108-475: Huldufólk or hidden people are elves in Icelandic and Faroese folklore . They are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world . They can make themselves visible at will. Konrad von Maurer cites a 19th-century Icelandic source claiming that the only visible difference between normal people and outwardly human-appearing huldufólk is,
216-525: A "Hidden Worlds tour", a guided walk of about 90 minutes. It includes a stroll through Hellisgerdi Park, where the paths wind through a lava field planted with tall trees and potted bonsai trees in summer, and said to be peopled with the town's largest elf colony. Stokkseyri has the Icelandic Wonders museum, where "Museum guests will walk into a world of the Icelandic elves and hidden people and get
324-457: A cause of illnesses remained prominent in early modern Scotland, where elves were viewed as supernaturally powerful people who lived invisibly alongside everyday rural people. Thus, elves were often mentioned in the early modern Scottish witchcraft trials: many witnesses in the trials believed themselves to have been given healing powers or to know of people or animals made sick by elves. Throughout these sources, elves are sometimes associated with
432-454: A circle where they had danced, called älvdanser (elf dances) or älvringar (elf circles), and to urinate in one was thought to cause venereal diseases. Typically, elf circles were fairy rings consisting of a ring of small mushrooms, but there was also another kind of elf circle. In the words of the local historian Anne Marie Hellström: ... on lake shores, where the forest met the lake, you could find elf circles. They were round places where
540-474: A collective term for supernatural beings who should be respected and avoided rather than worshipped. Troll could later have become specialized as a description of the larger, more menacing Jötunn-kind whereas Huldrefolk may have developed as the term for smaller trolls. John Arnott MacCulloch posited a connection between the Old Norse vættir and trolls, suggesting that both concepts may derive from spirits of
648-564: A common part of the holiday festivities on Twelfth Night (January 6). There are many Icelandic folktales about elves and hidden people invading Icelandic farmhouses during Christmas and holding wild parties. It is customary in Iceland to clean the house before Christmas, and to leave food for the huldufólk on Christmas. On New Year's Eve, it is believed that the elves move to new locations, and Icelanders leave candles to help them find their way. On Midsummer Night , folklore states that if you sit at
756-511: A couple instances." Terry Gunnell notes that hidden people legends recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries showed them to be "near mirror-images of those humans who told stories about them—except they were beautiful, powerful, alluring, and free from care, while the Icelanders were often starving and struggling for existence. The huldufólk seem in many ways to represent the Icelander's dreams of
864-515: A couple of verse spells, including the Bergen rune-charm from among the Bryggen inscriptions . The appearance of elves in sagas is closely defined by genre. The Sagas of Icelanders , Bishops' sagas , and contemporary sagas , whose portrayal of the supernatural is generally restrained, rarely mention álfar , and then only in passing. But although limited, these texts provide some of the best evidence for
972-424: A crossroads, elves will attempt to seduce you with food and gifts; there are grave consequences for being seduced by their offers, but great rewards for resisting. Several scholars have commented on the connections between hidden people and the Icelandic natural environment. B.S. Benedikz, in his discussion of Jón Árnason 's grouping of folktales about elves, water-dwellers, and trolls together, writes: "The reason
1080-415: A few witchcraft trials, people attested that these arrow-heads were used in healing rituals, and occasionally alleged that witches (and perhaps elves) used them to injure people and cattle. A 1749–50 ode by William Collins includes the lines: 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,
1188-634: A first element. These names may have been influenced by Celtic names beginning in Albio- such as Albiorix . Personal names provide the only evidence for elf in Gothic , which must have had the word * albs (plural * albeis ). The most famous name of this kind is Alboin . Old English names in elf - include the cognate of Alboin Ælfwine (literally "elf-friend", m.), Ælfric ("elf-powerful", m.), Ælfweard ("elf-guardian", m.), and Ælfwaru ("elf-care", f.). A widespread survivor of these in modern English
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#17328591846881296-467: A glimpse of their life." Information boards at Dverghamrar state that the local variety of dwarf is 20-30 cm tall. During road construction in Kópavogur in 1971, a bulldozer broke down. The driver placed the blame on elves living in a large rock. Despite locals not having been aware of any elves living in the rock, newspapers ran with the story, thus starting the myth that Icelandic road construction
1404-582: A major role in transmitting traditional ideas about elves in post-medieval cultures. Indeed, some of the early modern ballads are still quite widely known, whether through school syllabuses or contemporary folk music. They, therefore, give people an unusual degree of access to ideas of elves from older traditional culture. The ballads are characterised by sexual encounters between everyday people and humanlike beings referred to in at least some variants as elves (the same characters also appear as mermen , dwarves, and other kinds of supernatural beings). The elves pose
1512-544: A misunderstanding: the image proves to be a conventional illustration of God's arrows and Christian demons. Rather, twenty-first century scholarship suggests that Anglo-Saxon elves, like elves in Scandinavia or the Irish Aos Sí , were regarded as people. Like words for gods and men, the word elf is used in personal names where words for monsters and demons are not. Just as álfar is associated with Æsir in Old Norse,
1620-453: A more perfect and happy existence." Anthropologist Jón Haukur Ingimundarson claimed that hidden people tales told by 19th-century Icelandic women were a reflection of how only 47% of women were married, and "sisters often found themselves relegated to very different functions and levels of status in society... the vast majority of Icelandic girls were shunted into supporting roles in the household." He goes on to say that these stories justified
1728-516: A threat to the everyday community by lure people into the elves' world. The most famous example is Elveskud and its many variants (paralleled in English as Clerk Colvill ), where a woman from the elf world tries to tempt a young knight to join her in dancing, or to live among the elves; in some versions he refuses, and in some he accepts, but in either case he dies, tragically. As in Elveskud , sometimes
1836-452: A threatening, even demonic, force. For example, some prayers invoke God's help against nocturnal attacks by Alpe . Correspondingly, in the early modern period, elves are described in north Germany doing the evil bidding of witches; Martin Luther believed his mother to have been afflicted in this way. As in Old Norse, however, there are few characters identified as elves. It seems likely that in
1944-402: Is Alfred (Old English Ælfrēd , "elf-advice"). Also surviving are the English surname Elgar ( Ælfgar , "elf-spear"), and the name of St Alphege ( Ælfhēah , "elf-tall"). German examples are Alberich , Alphart and Alphere (father of Walter of Aquitaine ) and Icelandic examples include Álfhildur . These names suggest that elves were positively regarded in early Germanic culture. Of
2052-451: Is a term applied to jötnar and is mentioned throughout the Old Norse corpus. In Old Norse sources, trolls are said to dwell in isolated mountains, rocks, and caves, sometimes live together (usually as father-and-daughter or mother-and-son), and are rarely described as helpful or friendly. The Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál describes an encounter between an unnamed troll woman and the 9th-century skald Bragi Boddason . According to
2160-530: Is also evidence associating elves with illness, specifically epilepsy. In a similar vein, elves are in Middle High German most often associated with deceiving or bewildering people in a phrase that occurs so often it would appear to be proverbial: die elben/der alp trieget mich ("the elves/elf are/is deceiving me"). The same pattern holds in Early Modern German. This deception sometimes shows
2268-671: Is also to be found in the Prose Edda . The Old High German word alp is attested only in a small number of glosses. It is defined by the Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch as a "nature-god or nature-demon, equated with the Fauns of Classical mythology ... regarded as eerie, ferocious beings ... As the mare he messes around with women". Accordingly, the German word Alpdruck (literally "elf-oppression") means "nightmare". There
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#17328591846882376-790: Is difficult to be sure how many of other words, including personal names, can appear similar to elf , because of confounding elements such as al- (from eald ) meaning "old". The clearest appearances of elves in English examples are Elveden ("elves' hill", Suffolk) and Elvendon ("elves' valley", Oxfordshire); other examples may be Eldon Hill ("Elves' hill", Derbyshire); and Alden Valley ("elves' valley", Lancashire). These associate elves fairly consistently with woods and valleys. The earliest surviving manuscripts mentioning elves in any Germanic language are from Anglo-Saxon England . Medieval English evidence has, therefore, attracted quite extensive research and debate. In Old English, elves are most often mentioned in medical texts which attest to
2484-572: Is from the Old English word most often attested as ælf (whose plural would have been * ælfe ). Although this word took a variety of forms in different Old English dialects, these converged on the form elf during the Middle English period. During the Old English period, separate forms were used for female elves (such as ælfen , putatively from Proto-Germanic * ɑlβ(i)innjō ), but during
2592-412: Is not necessarily the case, however. For example, because the cognates suggest matt white rather than shining white, and because in medieval Scandinavian texts whiteness is associated with beauty, Alaric Hall has suggested that elves may have been called 'the white people' because whiteness was associated with (specifically feminine) beauty. A completely different etymology, making elf a cognate with
2700-432: Is now southern Sweden. There does not seem to have been any clear-cut distinction between humans and gods; like the Æsir, then, elves were presumably thought of as being humanlike and existing in opposition to the giants . Many commentators have also (or instead) argued for conceptual overlap between elves and dwarves in Old Norse mythology, which may fit with trends in the medieval German evidence. There are hints that
2808-494: Is of course perfectly clear. When one's life is conditioned by a landscape dominated by rocks twisted by volcanic action, wind and water into ferocious and alarming shapes... the imagination fastens on these natural phenomena." Ólina Thorvarðardóttir writes: "Oral tales concerning Icelandic elves and trolls no doubt served as warning fables. They prevented many children from wandering away from human habitations, taught Iceland's topographical history, and instilled fear and respect for
2916-403: Is often thought to be derived from it. These all come from a Proto-Indo-European root *h₂elbʰ- , and seem to be connected by the idea of whiteness. The Germanic word presumably originally meant 'white one', perhaps as a euphemism. Jakob Grimm thought whiteness implied positive moral connotations, and, noting Snorri Sturluson's ljósálfar , suggested that elves were divinities of light. This
3024-470: Is ongoing. The noun elf-shot is first attested in a Scots poem, "Rowlis Cursing," from around 1500, where "elf schot" is listed among a range of curses to be inflicted on some chicken thieves. The term may not always have denoted an actual projectile: shot could mean "a sharp pain". But in early modern Scotland, elf-schot and other terms like elf-arrowhead are sometimes used of neolithic arrow-heads , apparently thought to have been made by elves. In
3132-530: Is still relatively common. Even when Icelanders do not explicitly express their belief, they are often reluctant to express disbelief. A 2006 and 2007 study by the University of Iceland's Faculty of Social Sciences revealed that many would not rule out the existence of elves and ghosts, a result similar to a 1974 survey by Erlendur Haraldsson . The lead researcher of the 2006–2007 study, Terry Gunnell , stated: "Icelanders seem much more open to phenomena like dreaming
3240-586: Is to say, the supernaturals protect and enforce religious values and traditional rural culture. The elves fend off, with more or less success, the attacks, and advances of modern technology, palpable in the bulldozer." Elves are also prominent, in similar roles, in contemporary Icelandic literature. Folk stories told in the nineteenth century about elves are still told in modern Denmark and Sweden. Still, they now feature ethnic minorities in place of elves in essentially racist discourse. In an ethnically fairly homogeneous medieval countryside, supernatural beings provided
3348-607: The Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game . Beginning in the 1950s, Troll dolls were a popular toy based on the folklore creature. Trolls based on the dolls appeared in the Hollywood animated movie Trolls (2016) and its subsequent sequels Trolls World Tour (2020), and Trolls Band Together (2023). Troll is the name, and main antagonist, of a 2022 Norwegian movie released by Netflix on December 1, 2022. The Danish artist Thomas Dambo has created from recycled wood
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3456-571: The Prose Edda . In medieval Germanic -speaking cultures, elves were thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. Beliefs varied considerably over time and space and flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures . The word elf is found throughout the Germanic languages . It seems originally to have meant 'white being'. However, reconstructing
3564-535: The Álftanes peninsula to the Reykjavík suburb of Garðabær , was stopped because elf supporters and environmental groups protested, stating that the road would destroy the habitat of elves and local cultural beliefs. In 2013, in Reykjavik, construction on a road was halted because a group of protesters showed up, included people who believed that the construction would “disturb the habitat of elves that live among
3672-491: The Ṛbhus , semi-divine craftsmen in Indian mythology, was suggested by Adalbert Kuhn in 1855. In this case, * ɑlβi-z would connote the meaning 'skilful, inventive, clever', and could be a cognate with Latin labor , in the sense of 'creative work'. While often mentioned, this etymology is not widely accepted. Throughout the medieval Germanic languages, elf was one of the nouns used in personal names , almost invariably as
3780-460: The Elder Edda . The only character explicitly identified as an elf in classical Eddaic poetry, if any, is Völundr , the protagonist of Völundarkviða . However, elves are frequently mentioned in the alliterating phrase Æsir ok Álfar ('Æsir and elves') and its variants. This was a well-established poetic formula , indicating a strong tradition of associating elves with the group of gods known as
3888-677: The Late Middle Ages , the word elf began to be used in English as a term loosely synonymous with the French loan-word fairy ; in elite art and literature, at least, it also became associated with diminutive supernatural beings like Puck , hobgoblins , Robin Goodfellow, the English and Scots brownie , and the Northumbrian English hob . However, in Scotland and parts of northern England near
3996-762: The Other through which everyday people created their identities; in cosmopolitan industrial contexts, ethnic minorities or immigrants are used in storytelling to similar effect. Troll (Iceland) A troll is a being in Nordic folklore , including Norse mythology . In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings. In later Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized , and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on
4104-505: The chivalric sagas tend even to be whimsical. In his Rerum Danicarum fragmenta (1596) written mostly in Latin with some Old Danish and Old Icelandic passages, Arngrímur Jónsson explains the Scandinavian and Icelandic belief in elves (called Allffuafolch ). Both Continental Scandinavia and Iceland have a scattering of mentions of elves in medical texts, sometimes in Latin and sometimes in
4212-674: The early modern period , particularly in Scotland and Scandinavia, where elves were thought of as magically powerful people living, usually invisibly, alongside human communities. They continued to be associated with causing illnesses and with sexual threats. For example, several early modern ballads in the British Isles and Scandinavia, originating in the medieval period, describe elves attempting to seduce or abduct human characters. With modern urbanisation and industrialisation, belief in elves declined rapidly, though Iceland has some claim to continued popular belief. Elves started to be prominent in
4320-618: The subterraneans . Elves have a prominent place in several closely related ballads, which must have originated in the Middle Ages but are first attested in the early modern period. Many of these ballads are first attested in Karen Brahes Folio , a Danish manuscript from the 1570s, but they circulated widely in Scandinavia and northern Britain. They sometimes mention elves because they were learned by heart, even though that term had become archaic in everyday usage. They have therefore played
4428-480: The succubus -like supernatural being called the mare . While they may have been thought to cause diseases with magical weapons, elves are more clearly associated in Old English with a kind of magic denoted by Old English sīden and sīdsa , a cognate with the Old Norse seiðr , and paralleled in the Old Irish Serglige Con Culainn . By the fourteenth century, they were also associated with
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4536-613: The svartálfar create new blond hair for Thor's wife Sif after Loki had shorn off Sif's long hair. However, these terms are attested only in the Prose Edda and texts based on it. It is now agreed that they reflect traditions of dwarves , demons , and angels , partly showing Snorri's "paganisation" of a Christian cosmology learned from the Elucidarius , a popular digest of Christian thought. Scholars of Old Norse mythology now focus on references to elves in Old Norse poetry, particularly
4644-578: The Æsir , or even suggesting that the elves and Æsir were one and the same. The pairing is paralleled in the Old English poem Wið færstice and in the Germanic personal name system; moreover, in Skaldic verse the word elf is used in the same way as words for gods. Sigvatr Þórðarson 's skaldic travelogue Austrfaravísur , composed around 1020, mentions an álfablót ('elves' sacrifice') in Edskogen in what
4752-568: The 12th century, and the association of dancing with elves can be seen as early as the 15th century. One folktale shows the elves siding with the common people and taking revenge on a sheriff who banned dance parties. Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir concludes that these legends "show that Icelanders missed dancing". In the 13th and 14th centuries, books from mainland Europe reached Iceland, and may have influenced folktales about elves. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson writes: "Round about 1600 sources for hidden folk become so voluminous that we can readily define
4860-467: The 1950s when electricity was brought to the island. "The Elf Maiden" is a Norse folklore about a young man who marries an elf woman. As their marriage progresses, the elf maiden begins to periodically, miraculously disappear from his sight. The elf maiden finally tells her husband that she will eventually disappear, permanently, and that the only way to prevent it is by hammering a nail into a threshold According to Scandinavian Author Ármann Jakobsson, “In
4968-603: The Dark-Elves dwell down in the earth, and they are unlike in appearance, but bu far more unlike in nature. The Light-Elves are fairer to look upon than the sun, but the Dark-Elves are blacker than pitch.” Elf An elf ( pl. : elves ) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore . Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology , being mentioned in the Icelandic Poetic Edda and
5076-530: The Elf-Knight , in which the Elf-Knight bears away Isabel to murder her, or the Scandinavian Harpans kraft . In The Queen of Elfland's Nourice , a woman is abducted to be a wet nurse to the elf-queen's baby, but promised that she might return home once the child is weaned. In folk stories, Scandinavian elves often play the role of disease spirits. The most common, though the also most harmless case
5184-695: The Eyrbyggja saga", we find the familiar idea that people are expected to relieve themselves at a safe distance from a sacred spot, and the word used (dlfrek) indicates that the alfar be expected to get angry.” In her book, Icelandic Folktales and Legends , Jacqueline Simpson provides two origins stories for the Huldufolk. The first story says the Huldufolk are some of the children of Adam and Eve. These children were not washed and therefore Eve avoided presenting them to God. In return, God said; “That which had to be hidden from Me, shall also be hidden from man,” thus creating
5292-467: The German-speaking world, elves were to a significant extent conflated with dwarves ( Middle High German : getwerc ). Thus, some dwarves that appear in German heroic poetry have been seen as relating to elves. In particular, nineteenth-century scholars tended to think that the dwarf Alberich, whose name etymologically means "elf-powerful," was influenced by early traditions of elves. From around
5400-503: The Middle English period the word elf routinely came to include female beings. The Old English forms are cognates – having a common origin – with medieval Germanic terms such as Old Norse alfr ('elf'; plural alfar ), Old High German alp ('evil spirit'; pl. alpî , elpî ; feminine elbe ), Burgundian * alfs ('elf'), and Middle Low German alf ('evil spirit'). These words must come from Proto-Germanic ,
5508-604: The Old English Wið færstice associates elves with ēse ; whatever this word meant by the tenth century, etymologically it denoted pagan gods. In Old English, the plural ylfe (attested in Beowulf ) is grammatically an ethnonym (a word for an ethnic group), suggesting that elves were seen as people. As well as appearing in medical texts, the Old English word ælf and its feminine derivative ælbinne were used in glosses to translate Latin words for nymphs . This fits well with
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#17328591846885616-444: The Old Norse word álfr . The following table summarises the situation in the main modern standard languages of Scandinavia. The elves of Norse mythology have survived into folklore mainly as females, living in hills and mounds of stones. The Swedish älvor were stunningly beautiful girls who lived in the forest with an elven king. The elves could be seen dancing over meadows, particularly at night and on misty mornings. They left
5724-624: The Rhymer , where a man meets a female elf; Tam Lin , The Elfin Knight , and Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight , in which an Elf-Knight rapes, seduces, or abducts a woman; and The Queen of Elfland's Nourice , a woman is abducted to be a wet-nurse to the elf queen's baby, but promised that she might return home once the child is weaned. In Scandinavian folklore , many humanlike supernatural beings are attested, which might be thought of as elves and partly originate in medieval Scandinavian beliefs. However,
5832-453: The Scottish border, beliefs in elves remained prominent into the nineteenth century. James VI of Scotland and Robert Kirk discussed elves seriously; elf beliefs are prominently attested in the Scottish witchcraft trials, particularly the trial of Issobel Gowdie ; and related stories also appear in folktales, There is a significant corpus of ballads narrating stories about elves, such as Thomas
5940-408: The absence of trolls in regions of Scandinavia is described in folklore as being a "consequence of the constant din of the church-bells". This ringing caused the trolls to leave for other lands, although not without some resistance; numerous traditions relate how trolls destroyed a church under construction or hurled boulders and stones at completed churches. Large local stones are sometimes described as
6048-512: The ancestor-language of the attested Germanic languages ; the Proto-Germanic forms are reconstructed as * ɑlβi-z and * ɑlβɑ-z . Germanic *ɑlβi-z~*ɑlβɑ-z is generally agreed to be a cognate with Latin albus ('(matt) white'), Old Irish ailbhín ('flock'), Ancient Greek ἀλφός ( alphós ; 'whiteness, white leprosy';), and Albanian elb ('barley'); and the Germanic word for 'swan' reconstructed as *albit- (compare Modern Icelandic álpt )
6156-403: The arcane practice of alchemy . In one or two Old English medical texts, elves might be envisaged as inflicting illnesses with projectiles. In the twentieth century, scholars often labelled the illnesses elves caused as " elf-shot ", but work from the 1990s onwards showed that the medieval evidence for elves' being thought to cause illnesses in this way is slender; debate about its significance
6264-537: The belief that elves might afflict humans and livestock with illnesses: apparently mostly sharp, internal pains and mental disorders. The most famous of the medical texts is the metrical charm Wið færstice ("against a stabbing pain"), from the tenth-century compilation Lacnunga , but most of the attestations are in the tenth-century Bald's Leechbook and Leechbook III . This tradition continues into later English-language traditions too: elves continue to appear in Middle English medical texts. Belief in elves as
6372-484: The beliefs and legends about them, and after that there is one source after another about them right down into the twentieth century." According to Árni Björnsson, belief in hidden people grew during the 17th and 18th centuries when Iceland was facing tough times. There are four Icelandic holidays considered to have a special connection with hidden people: New Year's Eve, Thirteenth Night (January 6), Midsummer Night and Christmas night. Elf bonfires ( álfabrennur ) are
6480-405: The beliefs are simplified and exaggerated for the entertainment of children and tourists, and that it is a somewhat misrepresentative yet harmless trick used by the tourism industry to entice visitors. The stories of elves may have been fun tales rather than beliefs. The Icelandic Elf School in Reykjavík organizes five-hour-long educational excursions for visitors. Hafnarfjörður offers
6588-466: The characteristics and names of these beings have varied widely across time and space, and they cannot be neatly categorised. These beings are sometimes known by words descended directly from the Old Norse álfr . However, in modern languages, traditional terms related to álfr have tended to be replaced with other terms. Things are further complicated because when referring to the elves of Old Norse mythology, scholars have adopted new forms based directly on
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#17328591846886696-523: The dead. Troll , a Norwegian research station in Antarctica , is so named because of the rugged mountains which stand around that place like trolls. It includes a ground station which tracks satellites in polar orbit . Trolls have appeared in many works of modern fiction, most often in the fantasy genre, with classic examples being the portrayal of trolls in works such as in Tolkien's Middle-earth or
6804-501: The differences in role and status between sisters, and "inculcated in young girls the... stoic adage never to despair, which was a psychological preparedness many would need as they found themselves reduced in status and denied the proper outlet for their sexuality in marriage, thereby sometimes having to rely on infanticide to take care of the unsolicited and insupportable effects of their occasional amours, an element... related in huldufólk stories." Anna Pietrzkiewicz contends that
6912-617: The early concept depends largely on texts written by Christians, in Old and Middle English , medieval German, and Old Norse . These associate elves variously with the gods of Norse mythology , with causing illness, with magic, and with beauty and seduction. After the medieval period, the word elf became less common throughout the Germanic languages, losing out to terms like Zwerg ('dwarf') in German and huldra ('hidden being') in North Germanic languages , and to loan-words like fairy (borrowed from French). Still, belief in elves persisted in
7020-477: The elf dance is a common motif transferred from older Scandinavian ballads. 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 the condition that the king's cattle no longer graze on her hill. She is described as a beautiful old woman and by her aspect people saw that she belonged to
7128-565: The elf of Geirstaðir'), and a demonic elf at the beginning of Norna-Gests þáttr . The legendary sagas tend to focus on elves as legendary ancestors or on heroes' sexual relations with elf-women. Mention of the land of Álfheimr is found in Heimskringla while Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar recounts a line of local kings who ruled over Álfheim , who since they had elven blood were said to be more beautiful than most men. According to Hrólfs saga kraka , Hrolfr Kraki 's half-sister Skuld
7236-508: The elves by offering a treat (preferably butter) placed into an elven mill. In order to protect themselves and their livestock against malevolent elves, Scandinavians could use a so-called Elf cross ( Alfkors , Älvkors or Ellakors ), which was carved into buildings or other objects. It existed in two shapes, one was a pentagram , and it was still frequently used in early 20th-century Sweden as painted or carved onto doors, walls, and household utensils to protect against elves. The second form
7344-467: The elves of modern popular culture. Christmas elves are a relatively recent creation, popularized during the late 19th century in the United States. Elves entered the twentieth-century high fantasy genre in the wake of J. R. R. Tolkien 's works; these re-popularised the idea of elves as human-sized and humanlike beings. Elves remain a prominent feature of fantasy media today. The English word elf
7452-697: The end dangerous, regardless of how well they might get along with Christian society, and trolls display a habit of bergtagning ('kidnapping'; literally "mountain-taking") and overrunning a farm or estate. Lindow states that the etymology of the word "troll" remains uncertain, though he defines trolls in later Swedish folklore as "nature beings" and as "all-purpose otherworldly being[s], equivalent, for example, to fairies in Anglo - Celtic traditions". They "therefore appear in various migratory legends where collective nature-beings are called for". Lindow notes that trolls are sometimes swapped out for cats and "little people" in
7560-528: The everyday person is a man and the elf a woman, as also in Elvehøj (much the same story as Elveskud, but with a happy ending), Herr Magnus og Bjærgtrolden , Herr Tønne af Alsø , Herr Bøsmer i elvehjem , or the Northern British Thomas the Rhymer . Sometimes the everyday person is a woman, and the elf is a man, as in the northern British Tam Lin , The Elfin Knight , and Lady Isabel and
7668-628: The existence of hidden people. Several modern surveys have been made showing a surprising number of believers. Around 7–8% claim to be certain that elves exist, and around 45% claim it is likely or possible. These surveys have been criticized as being misrepresentative, as journalists have claimed that they show that a majority of Icelanders believe in elves, despite belief not being that serious. Folklore professor Terry Gunnell has said: "Very few will say immediately that they 'believe' in such, but they won't deny it either." Different ways of asking could elicit very different responses. Árni Björnsson claims
7776-399: The folklore record. A Scandinavian folk belief that lightning frightens away trolls and jötnar appears in numerous Scandinavian folktales, and may be a late reflection of the god Thor 's role in fighting such beings. In connection, the lack of trolls and jötnar in modern Scandinavia is sometimes explained as a result of the "accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes". Additionally,
7884-541: The form of amulets, where elves are viewed as a possible cause of illness. Most of them have Low German connections. Sometimes elves are, like dwarves , associated with craftsmanship. Wayland the Smith embodies this feature. He is known under many names, depending on the language in which the stories were distributed. The names include Völund in Old Norse, Wēland in Anglo-Saxon and Wieland in German. The story of Wayland
7992-467: The future, forebodings, ghosts and elves than other nations". Whether significant numbers of Icelandic people do believe in elves or not, elves are certainly prominent in national discourses. They occur most often in oral narratives and news reporting in which they disrupt house- and road-building. In the analysis of Valdimar Tr. Hafstein , "narratives about the insurrections of elves demonstrate supernatural sanction against development and urbanization; that
8100-698: The god Freyr was associated with elves. In particular, Álfheimr (literally "elf-world") is mentioned as being given to Freyr in Grímnismál . Snorri Sturluson identified Freyr as one of the Vanir . However, the term Vanir is rare in Eddaic verse, very rare in Skaldic verse, and is not generally thought to appear in other Germanic languages. Given the link between Freyr and the elves, it has therefore long been suspected that álfar and Vanir are, more or less, different words for
8208-427: The grass had been flattened like a floor. Elves had danced there. By Lake Tisnaren , 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. 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. Humans being invited or lured to
8316-416: The harsh powers of nature." Michael Strmiska writes: "The Huldufólk are... not so much super natural as ultra natural, representing not an overcoming of nature in the hope of a better deal beyond but a deep reverence for the land and the mysterious powers able to cause fertility or famine." Pálsdóttir claims that in a landscape filled with earthquakes, avalanches, and volcanoes, "it is no wonder that
8424-468: The heart-smit heifers lie. Because of elves' association with illness, in the twentieth century, most scholars imagined that elves in the Anglo-Saxon tradition were small, invisible, demonic beings, causing illnesses with arrows. This was encouraged by the idea that "elf-shot" is depicted in the Eadwine Psalter , in an image which became well known in this connection. However, this is now thought to be
8532-415: The hidden people symbolize idealized Icelandic identity and society, the key elements of which are seeing the "past as a source of pride and nature as unique and pure." Hidden people often appear in the dreams of Icelanders. They are usually described as wearing 19th-century Icelandic clothing, and are often described as wearing green. In one version of modern Faroese folklore, the hidden people vanished in
8640-450: The idea of a Fairy Queen . A propensity to seduce or rape people becomes increasingly prominent in the source material. Around the fifteenth century, evidence starts to appear for the belief that elves might steal human babies and replace them with changelings . By the end of the medieval period, elf was increasingly being supplanted by the French loan-word fairy . An example is Geoffrey Chaucer 's satirical tale Sir Thopas , where
8748-402: The latter have a convex rather than concave philtrum (Icelandic: vuldulág ) below their noses. In Faroese folk tales, hidden people are said to be "large in build, their clothes are all grey, and their hair black. Their dwellings are in mounds, and they are also called Elves." Some Icelandic folk tales caution against throwing stones, as it may hit the hidden people. The term huldufólk
8856-515: The latter-day Icelandic álfar and huldufólk ." He also writes: " Huldufólk and álfar undoubtedly arose from the same need. The Norse settlers had the álfar , the Irish slaves had the hill fairies or the Good People. Over time, they became two different beings, but really they are two different sets of folklore that mean the same thing." Precursors to elves/hidden people can be found in
8964-472: The literature and art of educated elites from the early modern period onwards. These literary elves were imagined as tiny, playful beings, with William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night's Dream a key development of this idea. In the eighteenth century, German Romantic writers were influenced by this notion of the elf, and re-imported the English word elf into the German language. From the Romantic notion came
9072-478: The many words for supernatural beings in Germanic languages, the only ones regularly used in personal names are elf and words denoting pagan gods, suggesting that elves were considered to be similar to gods. In later Old Icelandic, alfr ("elf") and the personal name which in Common Germanic had been * Aþa(l)wulfaz both coincidentally became álfr~Álfr . Elves appear in some place names, though it
9180-528: The native people have assigned some secret life to the landscape. There had to be some unseen powers behind such unpredictability, such cruelty." Alan Boucher writes: "Thus the Icelander's ambivalent attitude towards nature, the enemy and the provider, is clearly expressed in these stories, which preserve a good deal of popular—and in some cases probably pre-christian—belief." Robert Anderson writes that syncretism "is active in Iceland where Christianity, spiritism, and Icelandic elf lore have syncretized in at least
9288-615: The poem Beowulf emphasizes not the harrying of Grendel but the cleansing of the hall of Beowulf, so the modern tales stress the moment when the trolls are driven off." Smaller trolls are attested as living in burial mounds and in mountains in Scandinavian folk tradition. In Denmark, these creatures are recorded as troldfolk ("troll-folk"), bjergtrolde ("mountain-trolls"), or bjergfolk ("mountain-folk") and in Norway also as trollfolk ("troll-folk") and tusser . Trolls may be described as small, human-like beings or as tall as men depending on
9396-413: The poem is to rape Böðvildr , the poem associates elves with being a sexual threat to maidens. The same idea is present in two post-classical Eddaic poems, which are also influenced by chivalric romance or Breton lais , Kötludraumur and Gullkársljóð . The idea also occurs in later traditions in Scandinavia and beyond, so it may be an early attestation of a prominent tradition. Elves also appear in
9504-684: The presence of elves in everyday beliefs in medieval Scandinavia. They include a fleeting mention of elves seen out riding in 1168 (in Sturlunga saga ); mention of an álfablót ("elves' sacrifice") in Kormáks saga ; and the existence of the euphemism ganga álfrek ('go to drive away the elves') for "going to the toilet" in Eyrbyggja saga . The Kings' sagas include a rather elliptical but widely studied account of an early Swedish king being worshipped after his death and being called Ólafr Geirstaðaálfr ('Ólafr
9612-412: The product of a troll's toss. Additionally, into the 20th century, the origins of particular Scandinavian landmarks, such as particular stones, are ascribed to trolls who may, for example, have turned to stone upon exposure to sunlight. Lindow compares the trolls of the Swedish folk tradition to Grendel , the supernatural mead hall invader in the Old English poem Beowulf , and notes that "just as
9720-589: The region of origin of the story. In Norwegian tradition, similar tales may be told about the larger trolls and the Huldrefolk ("hidden-folk"), yet a distinction is made between the two. The use of the word trow in Orkney and Shetland, to mean beings which are very like the Huldrefolk in Norway, may suggest a common origin for the terms. The word troll may have been used by pagan Norse settlers in Orkney and Shetland as
9828-409: The rocks.” In her book, Icelandic Folktales and Legends , Jacqueline Simpson says that Elves, “can do both good and evil, and both in the highest degree.” In Snorri Sturluson’s The Prose Edda , the story of “The Beluiling of Gylfi,” Elves are described as being either Dark or Light, both in manner and appearance: “That which is called Alfheimer is one, where dwell the peoples called Light Elves; but
9936-400: The same as human beings, without any particularly hideous appearance about them, but living far away from human habitation and generally having "some form of social organization"—unlike the rå and näck , who are attested as "solitary beings". According to John Lindow , what sets them apart is that they are not Christian, and those who encounter them do not know them. Therefore, trolls were in
10044-488: The same group of beings. However, this is not uniformly accepted. A kenning (poetic metaphor) for the sun, álfröðull (literally "elf disc"), is of uncertain meaning but is to some suggestive of a close link between elves and the sun. Although the relevant words are of slightly uncertain meaning, it seems fairly clear that Völundr is described as one of the elves in Völundarkviða . As his most prominent deed in
10152-404: The section, Bragi was driving through "a certain forest" late one evening when a troll woman aggressively asked him who he was, in the process describing herself: Old Norse : Anthony Faulkes translation: John Lindow translation: Bragi responds in turn, describing himself and his abilities as a skillful skald , before the scenario ends. There is much confusion and overlap in
10260-441: The seductive side apparent in English and Scandinavian material: most famously, the early thirteenth-century Heinrich von Morungen 's fifth Minnesang begins "Von den elben wirt entsehen vil manic man / Sô bin ich von grôzer liebe entsên" ("full many a man is bewitched by elves / thus I too am bewitched by great love"). Elbe was also used in this period to translate words for nymphs. In later medieval prayers, Elves appear as
10368-608: The source, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them. Trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks in Scandinavian folklore, which at times may be explained as formed from a troll exposed to sunlight. Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in modern popular culture. The Old Norse nouns troll and trǫll (variously meaning "fiend, demon, werewolf , jötunn ") and Middle High German troll, trolle "fiend" (according to philologist Vladimir Orel ,
10476-629: The term is used to denote various beings, such as a jötunn or mountain-dweller, a witch, an abnormally strong or large or ugly person, an evil spirit, a ghost, a blámaðr , a magical boar, a heathen demi-god, a demon, a brunnmigi , or a berserker . Later in Scandinavian folklore, trolls become defined as a particular type of being. Numerous tales are recorded about trolls in which they are frequently described as being extremely old, very strong, but slow and dim-witted, and are at times described as man-eaters and as turning to stone upon contact with sunlight. However, trolls are also attested as looking much
10584-533: The title character sets out in a quest for the "elf-queen", who dwells in the "countree of the Faerie". Evidence for elf beliefs in medieval Scandinavia outside Iceland is sparse, but the Icelandic evidence is uniquely rich. For a long time, views about elves in Old Norse mythology were defined by Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda , which talks about svartálfar , dökkálfar and ljósálfar ("black elves", "dark elves", and "light elves"). For example, Snorri recounts how
10692-508: The use of Old Norse terms jötunn , troll , þurs , and risi , which describe various beings. Lotte Motz theorized that these were originally four distinct classes of beings: lords of nature ( jötunn ), mythical magicians ( troll ), hostile monsters ( þurs ), and heroic and courtly beings ( risi ), the last class being the youngest addition. On the other hand, Ármann Jakobson is critical of Motz's interpretation and calls this theory "unsupported by any convincing evidence". Ármann highlights that
10800-404: The word ælfscȳne , which meant "elf-beautiful" and is attested describing the seductively beautiful Biblical heroines Sarah and Judith . Likewise, in Middle English and early modern Scottish evidence, while still appearing as causes of harm and danger, elves appear clearly as humanlike beings. They became associated with medieval chivalric romance traditions of fairies and particularly with
10908-516: The word is likely borrowed from Old Norse), possibly developed from Proto-Germanic neuter noun * trullan , meaning "to tread, step on". The origin of the Proto-Germanic word is unknown. Additionally, the Old Norse verb trylla 'to enchant, to turn into a troll' and the Middle High German verb trüllen "to flutter" both developed from the Proto-Germanic verb * trulljanan , a derivative of * trullan . In Norse mythology, troll , like thurs ,
11016-797: The writings of Snorri Sturluson and in skaldic verse . Elves were also mentioned in Poetic Edda , and appear to be connected to fertility. The Christianization of Iceland in the 11th century brought with it new religious concepts . According to one Christian folk tale, the origins of the hidden people can be traced to Adam and Eve . Eve hid her dirty, unwashed children from God, and lied about their existence. God then declared: "What man hides from God, God will hide from man." Other Christian folktales claim that hidden people originate from Lilith , or are fallen angels condemned to live between heaven and hell. In succession of Christianization, official opposition to dancing may have begun in Iceland as early as
11124-837: The “hidden people”/ Huldufolk/Elves, out of the children and their offspring. The second folktale describing the origin of Huldufolk says that when the devil raised a revolt in heaven, the people who were not siding with him, but also not against him were sent down to Earth. They would live in, “knowles, hills, and rocks” and “cannot live with other people.” These people are the Huldifolk or Elves. A survey of Icelanders born between 1870 and 1920 found that people did not generally believe in hidden people and that when they had learned about supernatural beings in their youth, those lessons had mostly been made for amusement. About 10% seemed to actually believe in hidden people. A survey from 1974 showed that among those born between 1904 and 1944, 7% were certain of
11232-468: Was an ordinary cross carved onto a round or oblong silver plate. This second kind of elf cross was worn as a pendant in a necklace, and to have sufficient magic, it had to be forged during three evenings with silver, from nine different sources of inherited silver. In some locations it also had to be on the altar of a church for three consecutive Sundays. In Iceland, expressing belief in the huldufólk ("hidden people"), elves that dwell in rock formations,
11340-771: Was often impeded by elves. In 1982, 150 Icelanders went to the NATO base in Keflavík to look for "elves who might be endangered by American Phantom jets and AWACS reconnaissance planes." In 2004, Alcoa had to have a government expert certify that their chosen building site was free of archaeological sites, including ones related to huldufólk folklore, before they could build an aluminium smelter in Iceland. In 2011, elves/ huldufólk were believed by some to be responsible for an incident in Bolungarvík where rocks rained down on residential streets. In 2013, proposed road construction from
11448-893: Was taken as a synonym of álfar (elves) in 19th-century Icelandic folklore. Jón Árnason found that the terms are synonymous, except álfar is a pejorative term. Konrad von Maurer contends that huldufólk originates as a euphemism to avoid calling the álfar by their real name. There is, however, some evidence that the two terms have come to be taken as referring to two distinct sets of supernatural beings in contemporary Iceland. Katrin Sontag found that some people do not differentiate elves from hidden people, while others do. A 2006 survey found that "54% of respondents did not distinguish between elves and hidden people, 20% did and 26% said they were not sure." Terry Gunnell writes: "different beliefs could have lived side by side in multicultural settlement Iceland before they gradually blended into
11556-597: Was the half-elven child of King Helgi and an elf-woman ( álfkona ). Skuld was skilled in witchcraft ( seiðr ). Accounts of Skuld in earlier sources, however, do not include this material. The Þiðreks saga version of the Nibelungen (Niflungar) describes Högni as the son of a human queen and an elf, but no such lineage is reported in the Eddas, Völsunga saga , or the Nibelungenlied . The relatively few mentions of elves in
11664-400: Was various irritating skin rashes , which were called älvablåst (elven puff) 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 (pictogram on a rock) found in Scandinavia, were known in older times as älvkvarnar (elven mills), because it was believed elves had used them. One could appease
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