(Sorry for the re-post everyone, but there seems to be something wrong with the original I posted back in December so I’m deleting that one and hopefully this will fix whatever tumblr did to it!)
In regards to elf-shot or fairy darts (or fairy arrows), it can be difficult determining whether the context is referring to the condition/illness of being elf-shot or the actual small flint arrowheads that are thought to belong to elves and other denizens of the good people. Another usage of the term involves elf-shot being referred to as a specific form of offensive witchcraft - sharp projectiles meant to cause harm, as described by Isobel Gowdie. In that case it was specifically referring to witches who wielded the darts for malefic witchcraft, although the darts themselves had been crafted by the fair folk. While it seems to appear more commonly occurring in livestock, elf-shot was also recognized as a disease that could afflict people as well and many verbal charms for curing livestock and humans of illness were easily interchangeable.
“The flint arrow-heads so much prized by antiquarians are called in the Highlands Saighead sith, fairy arrows. They are said to have been thrown by the fairies at the sons and daughters of men. The writer possesses one which was thrown at his own maid-servant one night when she went to the peatstack for peats. She was aware of something whizzing through the silent air, passing through her hair, grazing her ear and falling at her feet. Stooping in the bright moonlight the girl picked up a fairy arrow!” -W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries.
The Denham Tracts describes them as “The heads of ancient arrows or spears. They occur in abundance in some parts of Scotland. They are formed of flint, about an inch long and half an inch broad. Vallency says the peasants in Ireland wear them about their necks set in silver, as an amulet against being elf-shot.”
According to Isobel Gowdie, the elf arrowheads are shaped by the Devil’s hand and then whittled into sharp darts by elf boys. The arrowheads are given to witches by the Devil and he instructs them to shoot the darts (by flicking them from the thumb and forefinger) in his name.
So with this in mind, elf-shot is more or less categorized four ways: darts or arrowheads wielded by the fair folk, malefic witchcraft, the actual illness resulting from either of these aforementioned two, or as protection. That’s not to exclude the fact that folklore and mythology regarding these flint arrowheads turns up around the world - I am, however, focusing specifically on European folklore here.
Conversely, elf-shot was also thought to be something of a protective amulet or talisman to ward off evil in folklore. These same flint arrowheads turn up in other parts of folklore in Europe known as thunderstones. In Scandinavia, offerings of beer and butter were made to these stones as protection against malevolent spells and witchcraft. Folklore in Switzerland also details thunderstones used as a way to prevent lightning from striking the home.
A protective charm used against elf-shot goes as follows:
“I charm you for arrow-shot, for door-shot, for window-shot, for eyeshot, for tongue-shot, for liver-shot, for lung-shot, for heart-shot, all the most, in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Ghost, amen.”
This is, of course, modernized from Bartie Paterson’s charm:
“I charge thee for arrowschot
For doorschot, for wombschot,
For liverschot, for lungschote,
For bertschote - all the maist;
In the name of the Father, the Sone, and the Haly Ghaist. Amen.”
Rowan is a staple protection against both witches and fairies - carrying rowan berries is supposed to ward against elf-shot and other baneful magic. Thomas Keightley also mentions the method of placing a branch of rowan over the door of the home so that the procession of the fairy-rade may be safely viewed without harm to the human (The Fairy Mythology).
“A bunch of ash keys carried in the hand preserves the bearer from witchcraft; as also does the twig of the rowan or roan-tree.” -The Denham Tracts, pg 30
Additionally, you have Wid Faerstice - or For a Sudden Stitch, from the Anglo-Saxon Metrical Charms - “Against the sudden stitch take feverfew and the red nettle, that grows throughout a secret place, and way-bread - pour into butter.” The accompanying metric charm is too long to post here, but a very interesting read.
Another method of healing elf-shot was to boil some south-running water and place an elf-arrow-stone in the water as a remedy against the shot. The afflicted will drink the water and be relieved of the effects of elf-shot.
In each aggressive form that it took, elf-shot was considered a dangerous consequence of dealing with (or merely offending) witches or the fair folk. Fortunately for us, there are a lot of different ways to protect oneself from the darts themselves, and the afflictions they cause.
Scottish Fairy Belief - Lizanne Henderson & Edward Cowan
The British Book of Spells and Charms - Graham King
Thomas Keightley - The Fairy Mythology
Wikipedia - Thunderstones
The Denham Tracts - https://archive.org/stream/denhamtractscoll02denhuoft#mode/2up
The Metrical Charms, from the Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry Project - https://anglosaxonpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-metrical-charms/
The Visions of Isobel Gowdie - Emma Wilby
Hall, A. (2005) Getting shot of elves: healing, witchcraft and fairies in the Scottish witchcraft trials. Folklore 116(1):pp. 19-36.
