The Elven (The Saga of the Elven Book 1)

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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. [95] But although limited, these texts provide some of the best evidence for 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. [95] [96] Elves have in many times and places been believed to be real beings. [3] Where enough people have believed in the reality of elves that those beliefs then had real effects in the world, they can be understood as part of people's worldview, and as a social reality: a thing which, like the exchange value of a dollar bill or the sense of pride stirred up by a national flag, is real because of people's beliefs rather than as an objective reality. [3] Accordingly, beliefs about elves and their social functions have varied over time and space. [4]

Kuhn, Adalbert (1855). "Die sprachvergleichung und die urgeschichte der indogermanischen völker". Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung. 4. .Even in the twenty-first century, fantasy stories about elves have been argued both to reflect and to shape their audiences' understanding of the real world, [5] [6] and traditions about Santa Claus and his elves relate to Christmas. Taylor, Lynda (2014). The Cultural Significance of Elves in Northern European Balladry (PhD). University of Leeds. Schulz, Monika (2000). Magie oder: Die Wiederherstellung der Ordnung. Beiträge zur Europäischen Ethnologie und Folklore, Reihe A: Texte und Untersuchungen. Vol.5. Frankfurt am Main: Lang. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1984). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Book of Lost Tales. Vol.1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-35439-0. Ingwersen, Niels (1995). "The Need for Narrative: The Folktale as Response to History". Scandinavian Studies. 67 (1): 77–90. JSTOR 40919731.

Likewise, in Middle English and early modern Scottish evidence, while still appearing as causes of harm and danger, elves appear clearly as humanlike beings. [73] They became associated with medieval chivalric romance traditions of fairies and particularly with the idea of a Fairy Queen. A propensity to seduce or rape people becomes increasingly prominent in the source material. [74] Around the fifteenth century, evidence starts to appear for the belief that elves might steal human babies and replace them with changelings. [75] Decline in the use of the word elf Ford, Judy Ann; Reid, Robin Anne (2011). "Into the West: Far Green Country or Shadow on the Waters?". In Bogstad, Janice M.; Kaveny, Philip E. (eds.). Picturing Tolkien. McFarland. p.172. ISBN 978-0-7864-8473-7.Hall, Alaric Timothy Peter (2004). The Meanings of Elf and Elves in Medieval England (PDF) (PhD). University of Glasgow. Hostetter, Carl F. (2013) [2007]. "Languages Invented by Tolkien". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Routledge. pp.332–343. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1. Like words for gods and men, the word elf is used in personal names where words for monsters and demons are not. [68] Just as álfar is associated with Æsir in Old Norse, the Old English Wið færstice associates elves with ēse; whatever this word meant by the tenth century, etymologically it denoted pagan gods. [69] 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. [70] [71] 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 the word ælfscȳne, which meant "elf-beautiful" and is attested describing the seductively beautiful Biblical heroines Sarah and Judith. [72] a b Þorgeirsson, Haukur (March 2023). "J. R. R. Tolkien and the Ethnography of the Elves". Notes and Queries. 70 (1): 6–7. doi: 10.1093/notesj/gjad007.

In later Old Icelandic, alfr ("elf") and the personal name which in Common Germanic had been * Aþa(l)wulfaz both coincidentally became álfr~Álfr. [46]Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955). The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 519647821. Needless to say they are not Celtic! Neither are the tales. I do know Celtic things (many in their original languages Irish and Welsh), and feel for them a certain distaste: largely for their fundamental unreason. They have bright colour, but are like a broken stained glass window reassembled without design. They are in fact "mad" as your reader says – but I don't believe I am. [T 7] oaf, n.1. [ permanent dead link]", " auf(e, n. [ permanent dead link]" , OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2018. Accessed 1 September 2018. Burns, Marjorie (2005). Perilous realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth. University of Toronto Press. pp.22–23. ISBN 0-8020-3806-9.