Elves
Everywhere you look these days in popular culture, you
aren’t surprised to come across some elves. Spurred by
the recent success of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
series as a motion picture trilogy, interest in elves
has skyrocketed. But elves are far from a recent
literary invention. Elves have been present in cultural
mythologies all over the world for centuries.
The depiction of elves throughout history
Elves can traditionally be found in the mythologies of
northern European Germanic cultures. The earliest
descriptions of elves are found in Norse mythology. In
Norse mythology, elves are beautiful human-sized beings
with special powers who are somehow semi-divine. Some
scholars write that elves in Norse mythology were
closely related to the god Vanir, the god of fertility.
Elves can also be found in Scandinavian folklore, which
is a combination of Norse mythology and Christian
mythology. In Scandinavian folklore, elves are primarily
beautiful women who dance in meadows in the evening and
morning. Elves lived long lives, and were generally
friendly; however, you would do well to never insult an
elf. If an elf was offended, they were known to bring
diseases upon the person who offended them, with the
consequences ranging from a slight skin rash to a full
on fatal disease. For this reason, epidemics and other
sicknesses in Scandinavian society were often blamed on
vengeful elves.
This vengeful streak can be seen in a muted manner in
German elves. In German folklore, elves are small
pranksters who give diseases to people and cattle, and
are the source of bad dreams. Indeed, the German word
for nightmare, Albtraum, actually means ‘elf dream’. A
similar conception of elves is seen in English folklore,
although elves in English folklore have lost most of
their nasty edge, being mainly known as pranksters and
grouped in with fairies.
Elves in modern culture
As stated above, elves reemerged in popular culture with
the remarkable success of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit
and the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the 1950s. In
Tolkien’s work, the elves resemble the elves from Norse
mythology: human-sized with god-like powers. Missing
from the elves in Tolkien’s work is the mischievousness
of elves in German and English folklore, or the
vengefulness of elves from Scandinavian folklore.
Instead, the elves in Tolkien’s work are firmly on the
side of good in the great battles with evil forces.
The elves from Tolkien’s work were taken up in Dungeons
& Dragons, the popular fantasy role playing game, in the
1970s. From there, elves became a staple of fantasy
worlds, both in print and on television and in movies,
along with dwarves and dragons and other mythical
creatures found in Tolkien’s work.
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Review Our Directory for Elf And Fairies
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Our Best Web Links For Elf And Fairies
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1. Faery Moon Home
... Prev | List | Join | Next Powered by RingSurf Poser, 3D Modeling, 3D characters, faery, fairy, faeries, fairies, sprites, elf, elven, elves, faerymoon, faery moon, fairymoon, fairy moon, anime, Poser ...
http://www.faerymoon.us/ |
2. Thanksgiving cards for kids
http://3270.u3demi.info/
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3. try.games.is - Puzzle
http://try.games.is/category/cat=5
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4. LuLu Design - Artist Kathy Crabbe
... to the world of LuLu Design "art for the elf in you" created by artist Kathy Crabbe Celtic Cats Dogs Frames Fairies Mermaids Originals Goddesses Lefties Product Info ~ Links ~ Join Mailing List ...
http://www.luludesign.com/ |
5. Mu Online Guides
... 6.6 Votes:32 How to play Elf(fairies) General Elf All PupPupPy 6.6 Votes:7 Tips for the noobs Tips to train & get rich etc General All Beginner LaStKnight 6.6 Votes:33 BIT OF ADVICE ON BUILDING E ELF ...
http://muhq.com/forums/index.php?act=portal&site=8 |
6. Aerose Artistry Airbrush Art By Denise Gallery And Site Index
... north, beat south, angels, airbrushed angels, airbrushed crosses, iron cross, fantasy, elves, elf, fairies, fairy, unicorn, dragonslayer, horror, dark art, vampire, Automotive, Cars, Trucks, Bikes ...
http://www.aeroseartistry.com/gallery.html |
7. MNDAWA - Motor Neurone Disease Association of WA
... Ann Lambert OTHER DONATIONS Margaret Donald ªª Top of Page ´´ Sausage Sizzle with Santa, his Elf and Fairies Please join us to start the Christmas celebrations with our annual Christmas Family Fun Day ...
http://www.mndawa.iinet.net.au/Newsletter.html |
8. EQ2 Everquest 2 Priest Guide
... Entrace to Oakmyst from Graystone Yard Oakmyst Fairies The Toxic Bog Slug! Now you must go out into ... ... From: Screenshots Races :: Barbarian :: Dark Elf :: Dwarf :: Erudite :: Froglok :: Gnome :: Half ...
http://www.eq2online.com/ ...uides-priestguide.php |
9. Fantasy t-shirts, hats, more | OffLine | Elf: Green Text < Fantasy
... posters, and more! Fantasy Dragons, fairies, mystical swords, pirates and more << Dragon Lizard | Have Fun Storming the Castle! >> Fantasy > Elf: Green Text Elf: Green Text For other ...
http://www.offlinetshirts ...tasy.cgi/elfgreentext |
10. Fairies, fairies, and more fairies
... fairy was adapted from Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance" CD cover. The fairy and elf graphics on this page, and many of the fairies in the forest, came from public-domain black-and-white collections.
http://www.xmission.com/~ ...ox/glenda/fairies.htm |
11. Ooak Doll Products
... 57.03 OOAK ELF FAIRY FAIRIES FANTASY NYMPH ART DOLL CDLITE $150.00 OOAK Jacks pacific artist made doll $1.25 DAWN DOLL PIPPA REROOT LONGLOCKS OOAK GORGEOUS AQUA $9.99 Volks NEO-EB Dollfie figure Model ...
http://www.hideawayforums.com/ooakdoll.html |
12. Fairy flower garden
... Venetian ... Guided by the Angels, the flower fairies are spirits of the garden. ... www ... ... or, The ... "This is a fairy flower," said the Elf, "invisible to every eye save yours; ... and in ...
http://308.dztxb1.info/ |
13. Smurfs Cartoon Episode Guide & Theme Song Lyrics - BlueBuddies.com
... Ends Smurfy Gargamel steals fairy gold, and the fairies accuse the Smurfs of stealing it, leading into ... ... Smurfing In Sign Language Laconia the mute wood elf teaches a magically soundless Poet the wonders ...
http://bluebuddies.com/he ...oon_episode_guide.htm |
14. eBay Store - Chosen Treasures4u: GARDEN GNOMES FAIRIES, DESIGNER SHOES, COLL...
... ITEMS (58) PIXIES/ANTHONY FISHER (120) FAIRIES (60) MODEL SHIPS (37) CHRISTMAS/ANGELS (95 ... ... 2 PIXIES ON ROPES- ANTHONY FISHER- 8.5 IN. ELVES ELF US $24.99 Time Left: 2h00m EIGHTEEN ...
http://stores.ebay.com/Chosen-Treasures4u |
15. Santa's World Site Christmas Stories
... Tips Santa's Links FAQ's/Contact Free Stuff Links Elf Bowling Game Free Screen Savers Xmas Wallpapers ... ... Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch ...
http://www.santasworldsit .../christmasstories.htm |
16. Squirl: Fairies Lanterns Elf
... Login Fairy Cards Created by Enchanted_Ways | 50 items Share VIEW: < PREV NEXT > Fairies Lanterns Elf [POSTCARD] Rating: Description M.T. "Penny" Ross circa 1914 Illustration for a children's ...
http://squirl.info/asset/ ...=Postcard&cid=342&i=4 |
17. Frankenmuth Hotels -- Zehnder's Splash Village
... at Elf hollow cafe. A towering 26-foot tree is a prominent feature in the new hotel lobby with a large gas fireplace built into the trunk. Zehnder's Splash Village includes elves and fairies as ...
http://www.zehnders.com/new-site/hotel/index.htm |
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