Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your mind. My name is Robert Lamb.

Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your mind. My name is Robert Lamb.

And I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday, so we are heading into the vault for an older episode of the show. This one was originally published on September twenty ninth, twenty twenty two, but it was part of our Halloween offerings for last year. This was part one of our series on elf shot.

And I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday, so we are heading into the vault for an older episode of the show. This one was originally published on September twenty ninth, twenty twenty two, but it was part of our Halloween offerings for last year. This was part one of our series on elf shot.

That's right. I mean, if you're not sure what this is about, well, I mean, does it get any spookier than strange, unseen, unknowable beings in the woods just firing off strange missiles that may well be invisible, And when they lodge themselves in the bodies of your livestock, or even worse, your body, they bring about untold destruction.

That's right. I mean, if you're not sure what this is about, well, I mean, does it get any spookier than strange, unseen, unknowable beings in the woods just firing off strange missiles that may well be invisible, And when they lodge themselves in the bodies of your livestock, or even worse, your body, they bring about untold destruction.

Beware of the fairy weapons.

Beware of the fairy weapons.

It was my fault for letting the cattle graze so near the old wood, in the circular stones, where the roots grow elf twisted and rain water fill the elf cups in the rock where strange lights dance some nights and the moonlight shines brighter than elsewhere. I'd lost cows before, but never like this. I found her bloated and dead by the tree line. As I strolled up to the poor heifer, I saw neither bite nor puncture on her hide. I scanned the surrounding grass for signs of tracks or blood. I saw neither. But that's when something caught my eye, A small stone point like an arrow head, with neither shaft nor fletchings, and carved by some art, not practice by mortal men. I stooped to pick it up, and that's when I felt a white hot pain in my upper left side. I felt for blood underneath my shirt, such was the pain, but found only unpierced flesh, even as the agony of it brought me to my knees. In the tall grass, I scanned the tree line. They were invisible to my eyes, but I felt them somehow, the elves watching on from the chateaus of the wood, perhaps snickering in their sublime odd tongue. As the elf bolt racked my body, but I clutched the stone in my hand, I knew what I had to do. I dragged myself back across the field, sweat pouring down my face and my spleen swelling fit to burst with elfcake. Even then, when I arrived back at the house, I dropped the little of stone in a pan of water. I clutched my Bible for good measure. I strained remember words and incantations by either priest or wise woman. But the best I could manage was a vague prayer to be interpreted by whatever heard me. In my moment of need, I drank the stone, touched water down all of it, though it chilled my teeth and stung my tongue. And then I realized too late that the charm was no good, for it had touch the ground, sunlight had fallen upon it. The power of the elves had all but drained from the thing, and I was afforded only passing relief. And so I write this letter by candlelight, will weigh it down on the table with the Queer stone as proof, for I am now elf marked and elf taken. I swell, I ache the moon rises once more, and the sound of their music fills the night.

It was my fault for letting the cattle graze so near the old wood, in the circular stones, where the roots grow elf twisted and rain water fill the elf cups in the rock where strange lights dance some nights and the moonlight shines brighter than elsewhere. I'd lost cows before, but never like this. I found her bloated and dead by the tree line. As I strolled up to the poor heifer, I saw neither bite nor puncture on her hide. I scanned the surrounding grass for signs of tracks or blood. I saw neither. But that's when something caught my eye, A small stone point like an arrow head, with neither shaft nor fletchings, and carved by some art, not practice by mortal men. I stooped to pick it up, and that's when I felt a white hot pain in my upper left side. I felt for blood underneath my shirt, such was the pain, but found only unpierced flesh, even as the agony of it brought me to my knees. In the tall grass, I scanned the tree line. They were invisible to my eyes, but I felt them somehow, the elves watching on from the chateaus of the wood, perhaps snickering in their sublime odd tongue. As the elf bolt racked my body, but I clutched the stone in my hand, I knew what I had to do. I dragged myself back across the field, sweat pouring down my face and my spleen swelling fit to burst with elfcake. Even then, when I arrived back at the house, I dropped the little of stone in a pan of water. I clutched my Bible for good measure. I strained remember words and incantations by either priest or wise woman. But the best I could manage was a vague prayer to be interpreted by whatever heard me. In my moment of need, I drank the stone, touched water down all of it, though it chilled my teeth and stung my tongue. And then I realized too late that the charm was no good, for it had touch the ground, sunlight had fallen upon it. The power of the elves had all but drained from the thing, and I was afforded only passing relief. And so I write this letter by candlelight, will weigh it down on the table with the Queer stone as proof, for I am now elf marked and elf taken. I swell, I ache the moon rises once more, and the sound of their music fills the night.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind production of iHeartRadio.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind production of iHeartRadio.

Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb.

Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb.

And I'm Joe McCormick.

And I'm Joe McCormick.

And that little cold open definitely takes some liberties with the folklore we're going to be discussing here today, and you're trying to get a little seasonal Halloween flavor here going in this episode, which I guess is kind of kickstarting our Halloween season here on stuff to blow your mind. But today we're going to be talking about, as you might guess from the opening, elf shot or elf stone, pixie arrows, elf arrows, and many other names.

And that little cold open definitely takes some liberties with the folklore we're going to be discussing here today, and you're trying to get a little seasonal Halloween flavor here going in this episode, which I guess is kind of kickstarting our Halloween season here on stuff to blow your mind. But today we're going to be talking about, as you might guess from the opening, elf shot or elf stone, pixie arrows, elf arrows, and many other names.

The missiles of the others.

The missiles of the others.

Yeah. Yeah, So the basic idea here, I think is basically embedded in the fiction we just shared here. The idea that and this is just roughly so with many folk traditions, as we'll discuss, there are a number of variations over time and space. But the idea here is that the elves, out of trickery or pure malice, they might shoot cattle or humans in some cases with their invisible arrows, and these invisible arrows leave little or no physical trace in many tellings, but cause otherwise unexplainable pain or disease or perhaps even death. The notion was supported via the evidence of discovered neolithic arrowheads and other curios, and the ideas especially tied to the British Isles, but one sees examples of it from elsewhere in Europe as well as from the America after colonial arrival.

Yeah. Yeah, So the basic idea here, I think is basically embedded in the fiction we just shared here. The idea that and this is just roughly so with many folk traditions, as we'll discuss, there are a number of variations over time and space. But the idea here is that the elves, out of trickery or pure malice, they might shoot cattle or humans in some cases with their invisible arrows, and these invisible arrows leave little or no physical trace in many tellings, but cause otherwise unexplainable pain or disease or perhaps even death. The notion was supported via the evidence of discovered neolithic arrowheads and other curios, and the ideas especially tied to the British Isles, but one sees examples of it from elsewhere in Europe as well as from the America after colonial arrival.

Right, So the belief in elfshot, I think is best understood not as a single belief but as a sort of complex of related explanations for totally different types of natural phenomena that are all sort of unified under a common theory of fairy weapons and fairy malice.

Right, So the belief in elfshot, I think is best understood not as a single belief but as a sort of complex of related explanations for totally different types of natural phenomena that are all sort of unified under a common theory of fairy weapons and fairy malice.

Yeah. Yeah, and without diving any deeper, we can see the appeal of these ideas, right. It's a superstitious, supernatural script that can help explain several different things, help explain and otherwise unexplained illness, otherwise unexplained pain or another malady, otherwise unexplained illness or death in cattle, and otherwise unexplained artifacts found on or in the earth. Now it makes sense, I think at this point to discuss the elves a bit, because I know for many of us out there, you say the word elf and there are probably a few different key images and ideas that are going to immediately come to life in your mind. I mean, especially now with the Rings of Power on TV and so forth, many of and also you know the resurgence of dungeons and dragons. People are going to think about the fantasy elves of Tolkien and Tolkien derived works like Dungeons and Dragons. For others of you out there, you might instantly think about Santa's elves or keebler elves. Little you know, curious people making novelties and imaginary idealistic workshops.

Yeah. Yeah, and without diving any deeper, we can see the appeal of these ideas, right. It's a superstitious, supernatural script that can help explain several different things, help explain and otherwise unexplained illness, otherwise unexplained pain or another malady, otherwise unexplained illness or death in cattle, and otherwise unexplained artifacts found on or in the earth. Now it makes sense, I think at this point to discuss the elves a bit, because I know for many of us out there, you say the word elf and there are probably a few different key images and ideas that are going to immediately come to life in your mind. I mean, especially now with the Rings of Power on TV and so forth, many of and also you know the resurgence of dungeons and dragons. People are going to think about the fantasy elves of Tolkien and Tolkien derived works like Dungeons and Dragons. For others of you out there, you might instantly think about Santa's elves or keebler elves. Little you know, curious people making novelties and imaginary idealistic workshops.

Right, I would say that the influence of Tolkien is so strong that, at least in America. I don't know if this would be as true in the rest of the English speaking world even, but at least in America. When you say elf, I think what people mostly think is a Tolkien style high elf, an l Rond or Galadrial type figure, a kind of noble and elegant fantasy aristocrat who has, you know, wisdom and magic arts to offer.

Right, I would say that the influence of Tolkien is so strong that, at least in America. I don't know if this would be as true in the rest of the English speaking world even, but at least in America. When you say elf, I think what people mostly think is a Tolkien style high elf, an l Rond or Galadrial type figure, a kind of noble and elegant fantasy aristocrat who has, you know, wisdom and magic arts to offer.

Yeah, and generally just super blonde hair like a real, real pristine blonde wig going on in many cases. So I guess l Ron Elron didn't have blonde hair.

Yeah, and generally just super blonde hair like a real, real pristine blonde wig going on in many cases. So I guess l Ron Elron didn't have blonde hair.

Elrond have red hair.

Elrond have red hair.

I don't know, dark hair, I don't know he's I mean, there's an the young el Ron, the younger version of Elrond, is in the Rings of Power, and I'm I'm suddenly at a loss to remember what colors hair is mainly remember the ears.

I don't know, dark hair, I don't know he's I mean, there's an the young el Ron, the younger version of Elrond, is in the Rings of Power, and I'm I'm suddenly at a loss to remember what colors hair is mainly remember the ears.

I remember thinking around the ear in two thousand and two or so. It's like liv Tyler, that's an elf.

I remember thinking around the ear in two thousand and two or so. It's like liv Tyler, that's an elf.

I guess. The interesting thing is that, of course both of these ideas, Obviously Tolkien's ideas of elves have have their roots in actual folklore and mythology, as one would expect. But even like Santa's elves and Keepler elves I guess are they're not completely removed from the mythological roots here, but perhaps less connected.

I guess. The interesting thing is that, of course both of these ideas, Obviously Tolkien's ideas of elves have have their roots in actual folklore and mythology, as one would expect. But even like Santa's elves and Keepler elves I guess are they're not completely removed from the mythological roots here, but perhaps less connected.

Yeah, as you're saying, once you get outside of the very sort of narrowly Tolkien influenced idea, the elf is actually an extremely broad tradition.

Yeah, as you're saying, once you get outside of the very sort of narrowly Tolkien influenced idea, the elf is actually an extremely broad tradition.

Right right, And you get into many of these traditions and beliefs of old and elves get more mysterious and also more dangerous. They become less human and harder to fathom. So two of the sources I often turn to when when thinking about these things are Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, which is which is a pretty pretty good book even today for for highlighting some of this stuff. And then, of course I always look at the books of folklorous Carol Rose in particular for this one Spirits Theories, Leprechauns and Goblins, which is still very much in print. I always recommend that one to fans of mythological and folkloric beings. But in Brewer's Dictionary, Phrase and fable, the definition of elf is quote a dwarfish being of Teutonic mythology possessed of magical powers which is used for the good or ill of mankind. Carol Rose in in the Spirits Faries, Lepriicuns and Goblins, mentions that in Teutonic mythology the alphar are subdivided into dark elves and light elves, and Rose refers to them as well as a type of sprite found in British, Icelandic, Scandinavian and Teutonic legend. They are the alf the alf. There are several different spellings that are kind of like elf or alf or yield or in some cases you have like the ellen or el folk, and Danish you have the elvore in Swedish traditions, and then they're the spey wives in Icelandic traditions, and many more. Now there have been attempts to understand elves as both sort of folkloric and mythological reverberations of our understandings of indigenous peoples, which certainly ties in with some of the themes we'll be exploring here, as well as with people born with certain birth defects or people that have certain illnesses, and these are perhaps broader explorations, but I think we can see the validity of both avenues combined. Of course, as always with the self sustaining power of myth, folklore, and belief. You know, as we often mentioned on the show, we can't we can't discount the power of human imagination and creativity, be that you know, imagination acting out of pure whimsy, or imagination seeking to understand things, or does even make shape of various realities of life.

Right right, And you get into many of these traditions and beliefs of old and elves get more mysterious and also more dangerous. They become less human and harder to fathom. So two of the sources I often turn to when when thinking about these things are Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, which is which is a pretty pretty good book even today for for highlighting some of this stuff. And then, of course I always look at the books of folklorous Carol Rose in particular for this one Spirits Theories, Leprechauns and Goblins, which is still very much in print. I always recommend that one to fans of mythological and folkloric beings. But in Brewer's Dictionary, Phrase and fable, the definition of elf is quote a dwarfish being of Teutonic mythology possessed of magical powers which is used for the good or ill of mankind. Carol Rose in in the Spirits Faries, Lepriicuns and Goblins, mentions that in Teutonic mythology the alphar are subdivided into dark elves and light elves, and Rose refers to them as well as a type of sprite found in British, Icelandic, Scandinavian and Teutonic legend. They are the alf the alf. There are several different spellings that are kind of like elf or alf or yield or in some cases you have like the ellen or el folk, and Danish you have the elvore in Swedish traditions, and then they're the spey wives in Icelandic traditions, and many more. Now there have been attempts to understand elves as both sort of folkloric and mythological reverberations of our understandings of indigenous peoples, which certainly ties in with some of the themes we'll be exploring here, as well as with people born with certain birth defects or people that have certain illnesses, and these are perhaps broader explorations, but I think we can see the validity of both avenues combined. Of course, as always with the self sustaining power of myth, folklore, and belief. You know, as we often mentioned on the show, we can't we can't discount the power of human imagination and creativity, be that you know, imagination acting out of pure whimsy, or imagination seeking to understand things, or does even make shape of various realities of life.

Yeah, And another way I would put that is that yes, people often did probably see something they didn't understand and then try to put together a mythical theory of it, a kind of supernatural explanation that would make sense of it. But then other times, clearly people just make things up. I mean, people have imagination and they dream things up. So get you get both in our mythical traditions, I think. And it's limiting to assume that you're always looking at one thing or the other right right.

Yeah, And another way I would put that is that yes, people often did probably see something they didn't understand and then try to put together a mythical theory of it, a kind of supernatural explanation that would make sense of it. But then other times, clearly people just make things up. I mean, people have imagination and they dream things up. So get you get both in our mythical traditions, I think. And it's limiting to assume that you're always looking at one thing or the other right right.

But once the Once the script is established, the script is generally nourished and maintained. So like other similar beings in folklore, such as say, the Irish tradition of the Tuaphatadan and fairies and so forth, there's kind of a ghost species are to the elves. They're the sublime other that occupies places that we cannot occupy. They hold powers that we scarcely comprehend, and they may wish as well. They may wish us ill, or they may just sort of be neutral in all matters, and their reasons are hard to fathom. They might do the things they do on a whim, or they might have seemingly good reason to act against us or for us. They are also associated with a host of unexplained phenomena, including visual phenomena, making them a core supernatural script for the unexplained that I think aligns. Many have pointed this outlined closely with twentieth and twenty first century uses of the UFO script of the alien visitor script for the unexplained as a way of shaping and processing things that we don't understand. For example, as pointed out by both in both Roses book, and in brewers. We have a number of elf related phenomenon in folk traditions, and they include the following. There's elf bore, which is this is apparently a piece of wood from which the knot has been dropped out. I don't know how much I really need a supernatural script to explain that, but fair enough. There's elf cake. This is an enlargement of the spleen elf child. This is a changeling getting into changeling traditions. This one was new to me. An elf cup elf cup. This would be where you have stone that has a hollow formed from dripping water and water collects there. Well, that's the elf cup, and I guess the elves drink from it. Elf fire. Getting into traditions of the will of the wisp, which we've covered on the show before. Now here's one that people with longer hair or with children with longer hair can definitely comment on. Elf locks. These are tangles and knots in the hair caused by elves in the night. If one is elf marked, that may refer to birth defects or birth marks caused by the elves. If you are elf taken, that means you're a bewitched or an enchanted person. Elf twisted may refer to someone who has suffered a stroke, but it also can refer to deformed vegetation elf twisted vegetation. And then this was an interesting when I ran across as well. I don't think this was in either of these texts, but elf milling the sound of woodworms chewing. And then of course we have our elf arrows our elf shot, which again is a perfect script to turn to in an attempt to explain the unexplainable. And also, as alluded to in the Cold Open, the artifacts associated with elf shot, the little found stones and arrowheads, are also associated with various folk medicine and magical practices, generally thought to heal or deviate illness in animals or humans. Generally, illness is caused or perceived to be caused by the elf shot, Like if you get shot by a fantasy arrow, by a magical arrow from the elves, well, if you can find that artifact, well then maybe we have a chance of curing things. Or if we happen to have any in the collection of the local healer, maybe a little satchel of elf stones somewhere, well, those can be used in the curative.

But once the Once the script is established, the script is generally nourished and maintained. So like other similar beings in folklore, such as say, the Irish tradition of the Tuaphatadan and fairies and so forth, there's kind of a ghost species are to the elves. They're the sublime other that occupies places that we cannot occupy. They hold powers that we scarcely comprehend, and they may wish as well. They may wish us ill, or they may just sort of be neutral in all matters, and their reasons are hard to fathom. They might do the things they do on a whim, or they might have seemingly good reason to act against us or for us. They are also associated with a host of unexplained phenomena, including visual phenomena, making them a core supernatural script for the unexplained that I think aligns. Many have pointed this outlined closely with twentieth and twenty first century uses of the UFO script of the alien visitor script for the unexplained as a way of shaping and processing things that we don't understand. For example, as pointed out by both in both Roses book, and in brewers. We have a number of elf related phenomenon in folk traditions, and they include the following. There's elf bore, which is this is apparently a piece of wood from which the knot has been dropped out. I don't know how much I really need a supernatural script to explain that, but fair enough. There's elf cake. This is an enlargement of the spleen elf child. This is a changeling getting into changeling traditions. This one was new to me. An elf cup elf cup. This would be where you have stone that has a hollow formed from dripping water and water collects there. Well, that's the elf cup, and I guess the elves drink from it. Elf fire. Getting into traditions of the will of the wisp, which we've covered on the show before. Now here's one that people with longer hair or with children with longer hair can definitely comment on. Elf locks. These are tangles and knots in the hair caused by elves in the night. If one is elf marked, that may refer to birth defects or birth marks caused by the elves. If you are elf taken, that means you're a bewitched or an enchanted person. Elf twisted may refer to someone who has suffered a stroke, but it also can refer to deformed vegetation elf twisted vegetation. And then this was an interesting when I ran across as well. I don't think this was in either of these texts, but elf milling the sound of woodworms chewing. And then of course we have our elf arrows our elf shot, which again is a perfect script to turn to in an attempt to explain the unexplainable. And also, as alluded to in the Cold Open, the artifacts associated with elf shot, the little found stones and arrowheads, are also associated with various folk medicine and magical practices, generally thought to heal or deviate illness in animals or humans. Generally, illness is caused or perceived to be caused by the elf shot, Like if you get shot by a fantasy arrow, by a magical arrow from the elves, well, if you can find that artifact, well then maybe we have a chance of curing things. Or if we happen to have any in the collection of the local healer, maybe a little satchel of elf stones somewhere, well, those can be used in the curative.

Arts, drawing on the traditional logic of like cures like or sympathetic magic, the idea that if your ailment is caused by a certain type of object or action, then it can also be maybe cured by a similar or related type of object or action.

Arts, drawing on the traditional logic of like cures like or sympathetic magic, the idea that if your ailment is caused by a certain type of object or action, then it can also be maybe cured by a similar or related type of object or action.

Right, right, And sometimes these stones, these elf arrows and so forth, they're thought to be essentially the ones that were fired. Other times they may have been dropped by the elves, and some other cases you have situations where these things are interpreted as having fallen from the sky and so forth.

Right, right, And sometimes these stones, these elf arrows and so forth, they're thought to be essentially the ones that were fired. Other times they may have been dropped by the elves, and some other cases you have situations where these things are interpreted as having fallen from the sky and so forth.

Yeah, a lot of the older sources that I read quoted said that they were dropped from the air.

Yeah, a lot of the older sources that I read quoted said that they were dropped from the air.

Now for a couple of related concepts. Here in Scotland, there are also tales of faery riding, by which a livestock's paralysis is explained as being due to exhaustion caused by fairies riding the animals around as mounts all through the night. There's also the use of thunderstones, of which I guess elfshot is kind of a subset or at least the very related concepts in which people have reinterpreted stone, axe heads, tools, and also fossils as sacred objects that may have fallen from the sky or experienced some other supernatural entry into our world, and we see examples of this in European, Native American and Asian traditions as well. I found an interesting quote on this. This is from eighteen ninety four and need Fire, published in The Illustrated arche Geologists by archaeologist J. Romilly Allen. Quote, there is hardly a single prehistoric remain in the country whose name does not show that common people associated with fairies, which is hags or the devil. So too with the implements and objects found on ancient sites, the stone celts looked upon as a thunderbolt, the flint arrow and elf arrow, the spindle wheel, a fairies millstone, the colored glass bead, an adder bead adder beads. By the way, these were thought to have been created by snakes, and they were used in folk medicine as well, and of course in general, the idea of invisible missiles sent by a supernatural enemy that causes illness. This is also comparable to other concepts of magic, spells and curses that can be found in cultures throughout the world from their examples, like the traditions of the skin walkers, among the Navajo, the concept of goo poison and the Han Chinese traditions. You know, many such traditions around the world that involve the word work of outsiders or secret outsiders that bring about sickness in a given people.

Now for a couple of related concepts. Here in Scotland, there are also tales of faery riding, by which a livestock's paralysis is explained as being due to exhaustion caused by fairies riding the animals around as mounts all through the night. There's also the use of thunderstones, of which I guess elfshot is kind of a subset or at least the very related concepts in which people have reinterpreted stone, axe heads, tools, and also fossils as sacred objects that may have fallen from the sky or experienced some other supernatural entry into our world, and we see examples of this in European, Native American and Asian traditions as well. I found an interesting quote on this. This is from eighteen ninety four and need Fire, published in The Illustrated arche Geologists by archaeologist J. Romilly Allen. Quote, there is hardly a single prehistoric remain in the country whose name does not show that common people associated with fairies, which is hags or the devil. So too with the implements and objects found on ancient sites, the stone celts looked upon as a thunderbolt, the flint arrow and elf arrow, the spindle wheel, a fairies millstone, the colored glass bead, an adder bead adder beads. By the way, these were thought to have been created by snakes, and they were used in folk medicine as well, and of course in general, the idea of invisible missiles sent by a supernatural enemy that causes illness. This is also comparable to other concepts of magic, spells and curses that can be found in cultures throughout the world from their examples, like the traditions of the skin walkers, among the Navajo, the concept of goo poison and the Han Chinese traditions. You know, many such traditions around the world that involve the word work of outsiders or secret outsiders that bring about sickness in a given people.

Yeah. Now, I thought it would be a good idea for elfshot, specifically to look at a paper that collected some direct accounts of folk beliefs about elfshot, especially in Scotland where a lot of this folklore work was done. And this paper is by Thomas Davidson. It's called Elfshot Cattle. It was published in the journal Antiquity in nineteen fifty six. Now, I do want to preface. In the next episode, I think we're going to talk about a couple of papers that offer some criticism of the subject of elfshot, maybe questioning some things about this alleged folk belief. But I thought it would be good to first look at some of the more prevailing notions from previous scholarship. Now, this paper by Davidson kicks off offering a number of accounts. The first one is one that was recorded in Scottish Notes and Queries in the first series, and this is rendered with a wonderful bit of transliterated Scottish accent, which I will not attempt to do in my own voice as I read it. But it is quoting a buckin' farmer. This is a region of Scotland, a buckin farmer in the late autumn of eighteen eighty four, and his complaint was as follows, quoted in Scottish Notes and queries. Oh and there are a couple of terms in here I'll have to come back and define in a minute, probably, But the quote goes like this, I've gotten an ill job this morning, in the death of a fine stirk by elfshot. And the pity is he wasn't fastened to a hair tether, which is a halter made of hair fan the weapon would have fallen short of him. And then Davidson writes, when asked whether it might not have been due to quarter ill, he replied that couldn't be. My neighbor and me open up the beast and there was a hole through his heart. So a couple of things there. He says that this happened to a sterk. A sterk is a yearling bullock or heifer, so think a calf young cattle. And then there's this reference to quarter ill as the opposite explanation. Quarter Ill is a common disease found in livestock, also known as black leg. It's caused by an infection, often in one of the limbs, by Clostridium bacteria. And I've read in other sources that death can be very rapid after symptoms first present, sometimes just a matter of hours, So you could have a calf fall dead of quarter ill without really much warning at all.

Yeah. Now, I thought it would be a good idea for elfshot, specifically to look at a paper that collected some direct accounts of folk beliefs about elfshot, especially in Scotland where a lot of this folklore work was done. And this paper is by Thomas Davidson. It's called Elfshot Cattle. It was published in the journal Antiquity in nineteen fifty six. Now, I do want to preface. In the next episode, I think we're going to talk about a couple of papers that offer some criticism of the subject of elfshot, maybe questioning some things about this alleged folk belief. But I thought it would be good to first look at some of the more prevailing notions from previous scholarship. Now, this paper by Davidson kicks off offering a number of accounts. The first one is one that was recorded in Scottish Notes and Queries in the first series, and this is rendered with a wonderful bit of transliterated Scottish accent, which I will not attempt to do in my own voice as I read it. But it is quoting a buckin' farmer. This is a region of Scotland, a buckin farmer in the late autumn of eighteen eighty four, and his complaint was as follows, quoted in Scottish Notes and queries. Oh and there are a couple of terms in here I'll have to come back and define in a minute, probably, But the quote goes like this, I've gotten an ill job this morning, in the death of a fine stirk by elfshot. And the pity is he wasn't fastened to a hair tether, which is a halter made of hair fan the weapon would have fallen short of him. And then Davidson writes, when asked whether it might not have been due to quarter ill, he replied that couldn't be. My neighbor and me open up the beast and there was a hole through his heart. So a couple of things there. He says that this happened to a sterk. A sterk is a yearling bullock or heifer, so think a calf young cattle. And then there's this reference to quarter ill as the opposite explanation. Quarter Ill is a common disease found in livestock, also known as black leg. It's caused by an infection, often in one of the limbs, by Clostridium bacteria. And I've read in other sources that death can be very rapid after symptoms first present, sometimes just a matter of hours, So you could have a calf fall dead of quarter ill without really much warning at all.

I love the detail about the whole through the heart. This lines up with some other accounts I was looking at where while in which elfshot is not thought to present a traditional wound. In some cases there's no wound at all, but other times there is a wound if you know what to look for, if you look closely enough. And of course this easily falls in with the realities we see mirrored and other supernatural scripts, like if you know the mark of the witch, well, if you look closely enough and you want to find it enough, you will find the mark of the witch. If you want to find the you know the hidden censor that the aliens put in a person's flesh, well, just keep looking. You'll find something that seems a little odd and surely that is the mark.

I love the detail about the whole through the heart. This lines up with some other accounts I was looking at where while in which elfshot is not thought to present a traditional wound. In some cases there's no wound at all, but other times there is a wound if you know what to look for, if you look closely enough. And of course this easily falls in with the realities we see mirrored and other supernatural scripts, like if you know the mark of the witch, well, if you look closely enough and you want to find it enough, you will find the mark of the witch. If you want to find the you know the hidden censor that the aliens put in a person's flesh, well, just keep looking. You'll find something that seems a little odd and surely that is the mark.

Yeah, there are all kinds of methods to detect the mark. I'll talk about that a bit in a minute. One of them I read about is like the oldest member of the family should wear a blue bonnet, and then the blue bonnet will be rubbed all over the cow. And somehow the rubbing of the flower or the actually, I don't know if that refers to a flower or an actual bonnet. It says blue bonnet in the paper. But whichever one it is, you rub that on the cow and that will reveal the where the animal was struck. But anyway, so to recap this story from eighteen eighty four, this farmer is saying a healthy young calf drops dead in its first year, suddenly, no apparent explanation. Again, of course, there are diseases that cause sudden death in bovines, and the farmer and his neighbor confirm the cause of death was elf shot because they did an autopsy and found that even though the animal had no external wounds, there was a hole in the animal's heart. Okay, second account cited by Davidson. This was originally published in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland, and it goes like this, Davidson writes. Quote some years before, in eighteen sixty seven, a mister Hugh Morrison saw a cow which was said to have been killed by the fairies. When he pointed out to the farmer that her death had been caused by rolling over and her long horns penetrating the ground had kept her in a position from which she could not rise, he was told that that was a common way in which cows fall when struck by the And then this is something that is spelled like it looks like saghead scyth, but I believe this is safe she or side she, which is Scott's Gaelic for fairy arrow. So Davidson connects these beliefs too, as we already mentioned the discovery of neolithic flints in the fields and the countryside, where he claims that these were not generally associated with prehistoric human technology. Now there are some associations of that kind going all the way back to the seventeenth century, but they're not generally accepted by the people, Davidson says, and he quotes the story of a reverend John Fraser, who was writing a letter dated to the year seventeen o two was recorded in a work called The Darker Superstitions of Scotland by J. G. Dalyell. And the letter is talking about how Fraser thought it was strange quote that these elfstones, whether little or mickel, mikel meaning large, little or mickel, has still the same figure, though certainly known to fall from the air. The commonality superstitiously imagines that the fairies hath made and gives them that shape, and that they do hurt by them, which we call elf shot. And then he goes on to quote a wonderful work the seventeenth century minister and proto folklorist Robert Kirk's treatise The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fawns and Fairies, which is a fantastic historical read if you ever get time to check that out. So Kirk is describing the beliefs of the people of Scotland and talking about the weapons made by elves and fairies, and so to quote here from Davidson. Similarly, Kirk describes the weapons as being quote most what solid earthly bodies, nothing of iron, but much of stone, like to a soft flint spa shaped like a barbed arrowhead, but flung like a dart with great force. These arms cut by airt and tools. It seems beyond humane. And I think aert as a noun often means like a compass point, but it could mean like art or guidance. But again Kirk is saying that they're beyond human. I think I said humane, but I'd probably just be human. Here have something of the nature of thunderbolt subtlety and mortally wounding the vital parts without breaking the skin. So I love this idea. They have something of the nature of thunderbolt subtlety. This description from the seventeenth century reminds me of what the farmer in the much later account in the nineteenth century said about opening up the calf and finding that even though the skin had not been broken, the heart had been pierced with a fairy arrow, and they could tell by the whole. And here Kirk says that these weapons have this thunderbolt subtlety. If I understand that right, I think he's suggesting almost kind of a semi spectral quality, that like lightning, they can kill you without eving a hole in the skin. Even though they are actual physical missiles. They've got kind of a transparent or subtle quality that allows them to kind of warp through solid matter. And later in the text, Davidson writes that there was a belief in Ireland where you could have an animal that had been hit by by an elf arrow and you would not find a hole in the skin, but if you feel with your fingers, you could find a hole in the flesh beneath, even though again the skin is intact. And I love thinking about that because even if you just you know, feel around on your own body, you can find all kinds of little, like, I don't know, textual differences in the flesh underneath the skin you're pressing on, which you could interpret to be like a hole.

Yeah, there are all kinds of methods to detect the mark. I'll talk about that a bit in a minute. One of them I read about is like the oldest member of the family should wear a blue bonnet, and then the blue bonnet will be rubbed all over the cow. And somehow the rubbing of the flower or the actually, I don't know if that refers to a flower or an actual bonnet. It says blue bonnet in the paper. But whichever one it is, you rub that on the cow and that will reveal the where the animal was struck. But anyway, so to recap this story from eighteen eighty four, this farmer is saying a healthy young calf drops dead in its first year, suddenly, no apparent explanation. Again, of course, there are diseases that cause sudden death in bovines, and the farmer and his neighbor confirm the cause of death was elf shot because they did an autopsy and found that even though the animal had no external wounds, there was a hole in the animal's heart. Okay, second account cited by Davidson. This was originally published in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland, and it goes like this, Davidson writes. Quote some years before, in eighteen sixty seven, a mister Hugh Morrison saw a cow which was said to have been killed by the fairies. When he pointed out to the farmer that her death had been caused by rolling over and her long horns penetrating the ground had kept her in a position from which she could not rise, he was told that that was a common way in which cows fall when struck by the And then this is something that is spelled like it looks like saghead scyth, but I believe this is safe she or side she, which is Scott's Gaelic for fairy arrow. So Davidson connects these beliefs too, as we already mentioned the discovery of neolithic flints in the fields and the countryside, where he claims that these were not generally associated with prehistoric human technology. Now there are some associations of that kind going all the way back to the seventeenth century, but they're not generally accepted by the people, Davidson says, and he quotes the story of a reverend John Fraser, who was writing a letter dated to the year seventeen o two was recorded in a work called The Darker Superstitions of Scotland by J. G. Dalyell. And the letter is talking about how Fraser thought it was strange quote that these elfstones, whether little or mickel, mikel meaning large, little or mickel, has still the same figure, though certainly known to fall from the air. The commonality superstitiously imagines that the fairies hath made and gives them that shape, and that they do hurt by them, which we call elf shot. And then he goes on to quote a wonderful work the seventeenth century minister and proto folklorist Robert Kirk's treatise The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fawns and Fairies, which is a fantastic historical read if you ever get time to check that out. So Kirk is describing the beliefs of the people of Scotland and talking about the weapons made by elves and fairies, and so to quote here from Davidson. Similarly, Kirk describes the weapons as being quote most what solid earthly bodies, nothing of iron, but much of stone, like to a soft flint spa shaped like a barbed arrowhead, but flung like a dart with great force. These arms cut by airt and tools. It seems beyond humane. And I think aert as a noun often means like a compass point, but it could mean like art or guidance. But again Kirk is saying that they're beyond human. I think I said humane, but I'd probably just be human. Here have something of the nature of thunderbolt subtlety and mortally wounding the vital parts without breaking the skin. So I love this idea. They have something of the nature of thunderbolt subtlety. This description from the seventeenth century reminds me of what the farmer in the much later account in the nineteenth century said about opening up the calf and finding that even though the skin had not been broken, the heart had been pierced with a fairy arrow, and they could tell by the whole. And here Kirk says that these weapons have this thunderbolt subtlety. If I understand that right, I think he's suggesting almost kind of a semi spectral quality, that like lightning, they can kill you without eving a hole in the skin. Even though they are actual physical missiles. They've got kind of a transparent or subtle quality that allows them to kind of warp through solid matter. And later in the text, Davidson writes that there was a belief in Ireland where you could have an animal that had been hit by by an elf arrow and you would not find a hole in the skin, but if you feel with your fingers, you could find a hole in the flesh beneath, even though again the skin is intact. And I love thinking about that because even if you just you know, feel around on your own body, you can find all kinds of little, like, I don't know, textual differences in the flesh underneath the skin you're pressing on, which you could interpret to be like a hole.

Yeah, yeah, there's you. You can go wild, you know, reinterpreting your own physiology if you think there might be some sort of a like a hole there made by elves or what have you. Yeah, yeah, So it's fascinating.

Yeah, yeah, there's you. You can go wild, you know, reinterpreting your own physiology if you think there might be some sort of a like a hole there made by elves or what have you. Yeah, yeah, So it's fascinating.

Well, and it makes me think about like hypochondria, you know, in this era. So now you might have a more realistic catalog of diseases to draw upon when you are are sort of like getting in your head about that and assuming that you might have all kinds of things affecting you. You can like look up real medical conditions on the O app, but like, you know, at a time before that, instead of hypochondriac googling the Mayo Clinic website and stuff people are thinking about like elf arrows and all kinds of curses and things like that.

Well, and it makes me think about like hypochondria, you know, in this era. So now you might have a more realistic catalog of diseases to draw upon when you are are sort of like getting in your head about that and assuming that you might have all kinds of things affecting you. You can like look up real medical conditions on the O app, but like, you know, at a time before that, instead of hypochondriac googling the Mayo Clinic website and stuff people are thinking about like elf arrows and all kinds of curses and things like that.

Yeah, did I pull a muscle or do I have elf cake? You know, it's both would seem equally possible in these cases.

Yeah, did I pull a muscle or do I have elf cake? You know, it's both would seem equally possible in these cases.

I also think there's an interesting tension here that if there was some belief that these weapons were somehow ghostly or subtle in a more archaic sense, like able to pass through solid objects like a ghost, that's an interesting tension with the evidence of them often being literally an artifact made of stone. The stone the most perfectly solid and earthly substance people can think of.

I also think there's an interesting tension here that if there was some belief that these weapons were somehow ghostly or subtle in a more archaic sense, like able to pass through solid objects like a ghost, that's an interesting tension with the evidence of them often being literally an artifact made of stone. The stone the most perfectly solid and earthly substance people can think of.

Yeah, yeah, that is interesting, the idea that this is some sort of at once it is somehow a magical, invisible weapon that cuts right through flesh and pierces organs and brings about mysterious elf illnesses, and yet at the same time, yeah, here's the stone. You can hold it, you can pick it up. It outlives us all.

Yeah, yeah, that is interesting, the idea that this is some sort of at once it is somehow a magical, invisible weapon that cuts right through flesh and pierces organs and brings about mysterious elf illnesses, and yet at the same time, yeah, here's the stone. You can hold it, you can pick it up. It outlives us all.

One final account, I wanted to mention from Davidson. He quotes a testimony allegedly given during trials for witchcraft in Scotland, and this is in a book by Pitcairn, And this is citing the alleged testimony of a woman convicted for witchcraft in sixteen sixty two named Isabel Goudie, who reports having seen the elf arrows being made. Quote, the devil them with his own hand and delivers them to elf boys. What whittles and dights them? I think dytes means to like adorn, equip or ready something and dights them with a sharp thing like a packing needle. And a packing needle was a large, heavy needle used for sewing rough materials like canvas. Now that's an interesting account for a number of ways. One is that, of course, while we should always be skeptical readers of any historical account, remember that there are like several extra layers of skepticism you should apply to alleged confessions of witches, not just because they involve supernatural elements, but because you have to often suspect coercion in the circumstances of the confession, and also suspect alterations made by the persons allegedly recording the testimony. But interesting nonetheless that somebody at least put together this account of so Satan is making these weapons and then handing them off to elf boys to be refined to the elf boys will whittle them and then adorn them with like a sharp prick on the end, like a packing needle.

One final account, I wanted to mention from Davidson. He quotes a testimony allegedly given during trials for witchcraft in Scotland, and this is in a book by Pitcairn, And this is citing the alleged testimony of a woman convicted for witchcraft in sixteen sixty two named Isabel Goudie, who reports having seen the elf arrows being made. Quote, the devil them with his own hand and delivers them to elf boys. What whittles and dights them? I think dytes means to like adorn, equip or ready something and dights them with a sharp thing like a packing needle. And a packing needle was a large, heavy needle used for sewing rough materials like canvas. Now that's an interesting account for a number of ways. One is that, of course, while we should always be skeptical readers of any historical account, remember that there are like several extra layers of skepticism you should apply to alleged confessions of witches, not just because they involve supernatural elements, but because you have to often suspect coercion in the circumstances of the confession, and also suspect alterations made by the persons allegedly recording the testimony. But interesting nonetheless that somebody at least put together this account of so Satan is making these weapons and then handing them off to elf boys to be refined to the elf boys will whittle them and then adorn them with like a sharp prick on the end, like a packing needle.

Yeah, I was reading in one of my sources that I was looking at that you see a lot of picking and choosing from both Christian and pre Christian traditions and working out exactly how elf shot works in this case, but also how one alleviates elf shot, like are you are you calling out to the Holy ghost or are you sort of calling out maybe with a little a little more vaguely to other powers in the world.

Yeah, I was reading in one of my sources that I was looking at that you see a lot of picking and choosing from both Christian and pre Christian traditions and working out exactly how elf shot works in this case, but also how one alleviates elf shot, like are you are you calling out to the Holy ghost or are you sort of calling out maybe with a little a little more vaguely to other powers in the world.

I would say this is also evidence of a tradition that you see. I think we talked about this a bit in some episodes we did last year called the Holy Undead that involves some stories of stories from the frontiers of Christianity in the medieval period. But the idea would be that sometimes beings that were not necessarily devils or could have multiple moral valances in the original context of a religion, once the area is taken over by a new religion, these beings undergo a kind of formal demonization where now they're just turned into well, those were demons, actually those are devils now.

I would say this is also evidence of a tradition that you see. I think we talked about this a bit in some episodes we did last year called the Holy Undead that involves some stories of stories from the frontiers of Christianity in the medieval period. But the idea would be that sometimes beings that were not necessarily devils or could have multiple moral valances in the original context of a religion, once the area is taken over by a new religion, these beings undergo a kind of formal demonization where now they're just turned into well, those were demons, actually those are devils now.

I'm reminded of an example that this was something from one of our episodes last year that came out during Halloween, Ghosts of wind and Rain, I believe with the title, we mentioned Herne the Hunter as being a kind of kind of wild Hunt related ghost that was said to ride through the woods surrounding Windsor Castle. And there are various stories about him, but I remember one of the details from that, and I won't go through all of it, but there was one account, and this one was actually shared by Carol Rose in one of her books. There is a story told or retold by folklorist Ruth Tongue about three British youths decked out in the teddyboy style of the nineteen sixties and they're out there in the woods near Windsor Castle. They find a horn in the woods, they blow it, and then an unseen spirit pursues them through the woods and shoots one of them with a ghost arrow, slaying them dead without any physical wound. So that of course is easily playing with the same palwet of colors that we have in elf shot. I mean it is essentially elf shot.

I'm reminded of an example that this was something from one of our episodes last year that came out during Halloween, Ghosts of wind and Rain, I believe with the title, we mentioned Herne the Hunter as being a kind of kind of wild Hunt related ghost that was said to ride through the woods surrounding Windsor Castle. And there are various stories about him, but I remember one of the details from that, and I won't go through all of it, but there was one account, and this one was actually shared by Carol Rose in one of her books. There is a story told or retold by folklorist Ruth Tongue about three British youths decked out in the teddyboy style of the nineteen sixties and they're out there in the woods near Windsor Castle. They find a horn in the woods, they blow it, and then an unseen spirit pursues them through the woods and shoots one of them with a ghost arrow, slaying them dead without any physical wound. So that of course is easily playing with the same palwet of colors that we have in elf shot. I mean it is essentially elf shot.

So there could be like a hole in the brain without mustling of the pompadour. Right, the story is much funnier, by the way, if you know what the Teddy Boys style looks like, so you should look that up if you're not familiar.

So there could be like a hole in the brain without mustling of the pompadour. Right, the story is much funnier, by the way, if you know what the Teddy Boys style looks like, so you should look that up if you're not familiar.

I had to look it up again to see what the style consisted of, and it's hard to nail down, Like it's hard to really like, how do I explain this weird suits, strange hair, kind of a a youth style that did not quite become iconic, at least not to modern minds. Maybe it has more staying power in Britain.

I had to look it up again to see what the style consisted of, and it's hard to nail down, Like it's hard to really like, how do I explain this weird suits, strange hair, kind of a a youth style that did not quite become iconic, at least not to modern minds. Maybe it has more staying power in Britain.

I see some elaborate upswept hair styles. I guess you would call these pompadors or I don't know, maybe something else. But then I see it very long coats, some skinny ties. I don't know what else to group this with. It's not exactly mod it's not exactly greaser, it's something else.

I see some elaborate upswept hair styles. I guess you would call these pompadors or I don't know, maybe something else. But then I see it very long coats, some skinny ties. I don't know what else to group this with. It's not exactly mod it's not exactly greaser, it's something else.

Yeah, British subculture of the mid fifties to the mid sixties. I guess the big thing would be, like, what are the teddy boy movies. I think there was just a movie called Teddy Boys from what it is, nineteen fifty nine starring Cliff Richard. But again I have to hear from perhaps our listeners in the UK who have thoughts on the teddyboy style, teddy boy or not. You don't want to go messing around in the woods and picking up strange horns and blowing on him, because it's one way to catch a Gostero, right.

Yeah, British subculture of the mid fifties to the mid sixties. I guess the big thing would be, like, what are the teddy boy movies. I think there was just a movie called Teddy Boys from what it is, nineteen fifty nine starring Cliff Richard. But again I have to hear from perhaps our listeners in the UK who have thoughts on the teddyboy style, teddy boy or not. You don't want to go messing around in the woods and picking up strange horns and blowing on him, because it's one way to catch a Gostero, right.

And one last thing I do want to say about this paper before we move on for now, is that, even by Davidson's account, not everybody who found an arrowhead in Great Britain in centuries past thought that they were made by elves, fairies, witches or the devil. Davidson quotes a Welsh naturalist named Louied. I think is how you say his name? I spelled Lhwyd. But who this guy is? Early as the seventeenth century was arguing that these l pharaohs were in fact relics of a previous regime of human manufacture. In fact, he was arguing against multiple theories, one that they'd been made by supernatural beings, the other that they had just been made as charms. And he was like, I don't think they were made as charms. In fact, they look a lot like the arrows that are still used by some people today to hunt food. So yeah, they were probably used for shooting by people who used to live here.

And one last thing I do want to say about this paper before we move on for now, is that, even by Davidson's account, not everybody who found an arrowhead in Great Britain in centuries past thought that they were made by elves, fairies, witches or the devil. Davidson quotes a Welsh naturalist named Louied. I think is how you say his name? I spelled Lhwyd. But who this guy is? Early as the seventeenth century was arguing that these l pharaohs were in fact relics of a previous regime of human manufacture. In fact, he was arguing against multiple theories, one that they'd been made by supernatural beings, the other that they had just been made as charms. And he was like, I don't think they were made as charms. In fact, they look a lot like the arrows that are still used by some people today to hunt food. So yeah, they were probably used for shooting by people who used to live here.

Yeah, but like we said, they do end up getting used as amulets and charms and also have their place in folk remedies of the day. One of the sources I was looking at with a focus on Irish traditions is Flint and Lithic Lore by Marion Dowd from twenty nineteen published in Archaeology Ireland and down Pints out that the artifacts in question in Ireland in this case, and collected by the Irish Folklore Committee in the late nineteen thirties were primary collected and originally interpreted in post medieval and modern Irish rural communities, and the various elfstones or elf shots they consisted of various things including post medieval gun flints, fossils, unusual pebbles, but they also included Neolithic and Bronze age arrow heads, so I think that's important to keep in mind. Like, basically, anything could be an elf stone or an elf arrow if it were if it were found if it were, and if it were found to be novel in some way, and then gets reinterpreted with this supernatural script. Reminds me a bit of the I've brought the sub numerous times with the idea of star Jelly, the idea that if you see see some sort of it looks like something fell from the sky in the nearby woods. So you go out into the nearby woods and you keep poking around, and do you find something slimy that you're like, I've never seen that before. This must be the thing that fell from the sky. There there are plenty of slimy things in the woods, you just usually aren't looking for them. But if you look for them with the script in mind.

Yeah, but like we said, they do end up getting used as amulets and charms and also have their place in folk remedies of the day. One of the sources I was looking at with a focus on Irish traditions is Flint and Lithic Lore by Marion Dowd from twenty nineteen published in Archaeology Ireland and down Pints out that the artifacts in question in Ireland in this case, and collected by the Irish Folklore Committee in the late nineteen thirties were primary collected and originally interpreted in post medieval and modern Irish rural communities, and the various elfstones or elf shots they consisted of various things including post medieval gun flints, fossils, unusual pebbles, but they also included Neolithic and Bronze age arrow heads, so I think that's important to keep in mind. Like, basically, anything could be an elf stone or an elf arrow if it were if it were found if it were, and if it were found to be novel in some way, and then gets reinterpreted with this supernatural script. Reminds me a bit of the I've brought the sub numerous times with the idea of star Jelly, the idea that if you see see some sort of it looks like something fell from the sky in the nearby woods. So you go out into the nearby woods and you keep poking around, and do you find something slimy that you're like, I've never seen that before. This must be the thing that fell from the sky. There there are plenty of slimy things in the woods, you just usually aren't looking for them. But if you look for them with the script in mind.

The mucus of the universe.

The mucus of the universe.

Yeah, so doubt also points out some It basically goes over some of the general ideas caught up in the traditions of elf shop. Sometimes the effects were human targeted in order to take the person away to the fairy realm, but it seems like most cases you're dealing with the targeting of cattle, and in some cases this might be intentional. Other times it's described as being due to an accident, like basically there are battles between groups of elves and the night, and well, your cattle just happened to stray between these two groups, and one of them caught an elfharaoh by accident. And then there are other things, of course, one can do to anger the elves and some of these traditions. One of the ex samples that she specifically mentions is the cutting down of a white thorn tree that especially that could earn you an elf shot right there. And then she gets into a lot of She also spends a lot of time talking about the cures for elf shot, and a lot of these do end up involving the little elfstones and elf arrows that one might find these various stone artifacts that are very often Neolithic or Bronze age arrowheads. But she mentions other cures that don't involve this. For instance, one was to travel silently and wordlessly to a bog and fetch water for the animal to drink, but you had to keep your silence the whole time, where it wouldn't work. She discusses a collection of elfstones known as the tawny white duff Sades, and the collection, she says, consisted of fifteen flint and chirt lithics, including a neolithic hollow scraper, two convex scrapers, several complete and broken blades and flakes, waste flakes, and a post medieval gunflint. And these had apparently also been used in various folk medicine treatments over the years. As she points out later, you would often have in a community, you would have a collection of these like these would be the elf stones that were kept. And if there's some sort of suspected case of an animal having been elf shot or experiencing elf bolt, then you would turn to these artifacts and somebody you know who knew how to use them. I included a picture here of these particular stones from this paper, Joe, and you can see them here there. These have not been or at least to my eye, they don't seem to have been changed in any way shape or form. I know. I saw some other images where it looks like in the sort of reinterpretation of the item, there might be something added to them. But these seem very much as they would have been found. Yeah.

Yeah, so doubt also points out some It basically goes over some of the general ideas caught up in the traditions of elf shop. Sometimes the effects were human targeted in order to take the person away to the fairy realm, but it seems like most cases you're dealing with the targeting of cattle, and in some cases this might be intentional. Other times it's described as being due to an accident, like basically there are battles between groups of elves and the night, and well, your cattle just happened to stray between these two groups, and one of them caught an elfharaoh by accident. And then there are other things, of course, one can do to anger the elves and some of these traditions. One of the ex samples that she specifically mentions is the cutting down of a white thorn tree that especially that could earn you an elf shot right there. And then she gets into a lot of She also spends a lot of time talking about the cures for elf shot, and a lot of these do end up involving the little elfstones and elf arrows that one might find these various stone artifacts that are very often Neolithic or Bronze age arrowheads. But she mentions other cures that don't involve this. For instance, one was to travel silently and wordlessly to a bog and fetch water for the animal to drink, but you had to keep your silence the whole time, where it wouldn't work. She discusses a collection of elfstones known as the tawny white duff Sades, and the collection, she says, consisted of fifteen flint and chirt lithics, including a neolithic hollow scraper, two convex scrapers, several complete and broken blades and flakes, waste flakes, and a post medieval gunflint. And these had apparently also been used in various folk medicine treatments over the years. As she points out later, you would often have in a community, you would have a collection of these like these would be the elf stones that were kept. And if there's some sort of suspected case of an animal having been elf shot or experiencing elf bolt, then you would turn to these artifacts and somebody you know who knew how to use them. I included a picture here of these particular stones from this paper, Joe, and you can see them here there. These have not been or at least to my eye, they don't seem to have been changed in any way shape or form. I know. I saw some other images where it looks like in the sort of reinterpretation of the item, there might be something added to them. But these seem very much as they would have been found. Yeah.

I'd seen some mounted in I don't know what the term is a little sort of like frame for a stone charm.

I'd seen some mounted in I don't know what the term is a little sort of like frame for a stone charm.

Yeah, So how would these be used well, As you mentioned, we mentioned the water already, and indeed the use of water seems to be a common theme in treatments, where you'll have the lfshot will be placed in the water. Other times they'll be wrapped in a rag, and then that bundle of rag and stones will be placed in the water, and then you give the water to the animal to drink. Sometimes the water is heated up, other times it's not. Sometimes iron is added to the mixture, sometimes coins. In one case that she cites, the mixer added quote a florin, a penny and a halfpenny, so very very specific amount of money added to the mix.

Yeah, So how would these be used well, As you mentioned, we mentioned the water already, and indeed the use of water seems to be a common theme in treatments, where you'll have the lfshot will be placed in the water. Other times they'll be wrapped in a rag, and then that bundle of rag and stones will be placed in the water, and then you give the water to the animal to drink. Sometimes the water is heated up, other times it's not. Sometimes iron is added to the mixture, sometimes coins. In one case that she cites, the mixer added quote a florin, a penny and a halfpenny, so very very specific amount of money added to the mix.

Who keeps the money afterwards?

Who keeps the money afterwards?

I don't know, Like I don't guess the money is considered as special as the stone, So I guess the money might go back in your pocket, but it could be wrong on that. She also mentions a treatment method by which quote a plow culter was heated in the fire and passed around the cow several times, repeating incantations until the elf dart quote melted into the animal's body. And I really love that one, in part because it doesn't seem to involve water or the use of one of these stones. It uses like another sort of magical modern artifact, like magical power is attributed to the plow culture. And then you're you're using incantations and making this like the supernatural dart that is inside the animal melt away and become part of the animal. And I don't know, this particularly reminded me of a bit of both like psychic surgery and ufol the ufology concept of alien implants like you know, there's this, there's something inside, it's not supposed to be there. Let's use a you know, psychic surgery to remove it. And of course you know that'll be a situation where you know, it is a it's a con act where one is is is pretending, putting on a show of removing something from the body without actually making an indention in the body. Right now. What's interesting to think about there, though, is that, on one hand, dealing with modern concepts of psychic surgery and ufology uphoology versus these older ideas, when you're dealing with the human context, some sort of ritual like this could have a placebo effect on the human individual, and so you could never discount the placebo effect completely. But with the cow. I mean, the cow doesn't know what's going on. They don't know what The cow doesn't know why you're heating up a plow culture and going in circles around it, et cetera.

I don't know, Like I don't guess the money is considered as special as the stone, So I guess the money might go back in your pocket, but it could be wrong on that. She also mentions a treatment method by which quote a plow culter was heated in the fire and passed around the cow several times, repeating incantations until the elf dart quote melted into the animal's body. And I really love that one, in part because it doesn't seem to involve water or the use of one of these stones. It uses like another sort of magical modern artifact, like magical power is attributed to the plow culture. And then you're you're using incantations and making this like the supernatural dart that is inside the animal melt away and become part of the animal. And I don't know, this particularly reminded me of a bit of both like psychic surgery and ufol the ufology concept of alien implants like you know, there's this, there's something inside, it's not supposed to be there. Let's use a you know, psychic surgery to remove it. And of course you know that'll be a situation where you know, it is a it's a con act where one is is is pretending, putting on a show of removing something from the body without actually making an indention in the body. Right now. What's interesting to think about there, though, is that, on one hand, dealing with modern concepts of psychic surgery and ufology uphoology versus these older ideas, when you're dealing with the human context, some sort of ritual like this could have a placebo effect on the human individual, and so you could never discount the placebo effect completely. But with the cow. I mean, the cow doesn't know what's going on. They don't know what The cow doesn't know why you're heating up a plow culture and going in circles around it, et cetera.

The wait, though, that's actually a fantastic question that I have never thought to look into before. Could there be a placebo effect on animals? It would probably need to work by a different mechanism, because, like in humans, it does seem to make a difference if the human thinks there's a mechanism of repair or something, even if there's not. In the case of an animal, though, I could still imagine there could be placebo like effects, maybe like that an animal feels better by receiving attention from its human, like the same human that feeds it is paying attention to it now, or by I don't know, other sort of calming effects of certain types of attention or intervention.

The wait, though, that's actually a fantastic question that I have never thought to look into before. Could there be a placebo effect on animals? It would probably need to work by a different mechanism, because, like in humans, it does seem to make a difference if the human thinks there's a mechanism of repair or something, even if there's not. In the case of an animal, though, I could still imagine there could be placebo like effects, maybe like that an animal feels better by receiving attention from its human, like the same human that feeds it is paying attention to it now, or by I don't know, other sort of calming effects of certain types of attention or intervention.

I don't know, like that the licking of a like a dog licking its wound, that sort of thing. I guess that's a more complicated topic, like to what extent is the licking actually helping, and then to what extent is it just a calming action on the part of the dog.

I don't know, like that the licking of a like a dog licking its wound, that sort of thing. I guess that's a more complicated topic, like to what extent is the licking actually helping, and then to what extent is it just a calming action on the part of the dog.

Oh, I imagine that dog's licking wounds is to some extent adaptive. I again, I haven't checked this. I would assume that it would be to remove contaminants from wounds.

Oh, I imagine that dog's licking wounds is to some extent adaptive. I again, I haven't checked this. I would assume that it would be to remove contaminants from wounds.

Now, Dowd shares other healing measures here. This one I think was from the modern period. Quote the fairy shot cow was cured by feeding her gunpowder mixed with an egg.

Now, Dowd shares other healing measures here. This one I think was from the modern period. Quote the fairy shot cow was cured by feeding her gunpowder mixed with an egg.

M my favorite breakfast. Wait a minute, hold on, No, gunpowder has has ingredients that that are used in cooking sometimes, right, like like nitrates. Am I wrong about that? Hold on? Okay, I was right about that. So gunpowder is like the main constituent of it is potassium nitrate, also known as saltpeter, and that is also a major ingredient in like cured meats. So I don't know, maybe you're having like a cured egg gilt. I guess I'm reaching here.

M my favorite breakfast. Wait a minute, hold on, No, gunpowder has has ingredients that that are used in cooking sometimes, right, like like nitrates. Am I wrong about that? Hold on? Okay, I was right about that. So gunpowder is like the main constituent of it is potassium nitrate, also known as saltpeter, and that is also a major ingredient in like cured meats. So I don't know, maybe you're having like a cured egg gilt. I guess I'm reaching here.

I'm gonna put on a strong warning against trying this at home, though, please do not try cooking. Do not cook with gunpowder down shoes. Some other fascinating tidbits from these various accounts of elf shot. One is that disrupting a ring fort could earn you potential elf shot. These were these are This also gets into the reinterpretation of remains of of old civilizations and cultures, because ring Fort's certainly in Ireland, and outside of Ireland as well, we're talking about the remains of brown age circular fortified settlements. In particular. She mentions one account that was shared of a woman driving cattle past a ring fort and then suddenly the herd is attacked by a fairy shooting one of these arrows through the air, and a cow is struck and collapses. But then she's able to search around find various bits of flint fragments, boil these quote in the cow's drink and thereby cured her. And there's some other fun accounts. There's some sort of like near misses that I also thought were very, very fun. There's one account in which you have a woman returning home and she has a wooden pail of milk with her, and when she gets home, she realizes that there are two elfstones embedded in the pail, and these were thrown by the fairies, by the elves. There's another story of a woman carrying a baby and when she gets home, she finds that the baby has one of the elfstones in its hand and is chewing on it, which I like that one as well, like did the baby catch it out of the air or did the elves like give it to the baby? Like I kind of like that later interpretation because it's like, you know, the elves see like, oh, this is a baby. This is really you know this, this isn't like the other humans. Let's give let's give the baby an el pharaoh. And also let's kind of just mess with the mom by doing.

I'm gonna put on a strong warning against trying this at home, though, please do not try cooking. Do not cook with gunpowder down shoes. Some other fascinating tidbits from these various accounts of elf shot. One is that disrupting a ring fort could earn you potential elf shot. These were these are This also gets into the reinterpretation of remains of of old civilizations and cultures, because ring Fort's certainly in Ireland, and outside of Ireland as well, we're talking about the remains of brown age circular fortified settlements. In particular. She mentions one account that was shared of a woman driving cattle past a ring fort and then suddenly the herd is attacked by a fairy shooting one of these arrows through the air, and a cow is struck and collapses. But then she's able to search around find various bits of flint fragments, boil these quote in the cow's drink and thereby cured her. And there's some other fun accounts. There's some sort of like near misses that I also thought were very, very fun. There's one account in which you have a woman returning home and she has a wooden pail of milk with her, and when she gets home, she realizes that there are two elfstones embedded in the pail, and these were thrown by the fairies, by the elves. There's another story of a woman carrying a baby and when she gets home, she finds that the baby has one of the elfstones in its hand and is chewing on it, which I like that one as well, like did the baby catch it out of the air or did the elves like give it to the baby? Like I kind of like that later interpretation because it's like, you know, the elves see like, oh, this is a baby. This is really you know this, this isn't like the other humans. Let's give let's give the baby an el pharaoh. And also let's kind of just mess with the mom by doing.

This catching it in the air. Word, that's a nimble baby. That baby's got a future in professional sports.

This catching it in the air. Word, that's a nimble baby. That baby's got a future in professional sports.

But anyway, conventional wisdom is that if there is elf shot thrown at you and you having to find some an elfstone on the ground, you better take it as a productive amulet and or to use as it for its curative effects if you were hit or if the you know more particularly of a cow in your keeping was hit. And there are sort of common interchangeable features of the cure that Dowd shares, So we touched on several stories that mentioned this already. It's placing the stones in water and perhaps adding something like a piece of metal or particular coins to the water as well. Then the water may be consumed by the sick or in some cases rubbed on like the cow's body. There may be prayers, they may be incantations, and I saw some examples of these that some of them like blean more into Christian traditions and mention the Holy ghost. Others seem a little more pre Christian. The water itself that's used may come from a particular place, such as a stream at a crossroads, or a particular bog. And then at least in one case, I saw a situation where once you have the water prepared, instead of giving it to the cow, you pour it on the ground near where the elf shot occurred. So so treat the place where the wounding occurred to treat the wound. Also, silence during journeys factors into some of these where you mentioned one account of that, again a mixing of pagan and Christian traditions. And yeah, so these are just some of the basic properties you see in the treatment, though there are again a lot of variations here. There's a lot of drift into exactly how one might cure elf shot and exactly how or to what extent or if you might incorporate elfstones in the cure. Now, I didn't look, but I can only imagine that various conspiracy thinkers have a lot of fun with us in terms of like ancient aliens and perhaps ancient time travelers. Like clearly they might argue this is referring to a time when a time traveler went back in time and fired a revolver at somebody fired a handgun and there was a shell casing left on the ground, or or you know, an alien used a phaser or something to that effect.