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Fairyland
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<p>Fairyland (<a href="/facts/Early_Modern_English/vSza8r03">Early Modern English</a>: <i>Faerie</i>; <a href="/facts/Scots_language/0qPof8oC">Scots</a>: <i>Elfame</i> in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of <a href="/facts/Fairy/P5ca3mNx">fairies</a> or <i>fays</i>. <a href="/facts/Old_French/QcRpPdAc">Old French</a> <i>faierie</i> (Early Modern English <i>faerie</i>) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land of the <i>faes</i>. Modern English (by the 17th century) <i>fairy</i> transferred the name of the realm of the <i>fays</i> to its inhabitants, e.g., the expression <i>fairie knight</i> in <a href="/facts/Edmund_Spenser/WJhL9A6W">Edmund Spenser</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/The_Faerie_Queene/rLK3f97m">The Faerie Queene</a></i> refers to a "supernatural knight" or a "knight of Faerie" but was later re-interpreted as referring to a knight who is "a fairy". </p>