Fairytales are one of our earliest and most vital cultural forms, and forests one of our most ancient and primal landscapes. Both evoke similar sensations in us – we find them beautiful, magical, spooky, and unsettling. Sara Maitland argues that the two are intimately connected: the mysterious secrets and silences, gifts and perils of the forests were both the background and the source of fairytales. Yet both forests and fairy stories are at risk – and their potential loss deprives us of our cultural lifeblood.