fairy ring

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English

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The Fairy Ring; the Enchanted Piper (c. 1880) by William Holmes Sullivan
A fairy ring (ring of fungi)

Etymology

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The idea of a ring where fairies danced was a traditional explanation for the fungal phenomenon before it was understood.

Noun

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fairy ring (plural fairy rings)

  1. (folklore) A place where fairies congregate in a ring, particularly in order to dance.
    Synonyms: elf circle, fairy circle, pixie ring
    • 1914, "Rhys at the Fairy Dance" in Maud Keary, Enchanted Tulips and Other Verses for Children, Macmillan and Company, page 102,
      Though many a year has passed away, / None have seen Rhys since that day! / Does he dance and does he sing / For ever in a Fairy Ring?
    • 1972, North Carolina Folklore Society, North Carolina Folklore Journal, Volumes 20-21: 1972-1973, page 51:
      Welsh folklore also reveals few references to fairy rings but there is a fine example found in the legend "Rhys at the Fairy Dance" (collected in 1827) in which Rhys is lost but found again when several people venture to a nearby fairy ring.
  2. (mycology, botany) A ring of fungi marking the periphery of the perennial underground growth of the mycelium.
    Synonyms: elf circle, fairy circle, pixie ring
    • 1821, Edward Polehampton, chapter VIII, in The Gallery of Nature and Art: Or, A Tour Through Creation and Science, volume 5, page 316:
      This curious phenomenon has been differently accounted for. The following is Mr. Nicholson's description and explanation: "the appearance in the grass, says he, commonly called Fairy Rings, is well known. It consists either of a ring of grass of more luxuriant vegetation than the rest, or a kind of circular path in which the vegetation is more defective than elsewhere. It appears to be pretty well ascertained that the latter state precedes the former. […]
    • 1884, The Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Home Farmer, Volume 7, 3rd Series, July—December, 1883, page 213:
      The best known Fungus occupant of fairy rings is the Fairy Ring Agaric or Champignon, Marasmius oreades, termed in the older botanical textbooks Agaricus oreades.
    • 2012, Juliana Regina Delion, Heart Attack!: Shadows on the Eve of Tomorrow, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 18:
      So writing it down and reading it later, I realized somehow my subconscious was giving me a warning of things to come. In the dream I woke up at the height of the full moon in my garden. I didn't realize that in my drunken stupor I had fallen asleep amidst a fairy ring. A fairy ring is a bunch of mushrooms growing in a circle. I often see them growing on lawns. Legend has it that if one gets caught in this circle on a full moon, the fairies will take him or her captive and do as they please.

Derived terms

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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