Editing 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 [[folklore|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.

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

=== Etymology ===
The standard etymology derives the term trow from ''[[troll]]'' ({{langx|no|trold}}; {{langx|non|troll}}) of Scandinavian folklore.<ref name="snd-trow"/> Norwegian ''trold'' (''troll'') can signify not just a 'giant', but a 'specter, ghost' ({{lang|no|spøkelse}}) as well.<ref name="kvam"/><ref name="UIB-troll"/>

As an alternate etymology, [[John Jamieson]]'s Scottish dictionary conjectured that the word ''trow'' may be a corruption of Scandinavian ''draug''.<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}}}} It may be worth noting that the Norwegian "sea-''draug''" ({{langx|no|draug}}; {{langx|da|søe-drau}},<ref name="egede"/> {{lang|da|søe-draul}}<ref name="pontoppidan-eng"/>) was either a sub-type or equivalent to the sea-troll/sea-trold, according to 18th century tracts by [[Dano-Norwegian]]s.<ref name="egede"/><ref name="pontoppidan-eng"/>{{efn|Pontoppidan wrote {{langx|da|"..Søe-Folke ogsaa kalde Søe-Draulen, det er Søe-Trolden"}}, so 'Sea-mischief' was the English translator's insertion. The form ''Draulen'' contains the definite article suffix ''-en'' but this may be dropped.}}

=== drow ===
The trow is also called '''drow''' under its variant spelling in the [[Insular Scots|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 [[Shetland Islands|Zetland Islands]], to the people called Drows, who may, in most other respects, be identified with the [[Caledonia]]n 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"/>}}

The word ''drow'' also occurs in the Shetland [[Norn language]], where it means ‘''huldrefolk''’("the hidden people", fairies), ‘troll-folk’,<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 [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|{{linktext|draugr}}}} or Norwegian {{lang|no|draug}}.<ref name="jakobsen-drow"/> 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"/>

== 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 Margaret Edmondston Saxby|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 telling gigantic and even multi-headed, as are some giants in English lore;{{sfnp|Briggs|1977|p=414}} else small or human-sized, like ordinary 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|§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}}

There are varying descriptions concerning the sea-trow.

An early account is that of the trow ({{langx|la|Troicis|italic=no}} ''{{linktext|recté}}'' '''{{lang|la|Trowis|italic=no}}'''){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Ben's "trowis" is mentioned by [[John Graham Dalyell|Dalyell]] in 1835,<ref name="dalyell"/> but read as "Troicis" and recognized as "trow" by [[Samuel Hibbert-Ware|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 (horse)|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|''[[wikt:concubuit|concubuit]]'', [[wikt:coeunt|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 [[Walter Traill Dennison|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-Ware|Samuel Hibbert]] the sea-trow was a local version of the ''[[Neck (water spirit)|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 "[[tangie|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>[[#CITEREFMarwick, E.1975|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>[[#CITEREFMarwick, E.1975|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 [[moraine|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, Orkney|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 [[Hjaltadans|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 (fiddler)|Tom Anderson]] on his album with [[Aly Bain]], ''The Silver Bow''.{{efn|"... a troop of [[wikt:peerie|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>[[#CITEREFMarwick, E.1975|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<!--, but has remained unspecified in Uí Ógáin's article-->.{{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 [[Norsemen|Norse]] invasions of the [[Northern Isles]]. She states that the conquest by the [[Viking]]s 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 (creature)|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=<!--Linden Bicket--> |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=<!--Alan Bruford--> |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=<!--Alan Bruford--> |title=Caught in the Fairy Dance. Rip van Winkle's Scottish Grandmother and Her Relations |journal=Béaloideas |volume=62/63 |issue=<!--Glórtha ón Osnádúr: Páipéir a cuireadh i láthair ag an Siompósium Nordach-Ceilteach / Sounds from the Supernatural: Papers Presented at the Nordic-Celtic Legend Symposium (1994/1995)--> |date=1994–1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_8hAQAAMAAJ&q=dust |page=8<!--1–28--> |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..}}. 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=<!--Alfred Wintle Johnston (25 September 1859–19 February 1947), founder of Viking Society--> |editor2-last=Johnston |editor2-first=Amy |editor2-link=<!--Amy Johnston, wife, née Leslie--> |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=<!--Peter R. Cooke--> |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=<!--0521268559, -->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,..<!-- eller Naturelhistorie, og beskrivelse over det gamle Grønlands situation, luøft, temperament og beskaffenhed ...--> |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=<!--Barbara Hillers--> |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<!--58–75-->|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=<!--Alfred Wintle Johnston (1859-1947), architect, founder of the Viking Club, antiquary--> |title=The' Dwarfie Stone' of Hoy, Orkney |journal=The Reliquary and Illustrated Archæologist |volume=2 |series=new series |date=1896 |page=100<!--84–101-->}}</ref>

<ref name="korobzow">{{citation|last=Korobzow |first=Natalie |author-link=<!--Natalie Korobzow--> |title=Nynorn: Die Rekonstruktion des Norn |journal=Dialectologia et Geolinguistica |volume=24 |issue=1 |date=<!--17 Nov -->2016 |pages=126–144 |url=<!--n/a--> |doi=10.1515/dialect-2016-0007 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="kvam">{{citation|last=Kvam|first=Lorentz Normann |author-link=:no:Lorentz N. Kvam |chapter=krekin, krechin |title=Trollene grynter i haugen |publisher=Nasjonalforlaget |year=1936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAnrAAAAMAAJ&q=troll+sp%C3%B8kelser |page=131 |quote=Den sier at med ekte troll forståes : a ) jutuler og riser , b ) gjengangere og spøkelser , - c ) nisser og dverger , d ) bergtroll |language=no}}</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]</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="pontoppidan-eng">{{cite book|last=Pontoppidan |first=Erich |author-link=Erik Pontoppidan |chapter=Ch. 8. Sect. 11. Kraken, or Korven [sic.], the largest creature in the world /Sect. 12. Description |title=The Natural History of Norway...: Translated from the Danish Original |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=A. Linde |date=1755 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3OglUqRf_soC&pg=RA1-PA214 |page=214 |quote=..some sea-faring people call Soe-draulen, that is, Soe-trolden[, Sea-mischief].}}</ref>

<ref name=richardsons-letters>{{cite book|editor1-last=Probyn |editor1-first=Clive |editor1-link=<!--Clive Probyn -->|editor2-last=Steele |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-link=<!--Bruce Steele --> |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<!--180–201--> |doi=10.2307/534874 |jstor=534874}}</ref>

<ref name="UIB-troll">{{cite web|url=https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=troll&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&begge=+&ordbok=begge |title=troll |website=Bokmålsordboka {{!}} Nynorskordboka |accessdate=2022-02-06}}</ref>

<ref name="ui-ogain">{{citation|last=Uí Ógáin |first=Ríonach |author-link=<!--Ríonach Uí Ógáin--> |title=Music Learned from the Fairies |journal=Béaloideas  |volume=60/61 |issue=<!--Finscealta Agus Litriocht: Paipeir a cuireadh i lathair ag an Siompoisiam Nordach-Ceiltech / Legends and Fiction: Papers Presented at the Nordic-Celtic Legend Symposium (1992/1993)-->|date=1992–1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_8hAQAAMAAJ&q=trow |pages=197–214 |doi=10.2307/20522407 |jstor=20522407}}</ref>
}}

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* {{cite book |last=Hibbert |first=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Hibbert-Ware |author-mask=2 |title=A Description of the Shetland Islands |publisher=T. & J. Manson |orig-year=1822 |year=1891 |url=https://archive.org/details/adescriptionshe01hibbgoog/ }} pp. [https://archive.org/details/adescriptionshe01hibbgoog/page/n228/mode/2up?q=trow 205–208], 233–234, and [https://archive.org/details/adescriptionshe01hibbgoog/page/n287 263†].
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* {{citation|last1=Stewart |first1=John |author1-link=<!--John Stewart of Whalsay--> |last2=Moar |first2=Peter |author2-link=<!--Peter Moar --> |title=When the Trows Danced |editor-last=Tait |editor-first=E. S. Reid |editor-link=E. S. Reid Tait |work=Shetland Folk Book |volume=2 |publisher=Shetland Folk Society |date=1951 |pages=17–25}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/trows/ Orkneyjar.com]

{{Fairies}}
{{Scottish mythology}}

{{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]]