Fairies in folktales are beautiful young girls with long loose hair, dressed in long white shirts. The fairies live in wild forests and dark places where the sun cannot penetrate. They come in the open only at night and hide with the first morning song of the rooster. The fairies take their baths in river pools, wash their shirts and hang them to dry in moonlight. The fairies are afraid lest someone steal their shirts because the magic power of the fairies is hidden in their clothes. This is why if someone manages to steal the shirt of a fairy, she turns into an ordinary woman and obeys this person.
The fairies love music, especially the sound of the kaval, and are in the habit of kidnapping shepherds so that they play the kaval while the fairies dance the horo chain-dance under the moonlight.
The beautiful women guard closely their secret hideaways. There are hundreds of places in Bulgaria bearing names such as the Fairies’ Meadow, Fairies’ Well, Fairies’ Chain-dance. Should someone transgress into the realm of the fairies, this person disappears without a trace or falls gravelly ill. This is why people are afraid to go there during nighttime. The fairies shy away from people but when someone does them a favour, they fraternize with the person. Many tales are told about such fairies.