Chapter VI: The Longaevi Summary and Analysis

From a historical perspective, Medieval belief in what would now be considered mythological creatures—fairies, elves, centaurs, and the like—is difficult to grasp. It is obvious that there were no fixed beliefs among common people on these subjects, and it is difficult to say how widespread these beliefs even were. The creatures appear often enough in folk stories, literature, and sometimes even more serious works that it is certain that a significant portion of the Medievals believed in them. The first thing to note about the "faeries" is that they were neither uniformly good or bad. Some of the Longaevi were pernicious and responsible for abductions or worse. Others had no bad intentions, but were shy and tried not to be seen by people.

The status of these creatures in the scale...