Details

LOT 1604

Viking Period Gold 'Elf Shot' Pendant

9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D. OR EARLIER

5/8 in. (0.78 grams, 16 mm).

Gold cup with hoop and suspension loop, with carnelian insert.

Provenance

Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970-2000s.

Footnotes

This amulet was believed to offer protection against 'Elfshot'. The attack of elves was believed responsible for mysterious suffering in men and livestock: sudden shooting pains localised to a particular area of the body, such as in rheumatism, arthritis or muscle stitches or cramps. Elves were thought to shoot darts or arrows where such pains had no obvious external cause. Belief in elfshot persisted into the 20th century in rural areas, and as proof country folk would sometimes find small arrowheads (the remains of Neolithic or Mesolithic flints, or naturally-occurring spear-shaped stones) that were believed to be the magical weapons that caused the afflictions. Belief in elfshot began in the Pagan Germanic period.