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June 18, 2007
Fairie Origins?
I found the following article in a text book I'm reading for a class on Special Education.
Folktales from many cultures feature magical "little people"-pixies, elves, trolls, and fairies. A number of physical and behavioral similarities suggest that at least some of the fairies in the early tales might have been modeled on people who had Williams syndrome. Such a view is in keeping with the contention of historians that a good deal of folklore and mythology is based on real life.
The facial traits of Williams people are often described as pixielike. In common with pixies in folklore and art many people with Williams syndrome have small upturned noses, a depressed nasal bridge "puffy"eyes, oval ears, and broad mouths with full lips accented by a small chin. Indeed those features are so common that Williams children tend to look more like one another than their relatives especially as children. The syndrome also is accompanied by slow growth development, which leads most Williams individuals to be relatively short.
The "Wee magical people"of assorted folktales often are musicians and storytellers. Fairies are said to "repeat the songs they have heard" and can "enchant"humans with their melodies. Much the same can be said of people with Williams syndrome who in spite of typically having subnormal IQs, usually display vivid narrative skills and often show talent for music. (The large pointed ears that are so often associated with fairies might symbolically represent the sensitivity of those mythical individuals -- and of Williams people -- to music and to sound in general.)
As a group, Williams people are loving, trusting, caring, and extremely sensitive to the feelings of others. Similarly, elves are frequently referred to as the "good people" or as kind and gentle-hearted souls...
-Adapted from article Williams syndrome and the brain by Howard M. Lenhoff Paul P. Wang, Frank Greenberg Ursulat Bellugi
| By larawalk | 12:29 AM
Comments
I had never heard of Williams Syndrome. Interesting!
Posted by: Heidi Vincent at June 18, 2007 08:52 AM
That is very interesting about Williams syndrome.
On a different note, the top part of the painting above with the stars and moon blazing in a cold night sky, shining through the branches, makes my heart skip a beat, makes me long. For what? Winter, eternity...something like that...it is just deeply beautiful.
Posted by: Neil E. Das at June 18, 2007 09:34 AM
I like it too. I found it on a Google search. It's an Elf from Lothlorien :).
Posted by: Laura at June 18, 2007 09:00 PM
Mind you, I don't like the likeness of the elf too much, I'm afraid.
Posted by: Neil E. Das at June 18, 2007 09:20 PM
So your an elf connoisseur are you? Picky, picky.
Kidding, I know what you mean.
Posted by: Laura at June 19, 2007 12:12 AM
Dearest one:
Just catching up on your blog. I love and miss you so! The Williams syndrome article is very interesting and probably holds great truth. Alas...I will still believe in fairies. Love you lots:)
Posted by: Rachel at June 27, 2007 11:10 PM
Glad your still reading this blog dear Rachel. I haven't seen any action on your blog for months and months. What's up? Has Facebook become a replacement? What's this worldcoming to eh? I don't even get e-mails any more...just brief little snatches of info. via Facebook. The sad thing is, I have begun to sell Facebook myself. Seriously, I almost forced Maggie to sit down an open up an account. Shameless.
Posted by: Laura at June 27, 2007 11:56 PM