A great deal of folklore surrounds fairy rings. Their names in European languages often allude to supernatural origins; they are known as ronds de sorciers ("sorcerers' rings") in France, and hexenringe ("witches' rings") in German. In German tradition, fairy rings were thought to mark the site of witches' dancing on Walpurgis Night, and Dutch superstition claimed that the circles show where the Devil set his milk churn.
In Tyrol, folklore attributed fairy rings to the fiery tales of flying dragons; once a dragon had created such a circle, nothing but toadstools could grow there for seven years.
European superstitions routinely warned against entering a fairy ring. French tradition reported that fairy rings were guarded by giant bug-eyed toads that cursed those who violated the circles. In other parts of Europe, entering a fairy ring would result in the loss of an eye. Fairy rings are associated with diminutive spirits in the Philippines.
Scandinavian and Celtic traditions claimed that fairy rings are the result of elves or fairies dancing.
A traditional Scottish rhyme sums up the danger of such places:
He wha tills the fairies' green
Nae luck again shall hae :
And he wha spills the fairies' ring
Betide him want and wae.
For weirdless days and weary nights
Are his till his deein' day.
But he wha gaes by the fairy ring,
Nae dule nor pine shall see,
And he wha cleans the fairy ring
An easy death shall dee
It is also said that a fairy ring is a doorway to faery and to enter one is to enter faery. Time is different here than there and years can go by in a blink.
There is a story about a man who enters fairy and parties with the fairies but remembers not to eat or drink anything else he'll never be able to leave. And he parties with them till the sun rises and they dis spear. When he realizes it's morning he rushes home to find his family but they're no where to be seen. It turned out his night in faery had cost him 100 years. Or something along those lines. Forgive me because I can't exactly remember how this one went or the title of it.
