Joint-eater facts for kids
In old Celtic mythology, a Joint-eater is a type of fairy from Ireland. This fairy is also known as a Just-halver or Alp-luachra. It is said to sit invisibly and eat half of a person's food.
When someone falls asleep near a spring or stream, the Alp-luachra might appear. It often looks like a small creature called a newt. This tiny fairy then crawls into the sleeping person's mouth. Once inside, it feeds on the food the person has eaten.
What is a Joint-Eater?
The Joint-eater doesn't eat the actual food itself. Instead, it takes the "pith" or "quintessence" of the food. Think of this as the energy, goodness, or best part of the meal. This idea comes from old books like Robert Kirk's Secret Commonwealth of Fairies.
How a Joint-Eater Affects People
If a person is haunted by a Joint-eater, they will never get fat. This is because the fairy is always taking the "goodness" from their food. The person might eat a lot but still feel hungry or weak. People believed that if you accidentally ate a newt, you might become plagued by this fairy.
How to Get Rid of an Alp-Luachra
Old folk tales tell us how to get rid of an Alp-luachra. In a story collected by Douglas Hyde in Beside the Fire, a farmer was starving because of an Alp-luachra. He was given special instructions to get rid of the fairy.
First, the farmer had to eat a very large amount of salted meat. He ate so much that he couldn't eat any more. The salt made him very, very thirsty.
Next, he had to lie still with his mouth open. He lay just above the surface of a running stream. After a long wait, the Alp-luachra became incredibly thirsty from the salt. The story says the fairy's babies, and then the mother Alp-luachra herself, jumped out of his mouth and into the water to drink. This way, the farmer was finally free from the fairy.
So, to get rid of an Alp-luachra, you should:
- Eat a lot of salty beef without drinking anything.
- Then, lie by a running stream with your mouth wide open.
- Wait for the thirsty Alp-luachra to jump into the water.
