Belief in fairies and elves, in certain regions and certain cultures, is not necessarily restricted to "fringe elements". Study how entrenched beliefs in such things were in the Celtic regions. Read about how municipal construction projects in such places were, and sometimes still are, rerouted so as not to disturb fairy hills. Simply an excuse to preserve historical landmarks, or something more? Since I've heard tales of peculiar problems faced by those working on projects that ignored the warnings about disturbing fairy hills, problems that disappeared when the projects were rerouted, i wonder. I know these are just anecdotes, and know science doesn't put much stock in anecdotal evidence, but still...

A religion based around the Partridge Family is definitely an example of the fringe at work. Comparing the fairy faith to something like that is insulting to those that did believe in fairies and elves, and those that still do. I forget what percentage of the Icelandic population still claims a belief in elves, but I recall it's rather high.

Don't even get me going about the narrow-minded nature of science today! I have a science degree, I worked in science for years, but I certainly don't think science has all the answers. I also know there are some things, potentially real things, that most of mainstream science ignores because it doesn't fit the current scientific world view. Science claims other dimensions, realities, and universes exist, without much more than theory (or maybe technically hypothesis) to back this up. Might fairies and elves be beings from a slightly different dimension rubbing elbows with the residents of this dimension? Suggest as much to a scientist, even one that believes other dimensions exist, and they will probably think you're nuts!

Anyway, I digress from the original point of this thread. In my opinion, science fiction is merely speculative fiction for a modern, scientific age, in a way fairy tales were speculative fiction for a more magical age. Science fiction and fantasy are more alike than they are different, differing more in details than anything else. They simply follow somewhat different paths in regard to their speculation. Substitute aliens and robots for elves and dragons and you may just turn a fantasy story into a science fiction one. This might not be the popular stance to take in a crowd of science fiction writers, but I've never followed the easier path just to be popular. Unfortunately, some science fiction writers seem to feel the need to distance themselves from their heads-in-the-clouds fantasy kin by stressing how their branch of genre literature is based on science, not magic. Big whip! (Fantasy, via the fairy and folk tales of old, has a MUCH longer history, so there! )