See elf-shot on Wiktionary
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"ref": "1897 August 5, The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton, Qld, page 4, column 5:",
"text": "Without visible mark or sign she was elf-shot; and the proof of this appeared from her going off her milk, dwining away, and dying before her calves could be counted on the hooves of one foot.",
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"ref": "1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, page 16:",
"text": "The malicious elves did not confine their attacks to human beings; references to elf-shot cattle are numerous.",
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"ref": "1976, Ulster Folklife:",
"text": "Frequently this practitioner would keep a stock of elf-shot from which one would be produced by sleight of hand from the ailing animal's flank as evidence that it had indeed been elf-shot.",
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"Maliciously wounded or sickened as a result of having been shot by an elf."
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"(Anglo-Saxon and UK mythology and folklore) Maliciously wounded or sickened as a result of having been shot by an elf."
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"ref": "1789, William Collins, An Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland, London: J. Bell, page 11:",
"text": "There, ev'ry herd, by sad experience, knows\nHow, wing'd with Fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,\nWhen the sick ewe her summer food foregoes,\nOr, stretch'd on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie.",
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"ref": "2018, Lauren B. Davis, Against A Darkening Sky, Canelo + ORM:",
"text": "Ley whatever elf-shot darts, whatever flying venoms, be concentrated among those already ill.",
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"ref": "2021, Marie Nelson, Structures of Opposition in Old English Poems, Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, page 52:",
"text": "Following Singer, Bonser relates the word gescot (shot) to the elf-shot arrows believed to cause illness in both animals and humans.",
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"Of a missile, fired by an elf."
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"ref": "1906 August 7, The Clarence River Advocate, NSW, page 4, column 5:",
"text": "In Scotland the flint arrow heads are denominated ‘elf shots,’ from a belief among the people that they are of rib human formation, but the shot with which the elves or fairies assail cattle, and there are many superstitions in connection with them.",
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"text": "Likewise, Mesolithic and Neolithic arrowheads were popularly known as “elf shot” or “elf missiles” and believed to harbor magical properties and thus sometimes made into jewelry and worn as protective charms.",
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13,
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"ref": "2018, Lauren B. Davis, Against A Darkening Sky, Canelo + ORM:",
"text": "Ley whatever elf-shot darts, whatever flying venoms, be concentrated among those already ill.",
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63,
71
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"ref": "2021, Marie Nelson, Structures of Opposition in Old English Poems, Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, page 52:",
"text": "Following Singer, Bonser relates the word gescot (shot) to the elf-shot arrows believed to cause illness in both animals and humans.",
"type": "quotation"
}
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"Of a missile, fired by an elf."
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"word": "elf-shot"
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"text": "Frequently this practitioner would keep a stock of elf-shot from which one would be produced by sleight of hand from the ailing animal's flank as evidence that it had indeed been elf-shot.",
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"ref": "2021, Justin Mullis, “Fear, Faries, and Fossils: The Legacy of Arthur Machen's \"Little People\" Stories”, in Antonio Sanna, editor, Arthur Machen: Critical Essays, Lanham: Lexington Books, page 118:",
"text": "Likewise, Mesolithic and Neolithic arrowheads were popularly known as “elf shot” or “elf missiles” and believed to harbor magical properties and thus sometimes made into jewelry and worn as protective charms.",
"type": "quotation"
}
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Download raw JSONL data for elf-shot meaning in All languages combined (4.9kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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