The first time I came across a knot like this was when Hailey and I were trying to catch Levi for a lesson. He kept running away from us, and when we saw the looped knot in his mane we said, “it’s like a handle.” From then on, Hailey and I always call these knots handles. It took years for me to ever hear them being referenced in another way.
Then came the fairies. I saw an article pop up on FaceBook that talked about how fairies made these knots in horses’ manes. A few years later my barn manager told me the same story. Fairies come out at night, ride the horse, and leave the twisted knot in the mane because that’s how they hold on.
So I decided to look into the story behind these looped knots, and I found many versions of the same story. The knots are known as “Fairy Knots,” “Witch Knots,” “Witch Stirrups,” and “Elf-Locks.”
Amanda Uechi Ronan notes in her article on horsenation.com that the cause of these knots has been blamed on “fairies, witches, thieves, gypsies, Pagans and Bigfoot.”
Lynnsy Johnson tells the story of the Fairy Knots on SaddleUpColorad.net. She says fairies go out at night, find a horse, twist the mane into stirrups and reins to ride them all night, and always make sure to return the horse by morning. It is bad luck to take Fairy Knots out because the fairies want to come back and ride the same horse.
Morgan Daimler expands on the story of Fairy Knots at patheos.com, but calls them “Elf-Locks” saying that while some people think the Elf-Locks are harmless, some people believe them to be a punishment from fairies. Morgan also agrees that it is bad luck to brush these knots out, but notes some people say it’s OK to use your fingers to untangle them.
This story can also be told by changing the fairy out for a witch.
An article from The Guardian quotes a warlock who says these knots are made by witches and are a type of magic. They are often used as a part of casting a spell. However, Melissa Harrington discredits this warlock in her paper Urban Folklore: A Joint Conference of The Folklore Society and the School of Welsh. Melissa dives deep into the myths behind these knots, so do give her paper a read if you want to learn more about them. You can find it here.
The story behind thieves is that a thief marks horses by putting these braids in their hair and another thief steals the horse on a different night.
Amanda also notes that “Some believe the origin lies with the “Wild Hunt,” an ancient European folk myth. First written down by Jacob Grimm, of the Brothers Grimm fame, the Wild Hunt depicts a ghostly group of huntsmen with horses and hounds in a mad dash across the skies.” This is still something I have yet to explore myself.
Myths about these knots have even made their way into literature. William Shakespeare references them in Romeo and Juliet: Act One, Scene 4. Mercutio says:
She is the fairies\’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone . . .
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes.
There are many references to these knots in different ways. The stories change over time. Maybe by spreading my story, they can be known as Handles in the future.