The Fairies of Caragonan
There's an old witch running around cursing people in this story, and the people who live around her are understandably afraid of her. The element that caught my eye, though, was the bit about an old miser who happens to be known around town as the witch's associate. All the townspeople are extra polite to him, but they're actually just as terrified of this associate as they are of the witch, and I find the whole thing really interesting. If I were to do a story inspired by this one, I think it'd be from the perspective of a protagonist who is that associate of someone powerful and feared and not quite understood, and I'd like to look at not only their dynamic, but the personality and experiences of that associate.
The Fairies of Caragonan (Part II)
In this story we see the methods behind creating a fairy circle, and it's pretty interesting: the fairy queen walks in a circle, and the grass within that area dies. I'd probably take that and spin it off into a character whose touch is death, and look at a little snapshot of what that would be like, who it would wreck.
Three Short Tales of Fairies
None of these tales themselves really caught my interest, but the old woman in the last one is a "baby farmer," a concept that had a link to the Wikipedia page on it. I might end up seeing what I can do with that idea instead—taking it in a sci-fi or urban fantasy direction, most likely.
Three More Tales of Fairies
I think it's interesting how the fairies are always taking things from people and replacing them with copies that initially look alike, but eventually reveal their true nature: changelings for human babies, the shells for gold in this story, and so on. That could probably lead to an interesting story in mistaken/false identity. The protagonist would slowly realize her sibling or friend or whoever isn't actually who they're supposed to be, in this unsettling, creeping way—and ultimately either realizes there's nothing she can do about it, or gets replaced herself.
The Story of Gelert
Well. This one was as much of a downer as it was the first time I heard it. But instead of going the dead-puppy route, I'll probably take that idea of the protagonist ending up killing someone she/he loves: either unintentionally or because that person is possessed or permanently ruined and has to be put down. Of course, we could always go the metaphorical route with this one, too: Not sure where it comes from, but I've always loved that whole You kill the things you love quote, and this could just as easily go in that direction.
Origin of the Welsh
In this story, the chieftain of a little tribe builds "a series of towers...in which the watchmen [of his tribe] could sleep securely by night." I like the idea of a some kind of night watch involving tall watchtowers, though I'm not sure yet what I'd do with those ingredients.
Crows
I've always loved the idea of crows as an omen, so if I used this as my inspiration, I would definitely stick with that part of the source material. If I use the concept of only the doomed character being able to see the omen, I'm not sure if that character would be the protagonist, or if the main character would be slowly watching that character spiral, slipping closer and closer to death even as they're on a no-holds-barred quest to save him.
The Fairy of the Dell
The description of the villain as a "celebrated witch" in this piece got me thinking—it might be fun to play with the idea of a witch who's incompatible with all the usual witchy tropes. Bold and fierce instead of sneaking and sly, a glamorous hothead instead of a clever old hag, admired even while she's hated.
That said, I also liked the way the fairy queen and her people would follow reports of witches to the various afflicted towns, setting up camp just long enough to investigate and address the problems. I wouldn't want to use fairies and witches in my take on the scenario, but I wouldn't want to use humans tracking supernatural creatures, either's because that's already been done enough; I don't have anything new to add to that conversation. But I might use some kind of creature or other inhuman tracking something else, if I can find something fresh enough that'll work well with the story length guidelines.
The Fairy of the Dell (Part II)
In this story, when an old mortal friend asks the fairy queen if they'll meet again, the queen responds by giving the mortal a ring and some directions: the mortal can use the ring to check in on the queen whenever she wants. If the ring turns bright, the queen's alive—but if it turns the color of blood, the queen is dead. I like the idea of two close friends or relatives being separated due to extreme, possibly supernatural circumstances, and relying on some kind of old blood magic or something to keep in contact and work together on some mutual goal.
Bibliography: Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter Emerson. Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook.
Image Credit: Crows in Dark Tree by Activedia. Source: Pixabay.
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