Trow (folklore)

{{Short description|Creature from Shetland and Orkney Island folklore}} {{distinguish|Drow}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} A '''trow''' ({{IPAc-en|t|r|au}},{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Rhyming with "how"<ref name="mowat"/>}} also '''trowe''', '''drow''', or '''dtrow''') is a malignant or mischievous fairy or spirit in the folkloric traditions of the Orkney and Shetland islands. Trows may be regarded as monstrous giants at times, or quite the opposite, short-statured fairies dressed in grey.

Trows are nocturnal creatures, like the troll of Scandinavian legend with which the trow shares many similarities. They venture out of their 'trowie knowes' (earthen mound dwellings) solely in the evening, and often enter households as the inhabitants sleep. Trows traditionally have a fondness for music, and folktales tell of their habit of kidnapping musicians or luring them to their dens.

== Etymology == {{further|Draugr}} Insular Scots {{lang|sco|trow}} and {{lang|sco|drow}} are inherited words from Norn, the Old Norse dialect spoken in the Northern Isles before being driven out by Scots.

* The form {{lang|sco|drow}} derives from an unrecorded {{langx|nrn|*drau}} (or thereof), from {{langx|non|draugr}}, an old word for revenant, devil, troll, and thereof.<ref name="jamieson-dict-trow"/>{{efn|1=Australian female writer Henry Handel Richardson (aka Ethel F. L. Robertson) in her uncredited 1896 translation of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's ''Fiskerjenten'' (tr. ''The Fisher Lass'') rendered the Norwegian ''draug'' as "bogies", and defended this to her critical reviewer by noting ON ''draugr'' and Scots "drow" as the word's cognates.<ref name=richardsons-letters/> In her letter (writing as Miss Robertson) to ''Athenaeum'', she gives herself credit, as translator of the ''Fisher Lass''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=H1lDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA314 "Siren Voices"] ''Athenaeum'' No. 3619, March 6, 1897, p. 314.</ref> Cf. her chronology of year 1896.{{sfnp|Probyn|Steele|2000|p=xv}}}} Similar development also appear in {{langx|no|drau}} (1729)<ref name="egede"/> → {{lang|no|drauv}}, {{lang|no|drøv}}, {{lang|no|drov}},<ref name="dialektl 0132">{{Runeberg |filename=dialektl |htmlno=0132.html |name=Svenskt dialektlexikon : ordbok öfver svenska allmogespråket : drög}}</ref><ref name="vorgamle">{{Runeberg |filename=vorgamle |htmlno=0251.html |name=Vor gamle bondekultur}}</ref> as well as in Scanian: ''dråe'', ''drå'', ''dro''.<ref name="Västra Göinge 1">{{cite web |title=Ordbok över Folkmålen i Västra Göinge Härad Del 1 |url=https://isof.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1090038/FULLTEXT05.pdf |website=isof.diva-portal.org |publisher=Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore (ISOF) |access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref> * The form {{lang|sco|trow}} is thought to stem from L-vocalization of {{lang|nrn|troll}} ("troll"), and then intermixing with {{lang|sco|drow}} via linguistic and figurative convergence.<ref name="snd-trow"/>

Draugr and troll have historically been used synonymously to some degree, along with related terms, like "mound dweller" ({{langx|non|haugbúi}}), "the dead living within its mound (tomb)", which subsequently became a word for wight, nisse, brownie, and thereof, in descendant forms: {{langx|no|haugbonde}};<ref name="snl">{{cite web |url=https://snl.no/haugbonde |title=haugbonde |access-date=2026-01-30 |website=snl.no |publisher=Store norske leksikon }}</ref> Shetlandic: {{lang|sco|hjogfinni}} ("mound-found");<ref name="hjogfinni">s:Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/445</ref> Orcadian: {{lang|sco|hogboon}}, {{lang|sco|hogboy}};<ref name="spookyscotland">{{cite web |title=Hogboon (or Hogboy) |url=https://spookyscotland.net/hogboon/ |website=spookyscotland.net |access-date=2026-01-28}}</ref> Lincolnshire: ''shag-boy''.<ref name="shag-boy">wikt:shag-boy</ref>

== Terminology == === Trow === The trow {{IPA|[trʌu]}}, in the Scots language, is defined as a "sprite or fairy" of mischievous nature in dictionaries of Scots, particularly Orcadian and Shetland dialects.<ref name="snd-trow"/><ref name="edmonston"/>

=== Drow === The ''trow'' is also called ''drow'' under its variant spelling in the Insular dialects of Scots;<ref name="snd-drow"/> the "drow" being mentioned by Walter Scott.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Scott (1835) ''Demonology'', p. 122: "Possession of supernatural wisdom is still imputed by the natives of Orkney and Zetland Islands, to the people called Drows, who may, in most other respects, be identified with the Caledonian fairies".<ref name="snd-drow"/>}}<ref name="scott"/> However, the term "drow" could also be used in the sense of "the devil" in Orkney,<ref name="snd-drow"/>{{Refn|name=jakobsen-trow|{{Cite wikisource|last=Jakobsen |first=Jakob |author-link=Jakob Jakobsen |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland |publisher=David Nutt (A. G. Berry) |year=1928 |wslink=An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland/D|volume=I |wspage=129 |page=129 }} Cf. Jakobsen (1921) in orig. Danish.<ref name="jakobsen-drow"/>}} a motif also found in Scanian descendants of draugr, and thereof.<ref name="Västra Göinge 1"/>

The word ''drow'' also occurs in the Shetland Norn language, where it means "hidden people" (troll-folk), a loose race or conglomeration of elfs, wights, gnomes (nisses, brownies), or trolls, etc., in Nordic folklore,<ref name="jakobsen-drow"/> or "ghost".<ref name="korobzow"/>

As ''drow'' is not a Norse language spelling, linguist Jakob Jakobsen proposed it was taken from the common (Scots) term "trow" altered to ''drow'' by assimilation with a Norn descendant of Old Norse {{lang|non|{{linktext|draugr}}}}<ref name="jakobsen-drow"/> ({{compare}} {{langx|no|drau}}, 1729).<ref name="egede"/> The reconstructed Shetland word would be *drog if it did descend from Old Norse ''draugr'', but this is unattested, nor was it adopted into the Nynorn vocabulary to supersede the known form.<ref name="korobzow"/>

=== Hogboon === ''Hogboon'' or ''hogboy'' are partial synonyms to ''trow'' in Orcadian and Northern Scotland.<ref name="spookyscotland"/> The words stem from {{langx|non|haugbúi}} (definite {{lang|non|haugbúinn}} → ''hogboon''), "mound dweller", originally referring to "the dead living within its mound (tumulus)", akin to revenants like ''draugrs'', but evolved along the lines of the "hidden-folk/mound-folk" ({{langx|fo|huldufólk}}, {{langx|no|huldrefolk}}), to refer to supernatural critters living underground, like wights, nissar, brownies, and thereof, in descendant forms.<ref name="snl"/><ref name="spookyscotland"/><ref name="hjogfinni"/><ref name="shag-boy"/>

Related forms includes Lincolnshire ''shag-boy''.<ref name="shag-boy"/> and Norwegian {{lang|no|haugbonde}}.<ref name="snl"/>

=== Hjogfinni === ''Hjogfinni'' ("mound found") is the Shetlandic analog to ''hogboon'', deriving from similar etymology, initially meaning "something found in a tumulus".<ref name="hjogfinni"/>

''An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland'' (1928) gives the definition: "a strange, odd-looking object or person; an odd, dwarfish being; brownie."<ref name="hjogfinni"/>

== General description ==

It was considered taboo to speak about trows.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Briggs's entry on "trows" explains that a special exemption to the taboo was extended to Shetlander Jessie M. E. Saxby who, as the ninth child of a ninth child, was able to learn the lore.{{sfnp|Briggs|1977|p=413}}}} It was also considered unlucky to catch sight of a trow, though auspicious to hear one speaking.<ref name="saxby-music&mound">{{harvp|Saxby|1932|p=132}} quoted by {{harvp|Briggs|1977|p=413}}.</ref>

Their portrayed appearance can vary greatly: in some tellings they are described as gigantic and even multi-headed, as are some giants in English lore;{{sfnp|Briggs|1977|p=414}} in other tellings they are described as small or human-sized, like as is more typical of other fairies, but dressed in grey.<ref>{{harvp|Briggs|1977|p=413}}: "others of human size, and .. clothed in grey"; {{harvp|Briggs|1977|p=413}} and {{harvp|Saxby|1932|p=132}}: "Our Shetland Fairies are.. unlike Lover's Irish 'good people'.. They are small, grey-clad men".</ref>

Trows consist of two kinds, the hill-trows (land trows) and sea-trows,{{sfnp|Marwick, E.|1991|p=262}} and the two kinds are said to be mortal enemies.{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|pp=167–168}}

Of the hill-dwelling types, it is said they can only appear out of their dwellings ("knowes"=knolls; "trowie knowes") after sunset, and if they miss the opportunity to return before sunrise, they do not perish but must await above ground and bide his time until "the Glüder (the sun) disappears again".<ref>{{harvp|Briggs|1977|p=413}} and p. 414, quoting from {{harvp|Saxby|1932|p=130}}</ref>

The trows are fond of music and constantly play the fiddle themselves.<ref name="saxby-music&mound"/> Sometimes a human learns such tunes, and there are traditional tunes purported to have been learned from the supernatural creatures (cf. §Trowie tunes below).

Tales are also told of human fiddlers being abducted by trows to their mounds, and although released after what seems a brief stay, many long years have elapsed in the outside world, and the victim turns to dust,{{sfnp|MacDonald|1994–1995|p=46}}<ref name="bruford-vanwinkle"/> or chooses to die.{{Refn|name="fiddler-o-gord"|"The Fiddler o Gord", told by George P. S. Peterson, Brae, Shetland. Recorded by Alan Bruford 1974 (School of Scottish Studies recording SA 1974/204B1). Transcript by Bruford (1977);<ref name="brudord-fiddler-o-gord"/> summarized with excerpt by Hillers (1994).<ref name="hillers"/>}}

== Sea-trow == {{See also|tangie|sea draugr}}

There are varying descriptions concerning the sea-trow.

An early account is that of the trow ({{langx|la|Troicis}} → {{lang|la|Trowis|italic=no}}){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Ben's "trowis" is mentioned by Dalyell in 1835,<ref name="dalyell"/> but read as "Troicis" and recognized as "trow" by Samuel Hibbert (1822).<ref>{{harvp|Hibbert|1822|p=569†}}; {{harvp|Hibbert|1891 |p=263†}}</ref> The word was later also misread or misprinted as ''Troicis'' in MacFarlane & Mitchell edd. (1908),<ref name="ben-macfarlane&mitchell-edd"/> though emended back to ''Trowis'' against three manuscripts in Calder & MacDonald (1936).<ref name="calder&macdonald"/>}} of Stronsay, as described by Jo. Ben (i.e., John or Joseph Ben)'s{{efn|Jo. being an abbreviation for "John"<ref name="orkney-handbook"/> or "Joseph".<ref name="bicket"/> He was said to be a non-local itinerant, a Scottish ecclesiastic making a tour of Orkney.<ref name="orkney-handbook"/>}} ''Description of the Orkney Islands'' (1529); it was a maritime monster resembling a colt whose entire body was cloaked in seaweed, with a coiled or matted coat of hair, sexual organs like a horse's, and known to engage in sexual intercourse {{efn|''concubuit'', ''coeunt'' "copulate"}} with the women of the island.<ref name="ben-macfarlane&mitchell-edd"/>{{sfnp|Grydehøj|2009|p=59}}

The sea-trow of Orkney is "the ugliest imaginable" according to W. Traill Dennison, who says that it has been represented as a scaly creature with matted hair,{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|p=168}} having monkey-like face and sloping head. It was said to be frail-bodied with disproportionately huge sets of limbs, disc-shaped feet ("round as a millstone") with webbings on their hands and feet, causing them to move with a lumbering and "wabbling" slow gait.{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|pp=167–168}}{{Refn|Ernest Marwick restates the same physical description, and remarks that the seaweed-covered, monstrously large creature is also known as "tangy" (tangie), in contrast to the Norse merman which is human-sized if not a bit smaller.{{sfnp|Marwick, E.|1991|p=262}}}}

However, in Shetland, "da mokkl sea-trow", a great evil spirit that dwelled in the depths,{{Refn|Translated as "the big sea-troll" by Teit, with the reminder that Scots ''trow'' is defined as‘sprite or fairy’, and Teit himself notes:"'trow' 'trou' or 'troll' seems to be applicable to any kind of super-natural being, but particularly to fairies or elves".<ref name="teit"/>}}<ref name="teit"/> was said to take on the shape of a woman, at least in some instances.{{Refn|Edward Charlton (historian) remarks that a piece of coral from the deep "which bore a rude though striking resemblance to the human face and figure... was no doubt, regarded with awe by the.. Shetlanders, who would .. believe it to be a petrified mermaid or a great sea-trow converted into cranzie (coral)".<ref name="charlton1832"/>}}

It is blamed for awaiting in the depths and stealing from the fish caught on fishermen's lines,{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|pp=167–168}} and otherwise feared for causing storms or causing ill luck to fishermen.<ref name="teit"/> In the form of the wailing woman, she portends some misfortune befalling the witness/audience.<ref name="teit"/>

According to Samuel Hibbert the sea-trow was a local version of the ''neckar'', and he specified that it was reputed to be decked with various stuff from out of the sea, especially ''fuci'' (''Fucus'' spp. of seaweed),{{sfnp|Hibbert|1822|p=524}} whose larger forms near shore are known as "tang" in Shetland.{{sfnp|Hibbert|1822|p=586}}<ref>''Dictionary of the Scots Language'' (2004) s.v. "[https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tang_n1 Tang n.1]"</ref> And though Hibbert does not make the connection, E. Marwick equated the sea-trow with the "tangy", as already noted.<ref>{{harvp|Marwick, H.|1933a|p=32}}; {{harvp|Marwick, E.|1991|p=262}}</ref>

== Landmarks ==

Most mounds in Orkney are associated with "mound-dweller[s]" (''hogboon''; {{langx|non|haugbúinn}}; {{langx|no|haugbonde}}) living inside them,{{Refn|{{harvp|Marwick, E.|2000}} <nowiki>[</nowiki>1975<nowiki>]</nowiki>, {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZwSAQAAIAAJ&q=hogboon |2=pp. 39–40}}; {{harvp|Muir|2003|pp=203–204}} apud {{harvp|Lee|2015|pp=139–140}}.}} and though local lore does always specify, the dweller is commonly the trow.<ref>{{harvp|Muir|1998}} and {{harvp|Marwick, E.|2000}} <nowiki>[</nowiki>1975<nowiki>]</nowiki>, "Ch. 2: Folk of Hill and Mound", {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZwSAQAAIAAJ&q=hogboon |2=pp. 30–}} apud {{harvp|Lee|2015|pp=139–140}}.</ref>

A reputedly trow-haunted mound may not in fact be a burial mound. The Long Howe in Tankerness, a glacial mound, was believed to contain trows, and thus avoided after dark.<ref>{{harvp|Muir|2003|p=203}} apud {{harvp|Lee|2015|p=139}}.</ref> A group of mounds around Trowie Glen in Hoy are also geological formations, but feared for its trows throughout the valley,<ref>{{harvp|Muir|1998}} and Lee, D. (2010), ''Roeberry Barrow, Cantick, South Walls, Orkney, with Additional Survey in Hoy. Manuscript, Data Structure Report'' apud {{harvp|Lee|2015|pp=139–140}}</ref> and also unapproached after dark.<ref name="johnston1896"/>

The stone circle on Fetlar has been dubbed the Haltadans (meaning ‘Limping Dance’) since according to legend, they represent a group of petrified music-loving trows who were so engrossed by dancing to the trowie fiddler's tunes that they failed to hide before dawn's break.<ref name="larrington"/>

On the mainland in Canisbay, Caithness is a "Mire of Trowskerry" associated with trows.<ref name="mowat"/>

== Trowie tunes == Some Shetland fiddle tunes are said to have come to human fiddlers when they heard the trows playing, and are known as "Trowie Tunes".<ref name="larrington"/><ref>{{harvp|Stewart|Moar|1951}} apud {{harvp|Shuldham-Shaw|1962|p=143}}</ref><ref name="fiddlers-companion"/> A selection is offered in the anthology ''Da Mirrie Dancers'' (1985).<ref name="cooke"/>

"Da Trøila Knowe" ('The Knoll of the Trolls') is one example.{{sfnp|Shuldham-Shaw|1962|p=143}} "Da Trowie Burn" is also an alleged trowie tune, though its composition is attributed to Friedemann Stickle.{{sfnp|Shuldham-Shaw|1962|p=141}} This apparent contradiction is resolved in the case of "Da Trow's Reel", which was allegedly a tune that another man reputedly obtained from a trow, and he had whistled the tune over to Stickle on a different boat for him to set down the score.{{sfnp|Shuldham-Shaw|1962|p=143}} "Da Peerie Hoose in under da Hill" ('The Little House under the Hill') is yet another trowie tune as well.<ref name="larrington"/>

Another trowie tune "Winyadepla", performed by Tom Anderson on his album with Aly Bain, ''The Silver Bow''.{{efn|"... a troop of peerie folk came in. A woman took off the nappie from her baby and hung it on Gibbie's leg, near the fire, to dry. Then one of the trows said, "What'll we do ta da sleeper?" "Lat him aleen," replied the woman, "he's no a ill body. Tell Shanko ti gie him a ton." Said Shanko, "A ton he sall hae, an we'll drink his blaand." After drinking, they trooped out of the mill, and danced on the green nearby ...".}}<ref name="fiddlers-companion"/>

== Kunal trows ==

A Kunal-Trow (or King-Trow) is a type of trow in the lore of Unst, Shetland. The Kunal-Trow is alleged to be a race without females, and said to wander after dark and sometimes found weeping due to the lack of companionship. But they do take human wife, once in their lives, and she invariably dies after giving birth to a son. The Kunal-Trow would subsequently require the service of a human wet-nurse, and may abduct a midwife for this purpose.<ref name="saxby-kunal">{{harvp|Saxby|1932|p=128}}, quoted by {{harvp|Briggs|1977|p=413}}.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Marwick, E.|2000}} <nowiki>[</nowiki>1975<nowiki>]</nowiki>, "Ch. 2: Folk of Hill and Mound", {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZwSAQAAIAAJ&q=kunal |2=pp. 34–35}}</ref>

They are said to consume earth formed into shapes of fish and fowl, even babies, which taste and smell like the real thing.<ref name="saxby-kunal"/>

One (a King-Trow) famously haunted a broch ruin. Another married a witch who extracted all the trow's secrets, and gave birth to Ganfer (astral body) and Finis (an apparition who appears in the guise of someone whose death is imminent), yet she has cheated death with her arts.<ref name="saxby-kunal"/>

== Parallels == Ben's sea-trow (''trowis'') bore resemblance to the anciently known incubus, as it "seems to have occupied the visions of the female sex", as noted by John Graham Dalyell (1835).<ref name="dalyell"/>

The learning of music from fairies is recognized as a recurring theme in Scandinavian and Celtic folklore. Examples in Irish tradition relate how a ''lutharachán'' (dialect form of leprechaun) or ''púca'' teaches tunes,<ref name="ui-ogain"/> like the Shetlandic trow who lets his music be heard from his fairy mound or otherwise; such tales classifiable as Migratory Legends "Type 4091, Music Taught by Fairie (Fiddle on the Wall)" under Bo Almqvist's modified system{{sfnp|Uí Ógáin|1992–1993|pp=211–212}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Reidar Thoralf Christiansen's original ''Migratory Legends'' established "Type 4090, Watersprite Teaches Someone to Play", and included Shetland as having this tale type; so a Shetlandic tale of some water-sprite teaching music is assumed to exist.{{sfnp|Uí Ógáin|1992–1993|p=211}}}}

The tale of a fiddler being taken to a fairy mound by fairies or trows is known by several versions in Shetland, but has also been collected from Orkney and the Scottish mainland (Inverness), and the group is assigned "F24. Fiddler Enlisted to Play for Fairy Dancers" under Alan Bruford's provisional classification scheme.{{sfnp|MacDonald|1994–1995|p=46}}

== Origins ==

Book author Joan Dey (1991) speculates that the tradition concerning the trows{{efn|And perhaps that of the selkie}} may be based in part on the Norse invasions of the Northern Isles. She states that the conquest by the Vikings sent the indigenous, dark-haired Picts into hiding and that "many stories exist in Shetland of these strange people, smaller and darker than the tall, blond Vikings who, having been driven off their land into sea-caves, emerged at night to steal from the new land owners".{{sfnp|Dey|1991|p=12}}{{efn|Though, most Roman sources describe the Picts as tall, long-limbed and red or fair haired.}}

Shetland folklore spoke of the presence of the Pechs (mythologized version of the Picts) inside the fairy knolls ("trowie knowe"), who could be heard clinking their tools on silver and gold.{{harvp|Saxby|1932|pp=89, 186}}

== See also == {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * Dark elf (disambiguation) * Drow (Dungeons & Dragons) * Goblin * Kobold * Leprechaun * Sprite {{div col end}}

== Explanatory notes == {{notelist}}

== References == ;Notes {{Notelist}} ;Citations {{reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=bicket>{{cite book|last=Bicket |first=Linden |author-link= |title=George Mackay Brown and the Scottish Catholic Imagination |volume=3 |place=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781474411677 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149}}, "Chapter 3: Mary": n15</ref>

<ref name="brudord-fiddler-o-gord">{{citation|last=Bruford |first=Alan |author-link= |title=The Fiddler o Gord |journal=Tocher |volume=26 |date=1977 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XC4FAQAAIAAJ&q=Gord |pages=104–105}}</ref>

<ref name="bruford-vanwinkle">{{citation|last=Bruford |first=Alan |author-link= |title=Caught in the Fairy Dance. Rip van Winkle's Scottish Grandmother and Her Relations |journal=Béaloideas |volume=62/63 |issue= |date=1994–1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_8hAQAAMAAJ&q=dust |page=8 |doi=10.2307/20522440 |jstor=20522440 |quote=The story of the fiddler who spends a hundred years with the fairies and comes home to crumble into dust may be combined with another motif, popular especially in Sheltand, the tune learned from the fairies..|url-access=subscription }}. Citing ''Shetland Folk Book'' 3 (tune is 'Ahint da Daeks o Voe') and 5 ("Trowie Spring").</ref>

<ref name="ben-macfarlane&mitchell-edd">{{cite book|editor-last1=MacFarlane |editor-first1=Walter |editor-last2=Mitchell |editor-first2=Arthur |last=Ben |first=Jo. |chapter=Ben's Orkney |title=Geographical Collections Relating to Scotland |volume=3 |place=Edinburgh |publisher=Scottish History Society |year=1908 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEgNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA304 |pages=303–304, 315}} {{in lang|la|en}}</ref>

<ref name="calder&macdonald">{{citation |last1=Calder |first1=Charles S. T. |author1-link=Charles S. T. Calder |last2=MacDonald |first2=George |author2-link=Sir George Macdonald |title=The Dwarfie Stane, Hoy, Orkney: its period and purpose. Note on 'Jo. Ben' and the Dwarfie Stane |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |volume=70 |year=1936 |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_070/70_217_236.pdf |pages=220 |doi=10.9750/PSAS.070.217.236 |s2cid=257306583 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="charlton1832">{{citation|last= Charlton|first=Edward, M. D.|author-link=Edward Charlton (historian) |title=A Visit to Shetland in 1832|editor1-last=Johnston |editor1-first=Alfred Wintle |editor1-link= |editor2-last=Johnston |editor2-first=Amy |editor2-link= |work=Old-lore Miscellany of Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland |volume=8 |location=London |publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research |date=1920 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXI_AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA124 |page=124}}</ref>

<ref name="cooke">{{citation|last=Cooke |first=Peter R. |author-link= |chapter=Chapter 3: The Fiddlerr's repertoire |title=The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1986 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GA49AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA50 |page=50 |isbn=9780521268554}}</ref>

<ref name="dalyell">{{citation|last=Dalyell |first=John Graham, Sir |author-link=John Graham Dalyell |title= Popular Tales of the West Highlands, orally collected (New edition)|volume=1|location=Glasgow |publisher=Richard Griffin |date=1835 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hFbAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA544 |page=544}}</ref>

<ref name="edmonston">{{citation|last=Edmondston |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Edmondston |title=An Etymological Glossary of the Shetland & Orkney Dialect |publisher=Adam and Charles Black |year=1866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0Q5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA131 |pages=131–2}}</ref>

<ref name="egede">{{cite book|last=Egede |first=Hans |author-link=Hans Egede |chapter=Kap. VI. Hvad Slags Diur, Fiske og Fugle den Grønlandske Søe giver af sig etc. / § Andre Søe-Diur |title=Det gamle Grønlands nye perlustration,.. |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Groth |date=1741 |orig-date=1729 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrRgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA48 |page=48 (footnote) |language=da}}</ref>

<ref name="fiddlers-companion">{{cite web |title=The Fiddler's Companion |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/WIN_WIZ.htm#WINYADEPLA |publisher=ibiblio.org |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="hillers">{{citation|last=Hillers |first=Barbara |author-link= |title=Music from the Otherworld: Modern Gaelic Legends about Fairy Music |journal=Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium |volume=14 |date=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m10pAQAAIAAJ&q=%22wisna+laached+at+him%22 |pages=65–66|jstor=20557275|isbn=9780964244641 }}</ref>

<ref name="jakobsen-drow">{{citation|last=Jakobsen |first=Jakob |author-link=Jakob Jakobsen |chapter=drow |title=Etymologisk ordbog over det norrøne sprog på Shetland |publisher=Prior |year=1921 |chapter-url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89099475378?urlappend=%3Bseq=175 |page=123 |hdl=2027/wu.89099475378?urlappend=%3Bseq=175 }}</ref>

<ref name="jamieson-dict-trow">{{citation|last=Jamieson |first=John |author-link=John Jamieson |chapter=Trow |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language |edition=New |volume=IV |year=1882 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v__lC29_568C&pg=PA631}}</ref>

<ref name="johnston1896">{{citation|last=Johnston |first=Alfred W. |author-link= |title=The' Dwarfie Stone' of Hoy, Orkney |journal=The Reliquary and Illustrated Archæologist |volume=2 |series=new series |date=1896 |page=100}}</ref>

<ref name="korobzow">{{citation|last=Korobzow |first=Natalie |author-link= |title=Nynorn: Die Rekonstruktion des Norn |journal=Dialectologia et Geolinguistica |volume=24 |issue=1 |date=2016 |pages=126–144 |url= |doi=10.1515/dialect-2016-0007 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="larrington">{{cite book|last=Larrington |first=Carolyne |author-link=Carolyne Larrington |chapter=The Beast & the Human |title=The Land of the Green Man: A Journey through the Supernatural Landscapes of the British Isles |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2017 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PhKMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |pages=37–38, 106 |isbn=9780857727305}}</ref>

<ref name="mowat">{{harvp|Marwick, H.|1933b|p=186}}; Offprint (1931) [https://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/archive/81170503?mode=transcription p. 12] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130234517/https://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/archive/81170503?mode=transcription |date=30 November 2024 }}</ref>

<ref name="orkney-handbook">{{cite book|author=Anonymous |title=Hand-Book to the Orkney Islands. Illustrated |location=Kirkwall |publisher=William Peace |year=1870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbdYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA95 |page=95}}</ref>

<ref name=richardsons-letters>{{cite book|editor1-last=Probyn |editor1-first=Clive |editor1-link=|editor2-last=Steele |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-link= |title=Henry Handel Richardson: The Letters |volume=1 |location=Carlton, Victoria |publisher=Miegunyah Press |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sz5bAAAAMAAJ&q=drow |isbn=978-0-52284-797-0 |page=27}}</ref>

.<ref name="scott">{{citation|last=Scott |first=Walter, Sir |author-link=Walter Scott |title=Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Richard Griffin |orig-year=1830 |date=1884 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehkHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA104 |page=104}}</ref> (orig. pub. Glasgow: Richard Griffin, 1830)

<ref name="snd-drow">''Scottish National Dictionary'' (1976) s.v. "[https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/drow_n3 drow]"</ref> <ref name="snd-trow">''Scottish National Dictionary'' (1976) s.v. "[https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/trow_n1 trow]"</ref> <ref name="teit">{{citation |last=Teit |first=J. A. |author-link=James Teit |title=Water-Beings in Shetlandic Folk-Lore |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=31 |issue=120 |year=1918 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cxNAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA180 |page=196 |doi=10.2307/534874 |jstor=534874|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

<ref name="ui-ogain">{{citation|last=Uí Ógáin |first=Ríonach |author-link= |title=Music Learned from the Fairies |journal=Béaloideas |volume=60/61 |issue=|date=1992–1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_8hAQAAMAAJ&q=trow |pages=197–214 |doi=10.2307/20522407 |jstor=20522407|url-access=subscription }}</ref> }}

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==External links== * [http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/trows/ Orkneyjar.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126195034/http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/trows/ |date=26 January 2021 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trow (Folklore)}} Category:Scottish folklore Category:Scottish legendary creatures Category:Culture of Orkney Category:Culture of Shetland Category:Goblins Category:Elves Category:Trolls Category:Incubi