Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Elfshot
open-in-new
<h2 id="origins-and-background">Origins and background</h2> <p>Before the causes of certain diseases or ailments were scientifically evidenced, they were often attributed to supernatural phenomena, and in such cases often seen as the malevolent actions of supernatural beings. It has been argued that attributing certain aches and pains to the arrows or "flying venom" of elfkind was a practice common throughout Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Europe.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a> <a href="/facts/Incantation/9fgfupQz">spell</a> <i>Gif hors ofscoten sie</i>, <i>"if a horse is elf-shot,"</i> meaning some kind of internal injury, may be an allusion to the magical elf-shot. However, the term <i>aelfsogoða</i>, which describes the internal pain from <a href="/facts/Jaundice/TCyoLMJU">jaundice</a> or a disorder of <a href="/facts/Bile/7c5ufDao">bile</a>, is perhaps a more suitable fit. Along with elves, there also exist historical claims of witches firing elf-arrows. Per the testimony of Scottish accused witch <a href="/facts/Isobel_Gowdie/yC8lUuG3">Isobel Gowdie</a>, these elf-arrows were given to witches by the Devil, who asked them to be fired (by flicking with the thumb, rather than shot with a bow) in his name.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>Belief in, or mentions of, elf-shot persisted into the 20th century in Scotland,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> though more modern elves seem to have concentrated their attentions on animals.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="preventive-and-curative-practices">Preventive and curative practices</h2> <p>There is evidence of belief that elfshot could function as both cause and cure of pain, with the added possibility of elfshot <a href="/facts/Charm_(magic)/9fgfupQz">charms</a> being used for <a href="/facts/Exorcism/RkVPajWb">exorcism</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> This was associated with the use of <a href="/facts/Prehistoric/52D6oKM4">prehistoric</a> flint arrowheads.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>Possible prevention or curing of elf-shot included visiting Church on the first Sunday of the season,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> or using a charm made of <a href="/facts/Tanacetum_parthenium/syxsCGF3">feverfew</a>, <a href="/facts/Lamium_purpureum/jy7mSMgM">red nettles</a>, and <a href="/facts/Plantago_major/pyR7PEWA">waybread</a>. All have vaguely spear-shaped leaves, which, by the <a href="/facts/Sympathetic_magic/0csJLBjo">Law of Similarity</a>, may have suggested their use as a remedy for pains attributed to elf-arrows.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p><p>The Anglo-Saxons were known to have various charms and preventative practices for horses and cattle that have been elf-shot.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> When dealing with cattle, a sewing-needle folded into a page torn from a psalm-book, and placed into the beast's hair, was an option as well.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> Various cures for elfshot horses have been recorded, including mixing dock seed, Irish wax, and holy water and letting "a priest sing twelve masses over them".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="elf-arrows-and-artefacts">Elf-arrows and artefacts</h2> <p>Neolithic and Bronze Age flint arrowheads were recorded as being collected and used for folk magic and folk medicine practices. These arrow heads were interpreted as fairy darts, the cause and cure of certain of illnesses.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> The name elf arrows derives from the <a href="/facts/Folklore/hcBN8qcd">folklore</a> belief that the arrows fell from the sky, and were used by the <a href="/facts/Elves/7GB9V6qp">elves</a> to kill cattle and inflict elf-shot on human beings.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> </p><p>Elf-arrows were sometimes worn as <a href="/facts/Amulet/aTApH0q5">amulets</a>, occasionally set in <a href="/facts/Silver/xXe41BGg">silver</a>, as a charm against <a href="/facts/Witchcraft/kdbQwmBD">witchcraft</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Fairy_riding/gHa4m70v">Fairy riding</a> – paralysis in livestock, attributed to fairies</li> <li><a href="/facts/Projectile_point/U4kS63a8">Projectile point</a> – component of any projectile weapon, including arrows and spears</li> <li><a href="/facts/Thunderstone_(folklore)/CuP8B09M">Thunderstone (folklore)</a> – flint arrowheads once thought to have fallen from the sky</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Davidson, Thomas ‘Elf-Shot Cattle’, <i>Antiquity</i> 30 (1956), 149-155</li> <li>Davidson, Thomas ‘The Cure of Elf-Disease in Animals’, <i>Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences</i> 15 (1960), 282-291</li> <li>Dowd, Marion ‘Bewitched by an Elf Dart: Fairy Archaeology, Folk Magic and Traditional Medicine in Ireland’, <i>Cambridge Archaeological Journal</i> 28 (2018), 451-473</li> <li>Goodrum, Matthew R. ‘Questioning Thunderstones and Arrowheads: The Problem of Recognizing and Interpreting Stone Artifacts in the Seventeenth Century’, <i>Early Science and Medicine</i> 13 (2008), 482-508</li> <li>Hall, Alaric ‘Calling the shots: The Old English Remedy ‘gif hors ofscoten sie’ and Anglo-Saxon ‘Elf-Shot’’, <i>Neuphilologische Mitteilungen</i> 106 (2005a), 195-209</li> <li>Hall, Alaric ‘Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials’, <i>Folklore</i> 116 (2005b), 19-36</li> <li>McGowan, Joseph ‘Elves, Elf-shot, and Epilepsy: OE ælfādl, ælfsiden, ælfsogeþa, bræccoþu, and bræcsēoc’, <i>Studia Neophilologica</i> 81 (2009), 116-120</li> <li>Piper, Stephanie ‘A Little Mystery, Mythology, and Romance: How the “Pigmy Flint” Got Its Name’, <i>Open Archaeology</i> 8 (2022), 145-158</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Jolly, Karen Louise (1998). "Elves in the Psalms?". The Devil, Heresy, and Witchcraft in the Middle Ages: Essays in honour of Jefferey B. Russell. Brill. p. 19. ISBN 9004106103. <a href="9004106103" target="_blank">9004106103</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Hall, Alaric (April 2005). "Research Article: Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials". Folklore. 116 (1): 19–36. doi:10.1080/0015587052000337699. ISSN 0015-587X. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587052000337699" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587052000337699</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Hall, Alaric (April 2005). "Research Article: Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials". Folklore. 116 (1): 19–36. doi:10.1080/0015587052000337699. ISSN 0015-587X. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587052000337699" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587052000337699</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Hall, Alaric (April 2005). "Research Article: Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials". Folklore. 116 (1): 19–36. doi:10.1080/0015587052000337699. ISSN 0015-587X. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587052000337699" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587052000337699</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Bonser, Wilfrid (1926). "Magical Practices against Elves". Folklore. 37 (4): 350–363. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718371" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718371</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Elf-Arrows". www.electricscotland.com. Retrieved 16 July 2022. <a href="https://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm" target="_blank">https://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Charm against a sudden 'stitch'". Heorot. Denmark. Retrieved 22 May 2018. <a href="http://www.heorot.dk/stitch-i-txt.html" target="_blank">http://www.heorot.dk/stitch-i-txt.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"The fairy folk attack!". Orkneyjar. <a href="http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/fairicks/f4.htm" target="_blank">http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/fairicks/f4.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Hall, Alaric (2005). "Calling the shots: the Old English remedy gif hors ofscoten sie and Anglo-Saxon 'elf-shot'". Neuphilologische Mitteilungen: Bulletin of the Modern Language Society. 106 (2): 195–209. JSTOR 43344130. <a href="/wiki/Alaric_Hall" target="_blank">/wiki/Alaric_Hall</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Shippey, Tom (2003) [1982]. The Road to Middle-Earth (Revised and expanded ed.). Houghton Mifflin. p. 58. ISBN 0-61825760-8. <a href="0-61825760-8" target="_blank">0-61825760-8</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Kirk, Robert (2021). Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Faries. Rebel Satori Press. ISBN 978-1-60864-171-0. OCLC 1255462500. <a href="978-1-60864-171-0" target="_blank">978-1-60864-171-0</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Charm against a sudden 'stitch'". Heorot. Denmark. Retrieved 22 May 2018. <a href="http://www.heorot.dk/stitch-i-txt.html" target="_blank">http://www.heorot.dk/stitch-i-txt.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Bonser, Wilfrid (1926). "Magical Practices against Elves". Folklore. 37 (4): 350–363. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718371" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718371</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"Elf-Arrows". www.electricscotland.com. Retrieved 16 July 2022. <a href="https://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm" target="_blank">https://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Bonser, Wilfrid (1926). "Magical Practices against Elves". Folklore. 37 (4): 350–363. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718371" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1926.9718371</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Dowd, Marion. (2018). Bewitched by an Elf Dart: Fairy Archaeology, Folk Magic and Traditional Medicine in Ireland. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 28. 1-23. 10.1017/S0959774318000124. <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>"Definition of ELF ARROW". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 16 July 2022. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elf+arrow" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elf+arrow</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>"Elf-Arrows". www.electricscotland.com. Retrieved 16 July 2022. <a href="https://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm" target="_blank">https://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/charms6.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>