Changeling Lore
One of the most infamous recurring themes in European fairy tales are not just the stealing of children, but the switching of children. In particular, the fae switching out human children with one of their own difficult broods. Changelings refer to the act of a human baby being swapped with a fairy baby (a changeling). But why are they stolen? Are they ever switched back? And why is this such a common trope in fairytales?
Let’s start off with something simple: why would the fae want a human baby? By most accounts, fairies are smarter than people, can use magic, and in some cases manipulate greater forces like time and reality. As strange as this swap may seem, it is believed that fairies actually have some issues with reproducing, and, in particular, reproducing healthy, heart fae-bies (fairy babies). Because of conditions we are not aware of, many fairy babies are born sickly. So, one of the most common answers to “why” is that fairies switch their sickly babies for healthy human babies as a way to reinforce fairy stock. Other theories include the general joy fairies seem to gain from tormenting humans or needing human stock to be indentured servants and serve the fairy kingdom.
Changeling babies were usually, well, miserable. I mean, wouldn’t you be upset if you could have grown up in fairyland and you ended up in the mortal realm? They are said to be extremely fussy and cry constantly, no matter the comfort and care given to them. Changelings are also known to have voracious appetites and to be surprisingly ugly. Others believe that they are not exactly fairy babies, but old, wizened fairies who want to be coddled in their final months of life.
These stories also produced their own rituals and superstitions. It was believed unchristened babies were the most at-risk so unchristened babies had to be closely watched until their christening. You could also set protections around babies and their cribs, iron seemed to be one of the most common. You wouldn’t be surprised to see iron tongs laid alongside a new baby.
If your baby is switched and you have a changeling on your hands, you must treat it kindly and as if it was your own. Why? It is said that in fairyland they’ll treat your baby with the same care you give to the changeling. If you want your child to remain happy and whole, you must care for the changeling.
But, do families have any recourse for switching back a changeling? Is there any chance of getting their own babies back? The answer is…sometimes. If you are able to trick the changeling into revealing itself or the fact that it is not human before its first birthday, the fairies that stole your baby are bound to bring it back (by some strange fairy loophole law). Some ways to trick a changeling into revealing itself would be to put it in harm's way and see if it speaks or cries out with awareness that a young baby wouldn’t have. Funny enough, according to the Chamber’s Dictionary of the Unexplained you could also just do something really weird, like boil water in egg shells, at which case, if you have a old fairy masquerading as a young one, it will be forced to say “I have lived many hundreds of years but I haven’t seen any brewing in an egg shell before!”
Once the fairy reveals itself, it will shoot up the chimney and out of the house. The human baby should turn up shortly after, either in their cradle, the front door step, or the nearest fairy mound.
Interestingly enough, in some tales the baby left behind wasn’t a baby at all. Instead, it could be something called a “stock” which looked roughly like a child and had an eerie air of life around it, despite being completely made of wood.
Of course, if we put on our skeptic glasses it is clear that humans who had children under a year die may be grouping for the “why”, as it seems so cruel and useless to bring a life into this world only for it to leave months later. This lore may have cropped up to explain infant death, infant sickness or deformity, or even something simple like a collicky baby.
This only just scratches the start of changeling lore, so continue diving deeper into the fairy mound if you dare.
The blog header image is Titania, Puck and the Changeling painted by George Romney and is licensed under Public Domain.
