Wayland's Smithy
Leave your horse and a silver coin at this ancient tomb overnight, legend says, and in the morning the horse will be shod by an invisible smith.
What was reported
Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow, a burial chamber built of earth and stones, beside the ancient Ridgeway path in Oxfordshire. It's surrounded by tall beech trees and has four great standing stones at its entrance.
Legend says it was the home of Wayland, the smith of the gods in Anglo-Saxon and Norse myth. A traveller whose horse had lost a shoe could leave it there overnight with a silver coin, and in the morning find the horse shod and the coin gone.
Explanations offered
The barrow was built more than 5,000 years ago, long before the Anglo-Saxons arrived and gave it its name. The legend shows how later peoples explained the mysterious monuments they found in the landscape. The nearby Uffington White Horse adds to its sense of mystery.
- When
- Built about 3600 BC
- Where
- Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Witnesses
- English folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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