And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
- Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes."
Therefore, the appellation of elf lock or fairy lock could be attributed to any various tangles and knots of unknown origins appearing in the manes of beasts or hair of sleeping children.
It can also refer to tangles of elflocks or fairy-locks in human hair. In King Lear, Edgar impersonates a madman, "he elfs all his hair in knots."(Lear, ii. 3.) What Edgar has done, simply put, is to make a mess of his hair.