What Does An Upside Down Horseshoe Mean In Folklore?

Question

Folklore fans, does hanging a horseshoe upside down actually bring bad luck? Heard contradictory myths about this protective symbol's orientation.

Antonia Flores · Answer

There’s a lot of folklore around hanging up horseshoes to bring good luck. The idea is that you hang them up with the ends up so that luck doesn’t leak out of the horseshoe. I’ve seen horseshoes hung up with the ends down and people warn each other that an inverted horseshoe brings bad luck or that your protection has been broken in some way. The idea of simple things holding power and then losing it is something that is developed in the story ‘The Witch’s Bottle’ where a modern witch has to use a number of old and very flaky charms to contain a malevolent spirit. The story develops around whether her protection will hold or not and fail catastrophically.

Violette · Answer

As I mentioned, I grew up in a very rural area, and there are many old wives’ tales about horseshoes floating around here. There is much debate about whether or not to hang an horseshoe upside down, because all of the luck could fall out. Some people believe that hanging an horseshoe upside down forms a “U” shape which is meant to protect and support blessings. I remember my grandad hanging these upside down above doors and saying that it was like putting luck in a bowl. I always thought he was tempting fate by hanging them up this way, but he never seemed to have any bad luck.

As for region specific superstitious views on an upside down horseshoe, in some parts of England it’s believed to bring such bad luck that it would be suicidal to hang it above a door. In Irish folklore an inverted horseshoe is sometimes even used as a charm to ward off the mischief of the fairies and specifically to prevent them stealing the milk. I find these contradictions are part of the fun of studying folklore, showing how it can be a very dynamic, living and highly creative part of a culture and how there must be many more symbols carried around as part of our daily lives without us even realizing they contain secret meanings.

Owen · Answer

As a volunteer at a museum of agricultural history, I have handled so many horseshoes that I could start a blacksmith shop. And indeed, horseshoes are typically hung upside down in order to replicate the shape of a crescent moon – a symbol of protection in the medieval Europe where this custom originated. Later superstitions, however, reversed this impression of the horseshoe and now consider it to bring bad luck. I even once had the task of cataloging a 17th century farmer’s diary in which a poor harvest was attributed to a poorly hung horseshoe. How so many years of superstition have changed throughout the generations is of interest to me. By the Victorian era, the same symbol that the farmer’s ancestor had believed to bring ill would have been seen as a rather stylish decorative object.

Bennett · Answer

My cousin runs a vintage shop full of what she calls “rustic charm” and nothing sparks as much of a debate among customers as our upside-down horseshoes. Last week a tourist gasped in horror when she saw one hanging on a wall in our shop. She thought we must have cursed the place. Meanwhile the local flower arranger buys them up by the dozen to use as part of the centerpieces for the wedding she is arranging. She says they symbolize “overflowing happiness”. I can’t decide whether it’s hilarious or poetic that a piece of metal that has been bent into a shoe shape can evoke such opposite emotions of doom and bliss.

Victoria · Answer

I may have gotten hooked on a 3 part documentary about superstition after watching the whole thing. I actually hung an upside down horseshoe on my apartment door for a month and my cat learned to open up cabinets, but I also managed to win a $5 scratcher so I guess you can make up your own mind about luck but the cat opening up the cabinets definitely felt like some kind of supernatural intervention.

Quentin · Answer

My professor in the folklore seminar showed us a wild 1806 pamphlet this week. Apparently, in that bygone era, people used to hang upside-down horseshoes to confuse demons. They must have worked, because evil spirits would get all mixed up trying to enter through the arch that was hung the wrong way. I haven’t found any other references to this practice, but the image has stuck with me as a kind of cosmically mischievous trick to prevent supernatural pests from entering. It’s all so much more creative than most modern horror movies, which rely on fancy special effects to scare us. Now I look at every barn door a little differently, wondering if they’re hung upside-down to keep out ghosts. Who knew we had such clever household items at our disposal?

alvin Cueto · Answer

One of the most fundamental divisions between the points-up and points-down perspectives on the topic of luck is whether they are inherently optimistic or pessimistic. Does one view luck as something that could be taken from them (therefore something that must be guarded and protected)? Or do they believe that they could give it away (and therefore that it must be endless)? Your answer here may reflect your basic worldview more than any amount of folklore about good or bad luck. I find the psychological dynamics here more interesting than any historical fact, which in all likelihood will be purely a product of the individual’s imagination. It’s a Rorschach test in iron.

ekpikapere · Answer

Oh, the views of horseshoes! I’m a simple person so I hang them to look balanced on the door. If the luck doesn’t work perhaps it will help the garden. Who knows and more importantly who’s checking!

Karen · Answer

The folklore surrounding horseshoes is so complex and diverse. In some regions of England, they are hung from above the door with points facing downwards to repel witches. The belief is that the witches could become hung on the horseshoe or that the downwards pointing shape could form a protective barrier against the witch. This is in complete contrast to the sailor’s belief that by nailing a horseshoe points downwards to the mast of a ship, it would protect against the storms. Therefore, the term ‘upside down’ is not necessarily bad and is very much dependent on the local custom and legend. The ideas can even be contradictory to each other. Many of the old beliefs and superstitions surround the objects of folklore that have been passed down through generations, and they are constantly changing. The current popular view of a horseshoe is that it brings good luck, but this is a widely commercialized notion and has been reduced to a simple symbol of luck, quite contrary to its original intention.

Melissa Lowden · Answer

I’ve used one nail over my garden shed, points down, as it was already in place like that. My tomatoes are doing great. I’m sure it’s just coincidence but I’m not going to change it.

Ryan Evans · Answer

I was given the soundest advice by a museum curator of rural life some years ago. “Hang a historic object in a historic building the way the original occupiers of the house had done it. Hang an historic object on your own house the way you want it.” The meaning of an object is given by the user of said object. Our desire for an irrefutable authority giving the one correct answer for all time is a product of our modern times. In the past the authority of a grandmother’s wisdom was localised. That of your grandmother would have differed from that of the grandmother living in the next valley. Both would have been right.

melm00n1986 · Answer

The horseshoe in maritime contexts is usually nailed to the mast points down to ‘pin down’ the bad weather and to ward off storms. The points of the horseshoe spear the clouds and winds which bring the evil weather. This is an active form of protection as opposed to the passive luck accumulating type of function that the horseshoe has on land. Here the function of the horseshoe is that of a weapon to fight off the hostile weather. This is in complete contrast to the anxiety of the landlubber that he has to worry about his luck ‘leaking’ out. At sea a person is not attempting to amass luck, he is struggling to stay alive. Here the orientation of the horseshoe becomes a means to an end as opposed to mere storage. A wonderful example of how environment determines belief.

Carolyn Whigham Daniels · Answer

I’d always heard that an upside-down horseshoe looked like a funnel bringing good luck down to you from above. The points-up version of the horseshoe creates a container to hold the good luck you already have. Which is better at bringing good luck? Well, I suppose that depends on whether you feel you need to bring in some new good luck or whether you are trying to protect what you already have. It’s surprisingly philosophical for a piece of old metal. My interpretation of the horseshoe is that it is a matter of intention rather than right or wrong. I prefer the version that brings in good luck rather than the version that tries to keep it away. But then again, I’m not that superstitious. I just like the story behind the item. It would make a great plot point for a character in a story – are they defensive or open to new luck?

What Does An Upside Down Horseshoe Mean In Folklore?

13 Answers

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