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Elf
*** Shopping-Tip: Elf
see
Elf (disambiguation)
{{dablink|For other meanings, see
Elf (disambiguation)}}
Image:Small elf.JPG 350px|thumb|right|A small forest elf (''älva'') rescuing an egg, from ''Solägget'' (1932), by [[Elsa Beskow]]An '''elf''' is a
mythical creature of
Norse mythology which survived in northern
European
folklore. Originally a race of minor
gods of nature and fertility, elves are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in
forests and other natural places, underground, or in wells and springs. They have been portrayed to be long-lived or
immortality immortal and they have
magic (paranormal) magical powers attributed to them. Following the success of
J. R. R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien's epic ''
The Lord of the Rings''—wherein a wise, angelic people named ''elves'' play a significant role—they have become
Stock character staple characters of modern
fantasy.
''Elf'' can be
pluralized both as ''elves'' and ''elfs''. Something associated with elves or the qualities of elves is described by the
adjectives ''elfin'', ''elven'', ''elfish'', or ''elvish''. They are also called:
*
Germany: ''Elfen'', ''Elben'' and ''Alben''
*
Great Britain: ''addler'' (obsolete)
*
Iceland: ''álfar'', ''álfafólk'' and ''huldufólk'' (hidden people)
*
Netherlands: ''Elfen'', ''Alfen''
*
Scandinavia: ''elvere'' or ''ellefolk'' in
Denmark, ''alver'' or ''elvefolk'' in
Norway, and ''alfer'', ''alver'' or ''älvor'' in
Sweden
Although there has been debate, the words ''elf'', ''álf'' and their relatives almost certainly come from the same
Indo-European root *''albh'' as the Latin ''albus'' (white).{{mn|Hall 2004|H-1}}
Characteristics of traditional elves
Elves in Norse mythology
The earliest preserved description of elves comes from
Norse mythology. In
Old Norse language Old Norse they are called ''álfar'' (
singular,
nominative case: ''álfr''), and although no older or contemporary descriptions exist, the appearance of beings etymologically related to ''álfar'' in various later folklore strongly suggests that the belief in elves was common among all the
Germanic tribes, and not limited solely to the ancient
Scandinavians.
Elves make various appearances in Norse mythology. Although the concept itself is never clearly defined in our sources, elves appear to have been understood as powerful and beautiful human-sized beings. They are commonly referred to collectively as semi-divine beings associated with fertility as well as the cult of the ancestors. As such, elves appear similar to the
Animism animistic belief in
Spiritual being spirits of nature and of the deceased, common to nearly all human religions; something that, on a side note, is true also for the Old Norse belief in ''
fylgja fylgjur'' and ''
vörðr vörðar'' ("follower" and "warden" spirits, respectively). Arguably, ''elves'' are the Germanic equivalent to the
nymphs of
Greek mythology Greek and
Roman mythology, as well as the
wili vili and
Rusalka rusalki of
Slavic mythology.
Image:Freyr_art.jpg thumb|left|180px|The god [[Freyr, the lord of the light-elves]]
The Icelandic mythographer and historian
Snorri Sturluson seems to have referred to
dwarves (''
Norse dwarves dvergar'') as "dark-elves" (''
dökkálfar'') or "black-elves" (''
svartálfar''); whether this usage reflects wider medieval Scandinavian belief is uncertain.{{mn|Hall 2004|H-2}} Elves who are not dark-elves are referred to by Snorri as "light-elves" (''
ljósálfar''); this usage has often been connected with elves' etymological connection with whiteness. Snorri describes their differences like so:
:''There are many magnificent dwellings. One is there called
Alfheim. There dwell the folk that are called light-elves; but the dark-elves dwell down in the earth, and they are unlike the light-elves in appearance, but much more so in deeds. The light-elves are fairer than the sun to look upon, but the dark-elves are blacker than pitch.''{{mn|Younger Edda|YE-1}}
Evidence for elves in Norse mythology outside Snorri's work, and in earlier evidence, comes from
Skaldic poetry, the ''
Poetic Edda'' and
legendary sagas. Here elves are linked with the
Æsir, particularly through the common phrase "Æsir and the elves", which presumably means "all the gods".{{mn|Hall 2004|H-3}} The elves have been compared or identified with the
Vanir (fertility gods) by some scholars (e.g. Hall 2004, pp. 43-46). However, in the ''
AlvÃssmál'' ("The Sayings of All-Wise"), the elves are considered distinct from both the Vanir and the
Æsir, as revealed by a series of comparative names in which Æsir, Vanir, and elves are given their own versions for various words in a reflection of their individual racial preferences. Possibly, the words designate a difference in status between the major fertility gods (the Vanir) and the minor ones (the elves). ''
GrÃmnismál'' relates that the Van
Freyr was the lord of ''
Ã?lfheimr'' (meaning "elf-world"), the home of the light-elves. ''
Lokasenna'' relates that a large group of Æsir and elves had assembled at
Ægir's court for a banquet. Several minor forces, the servants of gods, are presented such as
Byggvir and
Beyla, who belonged to Freyr, the lord of the elves, and they were probably elves, since they were not counted among the gods. Two other mentioned servants were
Fimafeng (who was murdered by
Loki) and
Eldir.
Some speculate that Vanir and elves belong to an earlier
Nordic Bronze Age religion of
Scandinavia, and were later replaced by the Æsir as main gods. Others (most notably
Georges Dumézil) argue that the Vanir were the gods of the common Norsemen, and the Æsir those of the priest and warrior castes (see also
Nerthus).
A poem from around
1020, the ''
AustrfaravÃsur'' ('Eastern-journey verses') of
Sigvatr Þorðarson, mentions that, as a Christian, he was refused board in a heathen household, in
Sweden, because an ''
Blót#Elven blót álfablót'' ("elves' sacrifice") was being conducted there. However, we have no further reliable information as to what an ''álfablót'' involved,{{mn|Hall 2004|H-4}} but like other
blóts it probably included the offering of foods, and later
Scandinavian folklore retained a tradition of sacrificing treats to the elves (see below). From the time of year (close to the
autumnal equinox) and the elves' association with fertility and the ancestors, we might assume that it had to do with the ancestor cult and the life force of the family.
Image:Völund.jpg thumb|right|180px|The smith hero [[Weyland|Völundr, the ruler of the dökkálfar(dark-elves)]]
In addition to this, ''
Kormáks saga'' accounts for how a sacrifice to elves was apparently believed able to heal a severe battle wound:
:''Þorvarð healed but slowly; and when he could get on his feet he went to see ÞorðÃs, and asked her what was best to help his healing.''
:''"A hill there is," answered she, "not far away from here, where elves have their haunt. Now get you the bull that Kormák killed, and redden the outer side of the hill with its blood, and make a feast for the elves with its flesh. Then thou wilt be healed."''{{mn|Kormáks saga|Ko-1}}
The Scandinavian elves were of human size. Full-sized famous men could be elevated to the rank of elves after death, such as the petty king
Olaf Geirstad-Elf, and the smith hero
Weyland Völund (titled as "ruler of elves" in the ''
Völundarkviða''). Even crossbreeding was possible between elves and humans in the Old Norse belief. One case appears in ''
Hrólf Kraki's saga'', where the Danish king
Helgi finds an elf-woman clad in silk who is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He rapes her and later she bears the daughter
Skuld (Norse Mythology) Skuld, who married
Heoroweard Hjörvard, Hrólf Kraki's killer. Another case was the hero
Högni, whose mother was a human queen, and whose father, according to the ''
Thidrekssaga'', was an elf by the name of ''Aldrian'' (though it should be noted that this text is largely translated from German material).
There are also in the ''
Heimskringla'' and in ''
Þorsteins saga VÃkingssonar'' accounts of a line of local kings who ruled over Ã?lfheim, corresponding to the modern Swedish province
Bohuslän, and since they had elven blood they were said to be more beautiful than most men.
:''The land governed by King Alf was called Alfheim, and all his offspring are related to the elves. They were fairer than any other people ...''{{mn|Þorsteins saga VÃkingssonar|Th-1}}
The last king is named ''Gandalf''.
Scandinavian elves
Image:Tomtebobarnen.jpg thumb|230px|left|Little ''älvor'', playing with ''Tomtebobarnen''. From ''Children of the Forest'' (1910) by Swedish author and illustrator [[Elsa Beskow.]]
In
Scandinavian folklore, which is a later blend of Norse mythology and elements of
Christian mythology, an ''elf'' is called ''elver'' in
Danish language Danish, ''alv'' in
Norwegian language Norwegian, and ''alv'' or ''älva'' in
Swedish language Swedish (the first is
masculine, the second
feminine). The Norwegian expressions seldom appear in genuine folklore, and when they do, they are always used synonymous to ''huldrefolk'' or ''
vetter'', a category of earth-dwelling beings generally held to be more related to Norse dwarves than elves which is comparable to the Icelandic ''huldufólk'' (hidden people).
In Denmark and Sweden, the elves appear as beings distinct from the vetter, even though the border between them is diffuse. The insect-winged
fairies in the folklore of the
British Isles are often called "älvor" in modern Swedish or "alfer" in danish, although the correct translation is "feer." In a similar vein, the ''alf'' found in the fairy tale ''The Elf of the Rose'' by Danish author
Hans Christian Andersen H. C. Andersen is so tiny that he can have a rose blossom for home, and has "wings that reached from his shoulders to his feet". Yet, Andersen also wrote about ''elvere'' in ''The Elfin Hill''. The elves in this story are more alike those of traditional Danish folklore, who were beautiful females, living in hills and boulders, capable of dancing a man to death. Like the ''
huldra'' in Norway and Sweden, they are hollow when seen from the back. Small wingless elves of British folklore also appear distinct thus Santa's Elves (of whom it should be noted are refered to as Gnomes also, by many in the UK rather than Elves) are called "
tomte" in Swedish or "nisse" in Norwegian.
The elves of Norse mythology have survived into folklore mainly as females, living in hills and mounds of stones{{mn|Hellström 1990:36|He-1}} (cf.
Galadriel's account of what would happen to the Elves who remained in
Middle-Earth). The Swedish ''älvor''{{mn|Schön 1986|S-1}} (sing. ''älva'') were stunningly beautiful girls who lived in the forest with an elven king. They were long-lived and light-hearted in nature. The elves are typically pictured as fair-haired, white-clad and like most creatures in the Scandinavian folklore can be really nasty when offended. In the stories, they often play the role of disease-spirits. The most common, though also most harmless case was various irritating
skin rashes, which were called ''älvablåst'' (elven blow) and could be cured by a forceful counter-blow (a handy pair of
bellows was most useful for this purpose). ''Skålgropar'', a particular kind of
petroglyph found in Scandinavia, were known in older times as ''älvkvarnar'' (elven mills), pointing to their believed usage. One could appease the elves by offering them a treat (preferably
butter) placed into an elven mill – perhaps a custom with roots in the Old Norse ''álfablót''.
Image:Älvdans.jpg 295px|right|thumb|''Ängsälvor'', "meadow elves", (1850), painting by [[Nils Blommér.]]
The elves could be seen dancing over meadows, particularly at night and on misty mornings. They left a kind of circle were they had danced, which were called ''älvdanser'' (elf dances) or ''älvringar'' (
elf circles), and to urinate in one was thought to cause
venereal diseases. Typically, it consisted of a ring of small
mushrooms, but there was also another kind of elf circle:
:''On lake shores, where the forest met the lake, you could find elf circles. They were round places where the grass had been flattened like a floor. Elves had danced there. By [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=59.007568,15.129204&spn=0.074904,0.231245&t=k&hl=en Lake Tisaren], I have seen one of those. It could be dangerous and one could become ill if one had trodden over such a place or if one destroyed anything there.''{{mn|Hellström 1990:36|He-1}}
If a human watched the dance of the elves, he would discover that even though only a few hours seemed to have passed, many years had passed in the real world. (This time phenomenon is retold in
J. R. R. Tolkien Tolkien's ''
Lord of the Rings'' when the Fellowship of the Ring discovers that time seems to have run more slowly in elven
Lórien Lothlórien. It also has a remote parallel in the
Ireland Irish sÃdhe.) In a song from the late
Middle Ages about Olaf Liljekrans, the elven queen invites him to dance. He refuses, he knows what will happen if he joins the dance and he is on his way home to his own wedding. The queen offers him gifts, but he declines. She threatens to kill him if he does not join, but he rides off and dies of the disease she sent upon him, and his young bride dies of a broken heart.{{mn|Keightley 1870|K-1}}
However, the elves were not exclusively young and beautiful. In the Swedish folktale ''Little Rosa and Long Leda'', an elvish woman (''älvakvinna'') arrives in the end and saves the heroine, Little Rose, on condition that the king's cattle no longer graze on her hill. She is described as an old woman and by her aspect people saw that she belonged to the ''subterraneans''. {{mn|Svenska folksagor1984:158|SF}}
German elves
What remained of the belief in elves in
German folklore was that they were mischievous pranksters that could cause disease to cattle and people, and bring bad dreams to sleepers. The German word for
nightmare, ''Albtraum'', means "elf dream". The archaic form ''Albdruck'' means "elf pressure"; it was believed that nightmares are a result of an elf sitting on the dreamer's chest. This aspect of German elf-belief largely corresponds to the Scandinavian belief in the ''
Mara (folklore) mara''. It is also similar to the legends regarding
Incubus (demon) incubi and
Succubus succubi.{{mn|Hall 2004|H-5}}
As noted above, an elven king occasionally appears among the predominantly female elves in
Denmark and
Sweden. In the German middle-age epic the ''
Nibelungenlied'', a
dwarf named ''
Alberich'' play an important role. ''Alberich'' literally translates as "elf-sovereign", further contributing to the elf–dwarf confusion observed already in the
Younger Edda. Via the French ''Alberon'', the same name has entered English as ''
Oberon'' – king of elves and
fairies in Shakespeare's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (see below).
The
legend of
Der Erlkönig appears to have originated in fairly recent times in
Denmark and
Goethe based his poem on "Erlkönigs Tochter" ("Erlkönig's Daughter"), a Danish work translated into German by
Johann Gottfried Herder.
The Erlkönig's nature has been the subject of some debate. The name translates literally from the German as "
Alder King" rather than its common English translation, "Elf King" (which would be rendered as ''Elfenkönig'' in German). It has often been suggested that ''Erlkönig'' is a mistranslation from the original
Danish language Danish ''ellerkonge'' or ''elverkonge'', which ''does'' mean "elf king".
According to German and Danish folklore, the Erlkönig appears as an omen of death, much like the
banshee in
Irish mythology. Unlike the banshee, however, the Erlkönig will appear only to the person about to die. His form and expression also tell the person what sort of death they will have: a pained expression means a painful death, a peaceful expression means a peaceful death. This aspect of the legend was immortalised by
Goethe in his poem ''
Der Erlkönig'', later set to music by
Schubert.
In the
Brothers Grimm fairy tale ''
Der Schuhmacher und die Heinzelmännchen'', a group of naked, one foot tall beings called ''
Heinzelmännchen'' help a shoemaker in his work. When he rewards their work with little clothes, they are so delighted, that they run away and are never seen again. Even though ''Heinzelmännchen'' are akin to beings such as
kobolds and
dwarf dwarves, the tale has been translated to English as ''The Shoemaker & the Elves'', (probably due to the similarity of the henzelmannchen to Scottish
brownie (elf) brownies) and is echoed in
J. K. Rowling's
Harry Potter stories (see
House-elf).
English elves
Image:Poor little birdie teased by Richard Doyle.jpg thumb|left|312px|''Poor little birdie teased'', by [[Victorian era illustrator
Richard Doyle (illustrator) Richard Doyle depicts the traditional view of an elf from later
English folklore as a diminutive woodland humanoid.]]
The word ''elf'' came into
English language English as the
Old English language Old English word ''ælf'' (pl. ''ælfe'', with regional and chronological variants such as ''ylfe'' and ''ælfen''), and so came to
Great Britain Britain originally with the
Anglo-Saxons.{{mn.html">nymphs of the
Greek.html">Greek_mythology|Greek and
Roman mythology Roman mythos were translated by Anglo-Saxon scholars with ''ælf'' and variants on it.{{mn|Hall 2004|H-7}}
Although our early English evidence is slight, there are reasons to think that Anglo-Saxon elves (''ælfe'') were similar to early elves in Norse mythology: human-like, human-sized supernatural beings, capable of helping or harming the people who encountered them. In particular, the pairing of ''
æsir'' and ''
álfar'' found in the ''
Poetic Edda'' is mirrored in the Old English charm ''
Wið færstice'' and in the distinctive occurrence of the cognate words ''os'' and ''ælf'' in Anglo-Saxon personal names (e.g. Oswald, Ælfric{{mn|Hall 2004|H-8}}).
In relation to the beauty of the Norse elves, some further evidence is given by old English words such as ''ælfsciene'' ("elf-beautiful"), used of seductively beautiful Biblical women in the Old English poems ''
Judith (poem) Judith'' and ''Genesis A''.{{mn|Hall 2004|H-9}} Although elves could be considered to be beautiful and potentially helpful beings in some sections of English-speaking society throughout its history, Anglo-Saxon evidence also attests to alignments of elves with demons, as for example in line 112 of ''
Beowulf''. On the other hand, ''oaf'' is simply a variant of the word ''elf'', presumably originally referring to a
Changeling_(legend) changeling or to someone stupefied by elvish
enchantment.
Little documentation exists on English rustic beliefs and terminology before the
19th century, but it seems that the term ''elf'' was used, at least on some occasions or in some places, for various kinds of uncanny
wights, either human-sized or smaller. But other terms were also used.
''Elf-shot'' (or ''elf-bolt'' or ''elf-arrow'') is a word found in Scotland and Northern England, first attested in a manuscript of about the last quarter of the
16th century. Although first attested in the sense 'sharp pain caused by elves', it is later attested denoting
Neolithic flint arrow-heads, which by the
17th century seem to have been attributed in Scotland to elvish folk, and which were used in healing rituals, and alleged to be used by witches (and perhaps elves) to injure people and cattle.{{mn.html">1750 ode by
Willam_Collins.html">William Collins (poet)|Willam Collins:
:''There every herd, by sad experience, knows''
:''How, winged with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,''
:''When the sick ewe her summer food forgoes,''
:''Or, stretched on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie.''{{mn|Collins 1750|C-1}}
The elf makes many appearances in
ballads of English and Scottish origin, as well as folk tales, many involving trips to
Elphame or Elfland (the ''Ã?lfheim'' of Norse mythology), a mystical realm which is sometimes an eerie and unpleasant place. The elf is often portrayed in a positive light, such as the Queen of Elphame in the ballad ''
Thomas the Rhymer'', but examples exist of the elf has a sinister character, as in the ''Tale of
Childe Rowland'', or the ballad ''
Lady Isabel of the Elf-Knight'', in which the Elf-Knight bears away Isabel to murder her. In none of these cases is the elf a
Sprite (creature) spritely character with
pixie-like qualities.
English
folktales of the
early modern period typically portray elves as small, elusive people with mischievous personalities. They are not evil but might annoy humans or interfere in their affairs. They are sometimes said to be invisible. In this tradition, elves became more or less synonymous with the
fairy fairies that originated from
Celtic mythology native British mythology, for example, the
Wales Welsh ''Ellyll'' (plural ''Ellyllon'') and ''Y Dynon Bach Têg''. Lompa Lompa the Gigantic Elf from Plemurian Forest.
Image:Rackham elves.jpg 300px|thumb|right|''"To make my small elves coats; and some keep back."'' One of [[Arthur Rackham's illustrations to
William Shakespeare's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream''. [http://classics.freehomepage.com/midsummer/midsummer.html] ]]
Successively, the word ''elf'', as well as literary term ''fairy'', evolved to a general denotation of various nature spirits like ''
Puck (mythology) pwcca'', ''
Hobgoblin (fairy) hobgoblin'', ''
Robin Goodfellow'', the Scots ''
brownie (elf) brownie'', and so forth. These terms, like their relatives in other
European languages, are no longer clearly distinguished in popular
folklore.
Significant for the distancing of the concept of elves from its mythological origins was the influence from literature. In
Elizabethan England,
William Shakespeare imagined elves as little people. He apparently considered elves and fairies to be the same race. In ''
Henry IV, part 1'', act II, scene iv, he has
Falstaff call
Henry V of England Prince Henry, "you starveling, you elfskin!", and in his ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'', his elves are almost as small as
insects. On the other hand,
Edmund Spenser applies ''elf'' to full-sized beings in ''
The Faerie Queene''.
The influence of Shakespeare and
Michael Drayton made the use of ''elf'' and ''
fairy'' for very small beings the norm. In
Victorian era Victorian literature, elves usually appeared in illustrations as tiny men and women with pointed ears and stocking caps. An example is
Andrew Lang's fairy tale ''Princess Nobody'' (
1884), illustrated by
Richard Doyle, where fairies are tiny people with
butterfly wings, whereas elves are tiny people with red stocking caps. There were exceptions to this rule however, such as the full-sized elves who appear in
Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany Lord Dunsany's ''The King of Elfland's Daughter''.
Modern elves
Elves at Christmas
Image:Tony Cox as elf.jpg thumb|150px|left|[[Tony Cox as ''Marcus'' in the movie ''
Bad Santa'', who is working as an elf assisting Santa Claus at a supermarket.]]
In
United States USA,
Canada, and the
United Kingdom, the modern children's
folklore of
Santa Claus typically includes
diminutive, green-clad elves as Santa's assistants. They wrap
Christmas gifts and make
toys in a workshop located in the
Arctic. In this portrayal, elves slightly resemble nimble and delicate versions of the
Norse dwarves dwarves of Norse mythology.
The vision of the small but crafty Christmas elf has come to influence modern popular conception of elves, and sits side by side with the fantasy elves following Tolkien's work (see below). The American cookie company
Keebler has long advertised that its cookies are made by elves in a hollow tree, and
Kellogg's, who happens to now be the owner of Keebler, uses the elves of Snap, Crackle, and Pop as mascots of
Rice Krispies cereal, and the role of elves as Santa's helpers has continued to be popular, as evidenced by the success of the movie
Elf (film) ''Elf''.
Elves in modern fantasy
{{main|Elves in fantasy fiction and games}}
Image:elrond11.jpg thumb|right|150px|[[Hugo Weaving portrays
Elrond the
half-elf, lord of
Rivendell, in one film interpretation of ''
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy The Lord of the Rings''.]]
Modern
fantasy literature has revived the elves as a race of semi-divine beings of human stature. Fantasy elves are different from Norse elves, but are more akin to that older mythology than to folktale elves – they are unlikely to sneak in at night and help a cobbler mend his shoes. The grim Norse-style elves of human size introduced
Poul Anderson's fantasy novel ''
The Broken Sword'' from
1954 are one of the first precursors to modern fantasy elves, although they are overshadowed by the Elves of the
twentieth century twentieth-century philology philologist and
fantasy writer
J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien had little use for Shakespearean fairy portrayals or for Victorian diminutive fairy prettiness and whimsy, aligning his elves with the god-like and human-sized ''
Light Elf ljósálfar'' of
Norse mythology. His Elves were conceived a race of beings similar to humans but fairer and wiser, with greater spiritual powers, keener senses, and a closer empathy with nature. They are great smiths and fierce warriors on the side of
Goodness and value theory good. Tolkien's
Elves (Middle-earth) Elves of Middle-earth are
Immortality immortal in the sense that they do not wither with age or fall foul of disease. They can however be killed in the same manner as any man and also may pass from grief.
Tolkien's ''
The Lord of the Rings'' (
1954-
1958) became astoundingly popular and was much imitated. In the
1960s and afterwards, elves similar to those in Tolkien's novels became staple non-human characters in
high fantasy works and in fantasy
role-playing games. Tolkien's Elves were enemies of
goblins (
Orc (Middle-earth) orcs) and had a longstanding quarrel with the
Dwarves (Middle-earth) Dwarves; these motifs often reappear in Tolkien-inspired works. Tolkien is also responsible for reviving the older and less-used terms ''elven'' and ''elvish'' rather than
Edmund Spenser's invented ''elfin'' and ''elfish''. He probably preferred the word ''elf'' over ''fairy'' because ''elf'' is of
Old English language Anglo-Saxon origin while ''fairy'' entered English from
French language French.
Post-Tolkien fantasy elves (popularized by the ''
Dungeons & Dragons''
role-playing game) tend to be beautiful, fair, slender, human-sized or only slightly smaller (and sometimes even taller) than humans, and possess unearthly speed and agility. A hallmark of fantasy elves is also their long and pointed
ears. The length and shape of these ears varies depending on the artist or medium in question. For example, while most elves in Western fantasy have ears only slightly longer than humans', elves depicted in
anime tend to have very long ears that stand out at dramatic angles from their faces.
Half-elf Half-elves and divergent races of elves, such as
high elf high elves and
dark elf dark elves, were also popularized at this time; in particular, the evil
drow of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' have inspired the dark elves of many other works of fantasy.
Fair elves of the Tolkien mold have become standardized staple characters of modern fantasy to such an extent that breaking the norms for how an elf is supposed to be and behave has become an end in itself for certain works of fantasy. For examples of the various ways modern fantasy writers have achieved this, see the
Elves in fantasy fiction and games main article
Elves in psychedelic experience
{{main|Machine Elves}}
Machine_Elves Machine elves, a term first introduced by writer and psychedelic researcher
Terrence McKenna, is used to describe the presumed other-worldly intelligent beings which subjects sometimes feel they encounter during
psychedelic experiences (especially those induced by naturally-occurring
tryptamines, such as
dimethyltryptamine DMT or
psilocybin), as well as during
shamanic and
alien abduction experiences.
Notes
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-1}} see further Hall 2004, pp. 56-57.
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-2}} ''ibid.'', pp. 31-35
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-3}} ''ibid.'', pp. 37-46
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-4}} ''ibid.'', p. 40
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-5}} see further ''ibid.'', pp 125-26
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-6}} ''ibid''., esp. pp. 212-16
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-7}} ''ibid''., pp. 81-92
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-8}} ''ibid''., esp. pp. 56-66
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-9}} ''ibid''., pp. 71-76, ''et passim''
*{{mnb2|Hall 2004|H-10}} Hall 2005.
*{{mnb2|Younger Edda|YE-1}} Younger Edda, chapter 7, Anderson's 1897 translation.
*{{mnb2|Þorsteins saga VÃkingssonar|Th-1}} Þorsteins saga VÃkingssonar, chapter 1.
*{{mnb2|Kormáks saga|Ko-1}} Kormáks saga, chapter 22.
*{{mnb2|Schön 1986|S-1}} For the Swedish belief in ''älvor'' see mainly Schön 1986, chapter ''De fagra flickorna på ängen''. A more summary description in English is provided by Keightley 1870, esp. chapter [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm017.htm ''Scandinavia: Elves''].
*{{mnb2|Hellström 1990|He-1}} An account given in
1926, Hellström 1990:36.
*{{mnb2|Keightley 1870|K-1}} Keightley 1870 provides two translated versions of the song: ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm018.htm Sir Olof in Elve-Dance]'' and [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm019.htm The Elf-Woman and Sir Olof].
*{{mnb2|Collins 1775|C-1}} Collins 1775.
*{{mnb2|Svenska folksagor1984:158|SF}} Lilla Rosa och LÃ¥nga Leda, in ''Svenska folksagor'', 1984:158.
References
*
H. C. Andersen Anderson, H. C.. 1842. [http://hca.gilead.org.il/elf_rose.html ''The Elf of the Rose''] (Danish original: [http://www.kb.dk/elib/lit/dan/andersen/eventyr.dsl/hcaev017.htm ''Rosen-Alfen'']).
* Anderson, H. C. 1845. [http://hca.gilead.org.il/elfin_hi.html ''The Elfin Hill''] (Danish original: [http://www.kb.dk/elib/lit/dan/andersen/eventyr.dsl/hcaev028.htm ''Elverhøi'']).
*
William Collins (poet) Collins, Willam. 1775. ''[http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1850/ An Ode On The Popular Superstitions Of The Highlands Of Scotland, Considered As The Subject Of Poetry]''.
*Hall, Alaric. 2005. 'Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials', [http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/app/home/journal.asp?wasp=e3d05mvqtg0qujqugt33&referrer=parent&backto=linkingpublicationresults,1:104708,1 ''Folklore''], 116 (2005), 19-36.
*Hall, Alaric Timothy Peter. 2004. [http://69.72.226.186/~alaric/phd.htm The Meanings of ''Elf'' and Elves in Medieval England] (Ph.D. University of Glasgow).
*Hellström. 1990. ''En Krönika om Åsbro''. ISBN 91-7194-726-4
*
Thomas Keightley Keightley, Thomas. 1870. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/ ''The Fairy Mythology]''.
*''[http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/epics/LifeandDeathofCormactheSkald/Chap1.html The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald]'' (Old Norse original: ''[http://www.snerpa.is/net/isl/kormaks.htm Kormáks saga]'').
*
Andrew Lang Lang, Andrew. 1884. ''[http://arthurwendover.com/arthurs/fairy/pnobdy10.html The Princess Nobody]''.
*Schön, Ebbe. 1986. ''Älvor, vättar och andra väsen''. ISBN 91-29-57688-1
*
Snorri Sturluson Sturluson, Snorri. ''The Younger (or Prose) Edda'', [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose2/index.php Rasmus B. Anderson translation (1897)].
*''[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/viking/001_02.php The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son]'' (Old Norse original: ''[http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/thorstei.htm Þorsteins saga VÃkingssonar]'').
*''Lilla Rosa och Långa Leda'' in ''Svenska folksagor'' (1984), Almquist & Wiksell Förlag AB, Stockholm.
Fairy tales with elves in them include:
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm121.htm Addlers & Menters]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm124.htm Ainsel & Puck]''
*''[http://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-24.html Childe Rowland]'' ([http://www.twocrows.co.uk/childe_roland.html also here])
*''[http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/brown16.htm The Elf Maiden]'' ([http://www.fairy-tales.org.uk/brown/lang-the-brown-fairy-book-the-elf-maiden.htm also here])
*''[http://www.viking.ucla.edu/hrolf/ch11.html Elfin Woman & Birth of Skuld]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm022.htm Elle-Maids]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm024.htm Elle-Maid near Ebeltoft]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm025.htm Hans Puntleder]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/efft/efft48.htm Hedley Kow]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm112.htm Luck of Eden Hall]''
*''[http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-39.html The Shoemaker & the Elves]'' ([http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm039.html also here])
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm021.htm Svend Faelling and the Elle-Maid]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/efft/efft08.htm Wild Edric]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm084.htm The Wild-women]''
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm020.htm The Young Swain and the Elves]''
See also
{{commons|Category:Elf}}
{{wiktionary}}
'''Concerning traditional elves:'''
*
Ã?lfar
*
Ã?lfheim
*
Elf versus dwarf
*
Erlking
*
Ljósálfar
*
Svartálfar
'''Related folklore creatures:'''
*
Dwarf
*
Fairy
*
Gnome
*
Huldra
*
Imp
*
Lady of the Lake
*
Norse dwarves
*
Puck (mythology) Puck
*
Psotnik
*
SÃdhe
*
Slavic fairies
*
Sprite (creature) Sprites
*
Tomte
*
Troll
*
Wight
*
Yule lads
'''Miscellaneous:'''
*
Fairytale
*
Mythology
*
Elenari
{{NorseMythology}}
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