The exceptions include the tooth fairy, the fairy godmother in Cinderella, and Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Fairy lore is thought to exist in almost every culture and is most prevalent in Europe and the British Isles. It spread to America during the colonization period and is still strong in the Appalachians, Ozarks, and other remote mountainous regions. More generally fairies are believed to lived in a land where time does not exist. This Land of the Fairy, or Fairyland or Elfland, as it is called, is accessed through barrows and mounds.
Fairies come to the land at night to folic and make mischief.
Stories are told that they are eager to kidnap human women for wives and human children, which are more attractive than fairy children, or changelings , that they leave behind in exchange. Other fairies generally live in small groups along rivers, lakes, or in woods and forests. They resemble the elementals and devas . This Fairyland, or Elfland, resembles the pre-Christian abodes for the dead. Fairyland is sometimes referred to as the Land of the Ever Young, which is eternal and beautiful.