Offerings and "Elves"
Last month I taught several classes about the Daoine Maith (Good People) at the Changing Times, Changing Worlds conference and one of the most common questions I was asked was about offerings. I thought it might be helpful here to blog a bit about the most common traditional offerings and the way they have been historically understood.
Probably the most common offering is milk. We see multiple references to this in many sources, both to the milk being offered regularly and to it being given as type of appeasement when disruptive behavior is occurring. Evans Wentz in the seminal Fairy Faith in Celtic countries tells us "milk was set at night for piskies [pixies], who had been knocking on walls and generally making nuisances of themselves." (Evans Wentz, 1911). It should be noted that if you begin to make regular offerings and then stop it will bring you bad luck; an anecdote is related in Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries of a woman who always poured out an offering to the fairies when milking her cow, however after becoming Christian she stopped the practice; one of her cows was then taken by the fairies prompting her to resume making the offerings (Evans Wentz, 1911). Yeats mentions that offerings of milk were left out on windowsills for the Good People to ensure good fortune (Yeats, 1888).
Offerings to the Other Crowd may also include butter and bread, left either by a door or at the roots of a fairy tree, and small amounts of anything a person is drinking could be poured out onto the ground as an offering (Estyn Evans, 1957). The custom of pouring out a bit of your drink is something I was familiar with from my grandfather and is easily done. Milk that was spilled on the ground belonged to them and milk might sometimes be thrown in the air for the fairies or butter buried near a bog as an offering to them (Evans Wentz, 1911; O hOgain, 1995). On the quarter days a heavy porridge was offered by pouring it into a hole in the earth and bread was offered which could be left out or tossed over the shoulder (McNeill, 1956; Sjoedstedt, 2000). It was also once the custom to bleed live cattle on Beltane and offer the blood to the fairies (Estyn Evans, 1957). The most common modern offerings are milk, cream, bread or other baked goods, honey, and portions of meals, as well as alcohol.
Finnish and Germanic cultures also offered to these spirits, usually called elves. In Finland it was believed that elves could be helpful in many domestic areas and appreciated offerings of food, alcohol, coins, silver, or gold (Nenonen, 2014) Guerber tells us that "In Scandinavia and Germany sacrifices were offered to the elves to make them propitious. These sacrifices consisted of some small animal, or of a bowl of honey and milk, and were known as Alf-blot." (Guerber, 1908). As Jacob Grimm tells us: "The hill of the elves, like the altar of a god, is to be reddened with the blood of a slaughtered bull, and of the animal's flesh a feast prepared for the elves... [a]n actual âlfabôt." (Grimm, 1883). The alfablot, or ritual offering to the elves, was a practice throughout the Norse lands that occurred roughly at the end of the harvest season and was celebrated by the entire family unit (Gundarsson, 2007). Offerings to the elves traditionally included milk, ale, silver, and crafted metal (Gundarsson, 2007).
And for those who are curious the good Neighbors do not actually consume the physical item but rather its essence. Evans Wentz refers to this as the astral portion: "Apparently the piskies only drank the 'astral 'part of the milk" (Evans Wentz, 1911). Robert Kirk calls it the "pith" or "quintessence" (Kirk, 1893). In practical terms what this means is that the physical item remains but the fairies take its substance, so that afterwards what's left can be discarded or left for animals.
References
Evnas Wentz, W., (1911). Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries
Kirk, R., (1893). The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies
Yeats, W., (1888). Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry
Nenonen, R., (2014) Finnish Myth
Guerber, H., (1908). Myths of the Norsemen.
Grimm, J., (1883) Grimm's Teutonic
Mythology http://www.northvegr.org/secondary%20sources/mythology/grimms%20teutonic%20mythology/01701.html
Gundarsson, K., (2007). Elves, Wights, and Trolls
Estyn Evans, E., (1957). Irish Folk Ways
Sjoedsedt, M., (2000). Celtic gods and Heroes
O hOgain, D., (1995). Irish Superstitions
McNeill, M., (1956). The Silver Bough, volume 1
Probably the most common offering is milk. We see multiple references to this in many sources, both to the milk being offered regularly and to it being given as type of appeasement when disruptive behavior is occurring. Evans Wentz in the seminal Fairy Faith in Celtic countries tells us "milk was set at night for piskies [pixies], who had been knocking on walls and generally making nuisances of themselves." (Evans Wentz, 1911). It should be noted that if you begin to make regular offerings and then stop it will bring you bad luck; an anecdote is related in Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries of a woman who always poured out an offering to the fairies when milking her cow, however after becoming Christian she stopped the practice; one of her cows was then taken by the fairies prompting her to resume making the offerings (Evans Wentz, 1911). Yeats mentions that offerings of milk were left out on windowsills for the Good People to ensure good fortune (Yeats, 1888).
Offerings to the Other Crowd may also include butter and bread, left either by a door or at the roots of a fairy tree, and small amounts of anything a person is drinking could be poured out onto the ground as an offering (Estyn Evans, 1957). The custom of pouring out a bit of your drink is something I was familiar with from my grandfather and is easily done. Milk that was spilled on the ground belonged to them and milk might sometimes be thrown in the air for the fairies or butter buried near a bog as an offering to them (Evans Wentz, 1911; O hOgain, 1995). On the quarter days a heavy porridge was offered by pouring it into a hole in the earth and bread was offered which could be left out or tossed over the shoulder (McNeill, 1956; Sjoedstedt, 2000). It was also once the custom to bleed live cattle on Beltane and offer the blood to the fairies (Estyn Evans, 1957). The most common modern offerings are milk, cream, bread or other baked goods, honey, and portions of meals, as well as alcohol.
Finnish and Germanic cultures also offered to these spirits, usually called elves. In Finland it was believed that elves could be helpful in many domestic areas and appreciated offerings of food, alcohol, coins, silver, or gold (Nenonen, 2014) Guerber tells us that "In Scandinavia and Germany sacrifices were offered to the elves to make them propitious. These sacrifices consisted of some small animal, or of a bowl of honey and milk, and were known as Alf-blot." (Guerber, 1908). As Jacob Grimm tells us: "The hill of the elves, like the altar of a god, is to be reddened with the blood of a slaughtered bull, and of the animal's flesh a feast prepared for the elves... [a]n actual âlfabôt." (Grimm, 1883). The alfablot, or ritual offering to the elves, was a practice throughout the Norse lands that occurred roughly at the end of the harvest season and was celebrated by the entire family unit (Gundarsson, 2007). Offerings to the elves traditionally included milk, ale, silver, and crafted metal (Gundarsson, 2007).
And for those who are curious the good Neighbors do not actually consume the physical item but rather its essence. Evans Wentz refers to this as the astral portion: "Apparently the piskies only drank the 'astral 'part of the milk" (Evans Wentz, 1911). Robert Kirk calls it the "pith" or "quintessence" (Kirk, 1893). In practical terms what this means is that the physical item remains but the fairies take its substance, so that afterwards what's left can be discarded or left for animals.
References
Evnas Wentz, W., (1911). Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries
Kirk, R., (1893). The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies
Yeats, W., (1888). Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry
Nenonen, R., (2014) Finnish Myth
Guerber, H., (1908). Myths of the Norsemen.
Grimm, J., (1883) Grimm's Teutonic
Mythology http://www.northvegr.org/secondary%20sources/mythology/grimms%20teutonic%20mythology/01701.html
Gundarsson, K., (2007). Elves, Wights, and Trolls
Estyn Evans, E., (1957). Irish Folk Ways
Sjoedsedt, M., (2000). Celtic gods and Heroes
O hOgain, D., (1995). Irish Superstitions
McNeill, M., (1956). The Silver Bough, volume 1
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