Misplaced Pages

Iron in folklore: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 15:50, 21 March 2007 editSam 1123 (talk | contribs)452 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit Latest revision as of 07:19, 7 November 2024 edit undoDragoneerGuy (talk | contribs)4 edits I added more onto the "in fiction" section of the articleTag: Visual edit 
(164 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|none}} <!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" - please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! -->
'''] in mythology''' and folkore has a long and varied tradition throughout the world. As human blood smells of iron of which it is largely constituted, and blood in many traditions is equated with the life-force, similarly iron and minerals have been attributed as being the blood or life-force of the Earth. This relationship is charted further in literature on ] and ] and ]. ]'s observation of stellar formation champions iron as the core of celestial bodies. Interestingly, the bulk of ]s are constituted by iron.
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=September 2016}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2020}}
], used as a ]]]


] has a long and varied tradition in the mythology and folklore of the world.


<!--Historical background-->
===Plutarch===
While iron is now the name of a ], the traditional meaning of the word "iron" is what is now called ]. In East Asia, ] was also common after 500 BCE, and was called "cooked iron", with wrought iron being called "raw iron" (in Europe, cast iron remained very rare until it was used for cannonballs in the 14th century). At the end of the ] and beginning of the ], tools (including weapons) of iron replaced those of bronze, and iron-using cultures replaced bronze-using cultures. Many early legends spring from this transition, such as ] and the ], as well as ]. Iron mixed with larger amounts of carbon has very different working properties and structural properties, and is called ]. Steel was rare; making it was difficult and somewhat unpredictable, and steelworkers were often associated with supernatural skill, until the ]. Now, steel is cheaper to make, and most of what is now sold as "wrought iron" is in fact ]. See ] for more historical detail.
In ]'s mystical writings, iron and ] is referred to the as 'bone' or 'core' of the gods. Symbolically, iron is the bone, the foundation or the mineral core of both blood and red ochre.


===Cold Iron=== ==In Europe==
===Cold iron===
] is sometimes asserted to repel, contain, or harm ]s, ], ], and/or other malevolent ] creatures. This belief continued into later ]s in a number of forms:
{{distinguish|Cold ironing}}
* Nailing an iron ] to a ] was said to repel ]s or later, to bring good luck.
"Cold iron"{{definition needed|date=May 2023}} is historically believed to repel, contain, or harm ]s, ], ]es, and other malevolent ] creatures. This belief continued into later ]s in a number of forms:

* Nailing an iron ] to a ] was said to repel ]s or, later, to bring good luck.
* Surrounding a ] with an iron ] was thought to contain the ]s of the ]. * Surrounding a ] with an iron ] was thought to contain the ]s of the ].
* Burying an iron ] under the entrance to one's ] was alleged to keep ] from entering. * Burying an iron ] under the entrance to one's ] was alleged to keep witches from entering.

"Cold iron" is a substitute name used for various animals and incidences considered unlucky by Irish fishermen. A similar phenomenon has been found with Scottish fishermen.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fhloinn|first=Bairbre Ni|title=Cold Iron: Aspects of the Occupational Lore of Irish Fishermen|publisher=University College Dublin|year=2018|isbn=978-0-9565628-7-6|pages=35–36, 286–288}}</ref>

===Horseshoes===
] in some cultures.]]

]s are considered a good ] charm in many cultures, including those of England, Denmark,<ref>Thorpe, Benjamin (1851). ''Northern Mythology: Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands''. E. Lumley.</ref> Lithuania, and Estonia, and its shape, fabrication, placement and manner of sourcing are all important. A common belief is that if a horseshoe is hung on a door with the two ends pointing up then good luck will occur. However, if the two ends point downwards then bad luck will occur. Traditions do differ on this point, however. In some cultures, the horseshoe is hung ''points down'' (so the luck pours onto a person standing under it); in others, it is hung ''points up'' (so the luck does not fall out); in others it does not matter so long as the horseshoe has been used (not new), was found (not purchased), and can be touched. In all traditions, luck is ''contained'' in the shoe and can ''pour out'' through the ends.

In some traditions, any good or bad luck achieved will only occur to the ''owner'' of the horseshoe, not the person who hangs it up. Therefore, if the horseshoe was stolen, borrowed or even just found then the ''owner'', not the person who found or stole the horseshoe, will get any good or bad luck. Other traditions require that the horseshoe be found to be effective.

] for ''The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil'']]
One reputed origin of the tradition of lucky horseshoes is the story of ] and the Devil. Dunstan, who would become the ] in CE 959, was a blacksmith by trade. The story relates that he once nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when he was asked to reshoe the Devil's horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.<ref>{{cite book |title=The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil: Showing How the Horse-Shoe Came to Be a Charm Against Witchcraft |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13978 |author=Edward G. Flight |location=London |year=1871 |edition=Third}}</ref>


Another possible reason for the placing of horseshoes above doorways is to ward off ], the supposition being that supernatural beings are repelled by iron and as horseshoes were an easily available source of iron, they could be nailed above a door to prevent such beings entering a house.
In his story, "]," the ] author ] wrote, "Your wife's a witch, man; you should nail a horse-shoe on your chamber-door."


==Meteoric iron in Tibet==
In mythology, the term "cold iron" is sometimes only applied to cold-worked iron of ] origin {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, as such metal has never been heated by ] agency. ] iron must be ] first, so such iron may or may not be considered "cold iron", depending on the source consulted.
'']'' ({{bo|t=ཐོག་ལྕགས|w=thog lcags}})<ref>Bellezza, John Vincent (March, 1999). ''Thogchags: The Ancient Amulets of Tibet.'' Source: (accessed: Wednesday April 14, 2010)</ref> means 'sky-iron' in Tibetan. ] was highly prized throughout the Himalayas, where it was included in sophisticated polymetallic alloys for ritual implements such as the ] (Jansen, 1992) and ] (Müller-Ebeling, ''et al.'', 2002).


Beer (1999: p.&nbsp;234) states that:
===Fairies and iron===
Iron, particularly ], was employed as a protective substance or charm against ]. In ], Fae are culturally held to hold an aversion to iron or even be harmed by the touch of iron. Conversely, amongst Asian traditions, there are tales of ironworking fairy.


{{quote|Meteoric iron or "sky-iron" (Tib. gnam lcags) is the supreme substance for forging the physical representation of the ] or other iron weapons, since it has already been tempered by the celestial gods in its passage across the heavens. The indivisibility of form and emptiness is a perfect metaphor for the image of a meteorite or "stone fallen from the sky", manifesting out of the voidness of space as a shooting star or fireball, and depositing a chunk of fused "sky iron" on the earth below. Many vajras held by deities as weapons are described as being forged from meteorite iron, and Tibet, with its high altitude, thin atmosphere and desolate landscape, received an abundance of meteorite fragments. Tibetan vajras were often cast from meteorite iron, and as an act of sympathetic magic a piece of the meteoric iron was often returned to its original site.<ref>{{cite book|author=Beer, Robert |year=1999|title=The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs|edition=Hardcover|publisher=Shambhala|isbn=978-1-57062-416-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XlqeS3WjSWIC |access-date=April 15, 2010|page=234}}</ref>}}
== For luck==
] in some cultures]]


==In Judaism==
Horseshoes are considered a good ] charm in many cultures and its shape, fabrication, placement and manner of sourcing are all important. A common tradition is that if a horseshoe is hung on a door with the two ends pointing up (as shown here) then good luck will occur. However, if the two ends point downwards then bad luck will occur. Traditions do differ on this point, though. In some cultures, the horseshoe is hung ''points down'' (so the luck pours onto you); in others, it is hung ''points up'' (so the luck doesn't fall out); still in others it doesn't matter so long as the horseshoe has been used (not new), was found (not purchased), and can be touched. In all traditions, luck is ''contained'' in the shoe and can ''pour out'' through the ends.
In the Bible at Judges 1:19, although God was with Judah (see Verse 2), he (Judah) was unable to lead the nation to victory against the Valleymen due to them having chariots of iron.
"And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|1:19|KJV}}</ref>


== In fiction ==
In some traditions, any good or bad luck achieved will only occur to the ''owner'' of the horseshoe, not the person who hangs it up. Therefore, if the horseshoe was stolen, borrowed or even just found then the ''owner'', not the person who found or stole the horseshoe will get any good or bad luck. Other traditions require that the horseshoe be found to be effective.
Cold iron is a poetic term for iron. ] ''1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' defines cold iron as "A sword, or any other weapon for cutting or stabbing." This usage often appears as "cold steel" in modern parlance.


]'s poem "]", found in his 1910 collection of stories '']'', used the term poetically to mean "weapon".
One reputed origin of the tradition of lucky horseshoes is the story of ] and the Devil. Dunstan, who would become the ] in AD 959, was a blacksmith by trade. The story relates that he once nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when he was asked to reshoe the Devil's horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.


In his novel '']'', the ] author ] wrote, "Your wife's a witch, man; you should nail a horse-shoe on your chamber-door."
Another theory concerning the placing of horseshoes above doorways is to ward off ] (the Celtic kind); the theory being that Faeries are repelled by iron and as horseshoes were an easily available source of iron, they could be nailed above a door to prevent any unwanted, otherworldly guests. One can see how the custom, as people began to forget the stories concerning the Fair Folk, eventually morphed into a simple good luck charm. It is also possible that the Romans, when arriving in Celtic countries, came across horseshoes nailed above doors and simply borrowed the concept of horseshoes as good luck charms, failing to understand the background of the Celtic custom, and made their use more widespread.


In modern fantasy, cold iron may refer to a special type of metal, such as meteoric iron or unworked metal. Weapons and implements made from cold iron are often granted special efficacy against creatures such as fairies and spirits.
===Meteoric Iron in Tibet===
'''''Thogcha''''' means 'sky-iron' in Tibetan. Meteoric iron was highly prized throughout the Himalaya where it was included in sophisticated polymetallic alloys for ritual implements such as the ] (Jansen, 1992) and ] (Müller-Ebeling, ''et.al'', 2002).


In the Disney film '']'', the title character reveals early on that iron is lethal to fairies, and that the metal burns them on contact.
===Blood and ochre===
In many ] traditions ochre and blood, both high in iron content and considered ], are applied to the bodies of dancers for ritual. As Lawlor (1991: p.102-103) states:<blockquote>
In many Aboriginal rituals and ceremonies, red ochre is rubbed all over the naked bodies of the dancers. In secret, sacred male ceremonies, blood extracted from the veins of the participant's arms is exchanged and rubbed on their bodies. Red ochre is used in similar ways in less secret ceremonies. Blood is also used to fasten the feathers of birds onto people's bodies. Bird feathers contain a protein that is highly magnetically sensitive.
</blockquote> Lawlor comments that blood employed in this fashion is held by these peoples to attune the dancers to the invisible energetic realm of the Dreamtime. Lawlor then draws information from different disciplines charting a relationship between these invisible energetic realms and ]. Iron and ] having a marked relationship.


In the '']'' games, Pokémon categorized as Fairy-types are weak against moves that are categorized as Steel-type. Fairy-type moves are also less effective than other types of moves against Pokémon of the Steel-type.
===Songlines, magnetic fields and wayfinding===


In the ] novel of ]'s ] series, the Elves are a fey and maleficent race, strongly sensitive to what a modern reader will recognize to be magnetic fields. They are powerfully averse to iron for this reason.
Lawlor (1991: p.105) quotes the ]s F. A. Brown and F. H. Barnwell who have conducted research on the biological effects of the Earth's magnetic field (and particularly how it relates with directionality and wayfinding):
<blockquote>
There remains no reasonable doubt that living systems are extraordinarily sensitive to magnetic fields. By extremely simple experiments it is shown that highly diverse plants and animals may have their orientation modified by artificial fields of the order of strength of the geo-magnetic field...The nature of the response properties suggest that the organism is normally integrated with its geo-magnetic environment to a striking degree. <ref>Quotation cited from p.91 of: Beasley, Victor (1978). ''Your Electro-Vibratory Body''. Boulder Creek, Ca.: University of the Trees.</ref></blockquote>
Lawlor then builds on this with citing research conducted on homing pigeons which has pinpointed a tiny crystal in their brain. This crystal which is supersensitive to the earth's magnetic fields or geomagnetic currents, works in tandem with the birds other wayfinding propensities.
As Mathrani (2002) states:
<blockquote>
Many animals have the ability to sense the geomagnetic field and utilize it as a source of directional (compass) information. Studies have shown that salamanders and frogs use magnetic fields for orientation when they have to find a way to escape from danger, such as from predators. Other animals that have been known to migrate via the detection of the Earth's magnetic field include sparrows, pigeons, bobolinks, yellow fin tuna fish, honeybees, and bacteria. ] has been found in the tissues of all these organisms.
</blockquote>


In ], an iron crane is used to disperse the energy of a Martian that emerges from archeological excavations. The use of "iron and water against the devil" is cited by one of the characters who suggests and applies the theory.
Crystals of magnetite have been found in some ] (e.g., ]) and in the brains of ], of ], of some ] (e.g., the ]), and of humans. These crystals are thought to be involved in ], the ability to sense the ] or the ] of the earth's ], and to be involved in ]. Also, ] have teeth made of magnetite on their ] making them unique among animals. This means they have an exceptionally abrasive tongue with which to scrape food from rocks.


In ], a pure iron horseshoe, referred to as a "gaggletack", can be used to force changelings to take whichever form they were not taking, upon direct contact with a gaggletack. Gaggletacks are used within the show to reveal trolls and humans to be changelings.
The study of ] began with the discoveries of ] ] ] in the 1960s.


==See also==
* {{Section link|Silver|Symbolic role}}
* ]


==References==
{{Reflist}}


==References== ==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Finneran, Niall (2003). ''Ethiopian evil eye belief and the magical symbolism of iron working.'' Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2386/is_3_114/ai_n6118470 (accessed: Thursday, March 15, 2007)
* ] (2003). ''Ethiopian evil eye belief and the magical symbolism of iron working.'' Source: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306023411/https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-113757578/ethiopian-evil-eye-belief-and-the-magical-symbolism |date=2018-03-06 }}{{ISBN?}}
* Lawlor, Robert (1991). ''Voices Of The First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal dreamtime.'' Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, Ltd. ISBN 0-89281-355-5
* ] (1991). ''Voices of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime.'' Rochester, Vermont: ] International, Ltd. {{ISBN|0-89281-355-5}}
* Jansen, Eva Rudy (1992). ''Singing bowls: a practical handbook of instruction and use''. Holland: Binkey Kok Publications. (Refer partial scanning of book on following metalinkage (accessed: 1 December 2006).: http://books.google.com.au/books?vid=ISBN9074597017&id=uY0x3fqbvxwC&pg=PR13&lpg=PR13&ots=x0cd_6rrrs&dq=singing+bowls+books&sig=_C7Fn_0ndUl5kFqfxZ1qQ3k3Puo#PPP1,M1
* ] (1992). ''Singing bowls: a practical handbook of instruction and use''. Holland: ] Publications. (Refer partial scanning of book on following metalinkage (accessed: 1 December 2006) .)
* ] and ] and Surendra Bahadur Shahi (2002). ''Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas''. Transl. by Annabel Lee. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions.
* ] and ] and ] (2002). ''Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas''. Transl. by ]. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions.
* {{cite book
| last = Bealer
| first = Alex W.
| author-link = Alex W. Bealer
| title = The Art of Blacksmithing
| publisher = Castle Books
| year = 1995
| location = Edison, NJ
| pages = 41–42
| isbn = 978-0-7858-0395-9 }}
* {{cite book
| last = Kosmerl
| first = Frank
| author-link = Frank Kosmerl
| title = Pennsylvania's goosewing axes and early iron and steel technology
| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3983/is_200112/ai_n9013872
| publisher = Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The
| date = December 2001
}}
* Briggs, Robin. ''Witches & Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft''. Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk: HarperCollins Publishers. 1996. {{ISBN|0-00-215844-2}}.
* ]. ''The Evil Eye: An Account of This Ancient and Widespread Superstition''. New York: Bell Publishing Company. 1989. {{ISBN|0-517-67944-2}}. Reprint of the 1895 original.
* Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. ''The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft''. New York: Facts On File, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-8160-2268-7}}.
* Lawrence, Robert Means, M.D. ''The Magic of the Horseshoe with Other Folk-Lore Notes''. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1898.
* Garrad, Larch S. “Additional Examples of Possible House Charms in the Isle of Man.” Folklore 100 (1989): 110–112.
* Tebbett, C. F. “Iron Thresholds as a Protection.” Folklore 91 (1980): 240.
{{refend}}


] ]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 07:19, 7 November 2024

This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Misplaced Pages's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions. (September 2016)
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Iron in folklore" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A horseshoe wind chime, used as a good luck charm

Iron has a long and varied tradition in the mythology and folklore of the world.

While iron is now the name of a chemical element, the traditional meaning of the word "iron" is what is now called wrought iron. In East Asia, cast iron was also common after 500 BCE, and was called "cooked iron", with wrought iron being called "raw iron" (in Europe, cast iron remained very rare until it was used for cannonballs in the 14th century). At the end of the Bronze Age and beginning of the Iron Age, tools (including weapons) of iron replaced those of bronze, and iron-using cultures replaced bronze-using cultures. Many early legends spring from this transition, such as Homeric epic and the Vedas, as well as major cultural shifts in Africa. Iron mixed with larger amounts of carbon has very different working properties and structural properties, and is called steel. Steel was rare; making it was difficult and somewhat unpredictable, and steelworkers were often associated with supernatural skill, until the Industrial Revolution. Now, steel is cheaper to make, and most of what is now sold as "wrought iron" is in fact mild steel. See ferrous metallurgy for more historical detail.

In Europe

Cold iron

Not to be confused with Cold ironing.

"Cold iron" is historically believed to repel, contain, or harm ghosts, fairies, witches, and other malevolent supernatural creatures. This belief continued into later superstitions in a number of forms:

  • Nailing an iron horseshoe to a door was said to repel evil spirits or, later, to bring good luck.
  • Surrounding a cemetery with an iron fence was thought to contain the souls of the dead.
  • Burying an iron knife under the entrance to one's home was alleged to keep witches from entering.

"Cold iron" is a substitute name used for various animals and incidences considered unlucky by Irish fishermen. A similar phenomenon has been found with Scottish fishermen.

Horseshoes

A horseshoe on a door is regarded as a protective talisman in some cultures.

Horseshoes are considered a good luck charm in many cultures, including those of England, Denmark, Lithuania, and Estonia, and its shape, fabrication, placement and manner of sourcing are all important. A common belief is that if a horseshoe is hung on a door with the two ends pointing up then good luck will occur. However, if the two ends point downwards then bad luck will occur. Traditions do differ on this point, however. In some cultures, the horseshoe is hung points down (so the luck pours onto a person standing under it); in others, it is hung points up (so the luck does not fall out); in others it does not matter so long as the horseshoe has been used (not new), was found (not purchased), and can be touched. In all traditions, luck is contained in the shoe and can pour out through the ends.

In some traditions, any good or bad luck achieved will only occur to the owner of the horseshoe, not the person who hangs it up. Therefore, if the horseshoe was stolen, borrowed or even just found then the owner, not the person who found or stole the horseshoe, will get any good or bad luck. Other traditions require that the horseshoe be found to be effective.

Illustration by George Cruikshank for The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil

One reputed origin of the tradition of lucky horseshoes is the story of Saint Dunstan and the Devil. Dunstan, who would become the Archbishop of Canterbury in CE 959, was a blacksmith by trade. The story relates that he once nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when he was asked to reshoe the Devil's horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.

Another possible reason for the placing of horseshoes above doorways is to ward off faeries, the supposition being that supernatural beings are repelled by iron and as horseshoes were an easily available source of iron, they could be nailed above a door to prevent such beings entering a house.

Meteoric iron in Tibet

Thogcha (Tibetan: ཐོག་ལྕགས, Wylie: thog lcags) means 'sky-iron' in Tibetan. Meteoric iron was highly prized throughout the Himalayas, where it was included in sophisticated polymetallic alloys for ritual implements such as the singing bowl (Jansen, 1992) and phurba (Müller-Ebeling, et al., 2002).

Beer (1999: p. 234) states that:

Meteoric iron or "sky-iron" (Tib. gnam lcags) is the supreme substance for forging the physical representation of the vajra or other iron weapons, since it has already been tempered by the celestial gods in its passage across the heavens. The indivisibility of form and emptiness is a perfect metaphor for the image of a meteorite or "stone fallen from the sky", manifesting out of the voidness of space as a shooting star or fireball, and depositing a chunk of fused "sky iron" on the earth below. Many vajras held by deities as weapons are described as being forged from meteorite iron, and Tibet, with its high altitude, thin atmosphere and desolate landscape, received an abundance of meteorite fragments. Tibetan vajras were often cast from meteorite iron, and as an act of sympathetic magic a piece of the meteoric iron was often returned to its original site.

In Judaism

In the Bible at Judges 1:19, although God was with Judah (see Verse 2), he (Judah) was unable to lead the nation to victory against the Valleymen due to them having chariots of iron. "And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron."

In fiction

Cold iron is a poetic term for iron. Francis Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue defines cold iron as "A sword, or any other weapon for cutting or stabbing." This usage often appears as "cold steel" in modern parlance.

Rudyard Kipling's poem "Cold Iron", found in his 1910 collection of stories Rewards and Fairies, used the term poetically to mean "weapon".

In his novel Redgauntlet, the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott wrote, "Your wife's a witch, man; you should nail a horse-shoe on your chamber-door."

In modern fantasy, cold iron may refer to a special type of metal, such as meteoric iron or unworked metal. Weapons and implements made from cold iron are often granted special efficacy against creatures such as fairies and spirits.

In the Disney film Maleficent, the title character reveals early on that iron is lethal to fairies, and that the metal burns them on contact.

In the Pokémon games, Pokémon categorized as Fairy-types are weak against moves that are categorized as Steel-type. Fairy-type moves are also less effective than other types of moves against Pokémon of the Steel-type.

In the Lords and Ladies novel of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, the Elves are a fey and maleficent race, strongly sensitive to what a modern reader will recognize to be magnetic fields. They are powerfully averse to iron for this reason.

In Quatermass and the Pit, an iron crane is used to disperse the energy of a Martian that emerges from archeological excavations. The use of "iron and water against the devil" is cited by one of the characters who suggests and applies the theory.

In Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, a pure iron horseshoe, referred to as a "gaggletack", can be used to force changelings to take whichever form they were not taking, upon direct contact with a gaggletack. Gaggletacks are used within the show to reveal trolls and humans to be changelings.

See also

References

  1. Fhloinn, Bairbre Ni (2018). Cold Iron: Aspects of the Occupational Lore of Irish Fishermen. University College Dublin. pp. 35–36, 286–288. ISBN 978-0-9565628-7-6.
  2. Thorpe, Benjamin (1851). Northern Mythology: Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands. E. Lumley.
  3. Edward G. Flight (1871). The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil: Showing How the Horse-Shoe Came to Be a Charm Against Witchcraft (Third ed.). London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Bellezza, John Vincent (March, 1999). Thogchags: The Ancient Amulets of Tibet. Source: (accessed: Wednesday April 14, 2010)
  5. Beer, Robert (1999). The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs (Hardcover ed.). Shambhala. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-57062-416-2. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  6. Judges 1:19

Further reading

Categories: