Arthur Elwood and the Charmwood Banshee

Last updated on: December 25, 2016 at 2:52 pm by David Russell Mosley

Arthur Elwood and the Charmwood Banshee 2016-12-25T14:52:42-04:00 David Russell Mosley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

People in the village on the edge of Charmwood Forest rarely saw Arthur Elwood after this. He would often appear at mass with a beautiful woman by his side but spoke little to his fellow parishioners and was never seen in the village much after. They were soon married in a private ceremony. They had apparently built a home on some land Arthur had purchased in Charmwood Forest and lived there quietly. Years passed and neither Arthur nor his bride had been seen for years. Through the means which all these stories seem to make their way into the wide world, which is to say no one knows how, villagers began to tell his tale. In some versions, Arthur was killed by the will-o-the-wisp, in others he failed the Mari Lwyd’s test. In others still, it was the banshee who was the worst beast of them all and had led Arthur into the woods to his death. When her minions, the wisp and the Mari Lwyd, had failed she took his fate into her own hands, enslaving him until he reached the end of his days, since the Fair Folk are themselves immortal. The truth, however, is this. Arthur and Siofra lived out their days in wedded bliss. And while they kept mostly to themselves, they did not abandon the village altogether. Whenever they were around things seemed greener and brighter and more joyful. It is unknown whether Arthur died. All that is known is that Arthur and Siofra had one child, Elwin Stratford Elwood. After it was presumed his parents were dead, when Elwin was a young man, just finished with school, stories about them began to circulate. Some of them were not so pleasant and Elwin was often plagued with questions. He refused to answer them, and eventually moved from Charmwood village. Some say he eventually dropped his father’s surname, Elwood and went by Elwin Stratford. He later became a curate and then priest at St. Nicholas’s Church in Carlisle, but that does not enter into this tale.

Christmas Ghost Story

Previous Post

December 20, 2016

Sexism, Celibacy, and the Male Genome: More Reflections on the Virgin Birth

Next Post

January 6, 2017 Most Popular Letters from the Edge of Elfland 2016

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Secular Age Advent Apologetics Atheism Beauty Being a Catholic Evangelical Being Catholic Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God Blogging Book Reviews C. S. Lewis Catholic Imagination Catholic Social Teaching Catholicism Christmas Church Calendar Church Fathers Church Life Community Conferences Cosmology Creation Curdled Words Deification Distributism Easter Economics Education Epiphany Essay Extracts Eucharist Faerie Faeriean Metaphysics Fatherhood Films Folk Liturgy Food and Drink G. K. Chesterton Harry Potter J. R. R. Tolkien Jove King Arthur Language Lent Life Literature and Poetry Liturgy Medieval Theology Music My Publications Mythology On the Edges of Elfland Ordinary Time Ordination Parenthood Parish Patristic Theology Pentecost Politics Prayer Racism Radical Orthodoxy Restoration Movement Sacramental Ontology Saints Science Sex and Sexuality Sophiology Stories The Inklings The Radical Catholic Reimagination of Everything Theologians in the Church Theopoetics Thesis Research Uncategorized University of Nottingham What I'm Reading Writing

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz