Editing Elf (section)

== In medieval texts and post-medieval folk belief ==

=== Medieval English-language sources ===

==== As causes of illnesses ====

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.{{sfnp|Jolly|1996}}{{sfnp|Shippey|2005}}{{sfnp|Hall|2007}}{{sfnp|Green|2016}} In Old English, elves are most often mentioned in medical texts which attest to 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 [[Anglo-Saxon metrical charms|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|''Bald's Leechbook'' and ''Leechbook III'']]. This tradition continues into later English-language traditions too: elves continue to appear in Middle English medical texts.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=88–89, 141}}; {{harvp|Green|2003}}; {{harvp|Hall|2006}}.</ref>

Belief in elves as 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.<ref>{{harvp|Henderson|Cowan|2001}}; {{harvp|Hall|2005}}.</ref> 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.<ref name=purkiss/>{{sfnp|Hall|2007|p=112–15}} Throughout these sources, elves are sometimes associated with the [[succubus]]-like supernatural being called the [[Mare (folklore)|''mare'']].{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=124–26, 128–29, 136–37, 156}}

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]]''.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=119–156}}{{sfnp|Tolley|2009|loc=vol. I, p. 221}} By the fourteenth century, they were also associated with the arcane practice of [[alchemy]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

==== "Elf-shot" ====

[[File:Eadwine Psalter f 66r detail of Christ and demons attacking psalmist.png|thumb|upright=0.8|right|The Eadwine Psalter, f. 66r. Detail: Christ and demons attacking the psalmist.]]

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;{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=96–118}} debate about its significance is ongoing.{{sfnp|Tolley|2009|loc=vol. I, p. 220}}

The noun ''elf-shot'' is first attested in a [[Scots language|Scots]] poem, "Rowlis Cursing," from around 1500, where "elf schot" is listed among a range of curses to be inflicted on some chicken thieves.{{sfnp|Hall|2005|p=23}} 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 [[Elf-arrow|neolithic arrow-heads]], apparently thought to have been made by elves. In 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.{{sfnp|Hall|2005}} A 1749–50 ode by [[William Collins (poet)|William Collins]] includes the lines:<ref name="Carlyle 1788">{{harvp|Carlyle|1788}}, i 68, stanza II. 1749 date of composition is given on p. 63.</ref>

{{Blockquote|<poem>
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.<ref name="Carlyle 1788"/></poem>}}

==== Size, appearance, and sexuality ====

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.<ref name=grattan&singer/> However, this is now thought to be a misunderstanding: the image proves to be a conventional illustration of God's arrows and Christian demons.{{sfnp|Jolly|1998}} Rather, twenty-first century scholarship suggests that Anglo-Saxon elves, like elves in Scandinavia or the Irish ''[[Aos Sí]]'', were regarded as people.<ref>{{harvp|Shippey|2005|pp=168–76}}; {{harvp|Hall|2007|loc=esp. pp. 172–75}}.</ref>
[[File:Beowulf - ylfe.jpg|thumb|"⁊ ylfe" ("and elves") in ''Beowulf'']]

Like words for gods and men, the word ''elf'' is used in personal names where words for monsters and demons are not.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=55–62}} 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.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=35–63}} In Old English, the plural {{lang|ang|ylfe}} (attested in ''Beowulf'') is grammatically an [[ethnonym]] (a word for an ethnic group), suggesting that elves were seen as people.<ref name=huld/><ref>{{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=62–63}}; {{harvp|Tolley|2009|loc=vol. I, p. 209}}</ref> As well as appearing in medical texts, the Old English word ''ælf'' and its feminine derivative ''ælbinne'' were used in [[Gloss (annotation)|glosses]] to translate Latin words for [[nymph]]s. This fits well with the word ''ælfscȳne'', which meant "elf-beautiful" and is attested describing the seductively beautiful Biblical heroines [[Sarah]] and [[Book of Judith|Judith]].{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=75–95}}

Likewise, in Middle English and early modern Scottish evidence, while still appearing as causes of harm and danger, elves appear clearly as humanlike beings.<ref>{{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=157–66}}; {{harvp|Shippey|2005|pp=172–76}}.</ref> They became associated with medieval chivalric romance traditions of [[fairy|fairies]] and particularly with the idea of a [[Fairy Queen]]. A propensity to seduce or rape people becomes increasingly prominent in the source material.<ref>{{harvp|Shippey|2005|pp=175–76}}; {{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=130–48}}; {{harvp|Green|2016|pp=76–109}}.</ref> Around the fifteenth century, evidence starts to appear for the belief that elves might steal human babies and replace them with [[changeling]]s.{{sfnp|Green|2016|pp=110–46}}

==== Decline in the use of the word ''elf'' ====

By the end of the medieval period, ''elf'' was increasingly being supplanted by the French loan-word ''fairy''.{{sfnp|Hall|2005|p=20}} An example is [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s satirical tale ''[[Sir Thopas]]'', where the title character sets out in a quest for the "elf-queen", who dwells in the "countree of the Faerie".{{sfnp|Keightley|1850|p=53}}

=== Old Norse texts ===

==== Mythological texts ====

[[File:Semantic field diagram of words for sentient beings in Old Norse.gif|thumb|upright=1.75|One possible semantic field diagram of words for sentient beings in Old Norse, showing their relationships as an [[Euler diagram]]{{sfnp|Hall|2009|p=208, fig.{{nbsp}}1}}]]

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|''dökkálfar'' and ''ljósálfar'']] ("black elves", "dark elves", and "light elves"). For example, Snorri recounts how the ''svartálfar'' create new blond hair for Thor's wife [[Sif]] after [[Loki]] had shorn off Sif's long hair.<ref name="Manea" /> However, these terms are attested only in the Prose Edda and texts based on it. It is now agreed that they reflect traditions of [[Dwarf (mythology)|dwarves]], [[demon]]s, and [[angel]]s, partly showing Snorri's "paganisation" of a Christian cosmology learned from the ''[[Elucidarius]]'', a popular digest of Christian thought.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Scholars of Old Norse mythology now focus on references to elves in Old Norse poetry, particularly the [[Elder Edda]]. The only character explicitly identified as an elf in classical Eddaic poetry, if any, is [[Wayland the Smith|Völundr]], the protagonist of ''[[Völundarkviða]]''.{{sfnp|Dumézil|1973|p=3}} However, elves are frequently mentioned in the [[Alliteration|alliterating]] phrase ''Æsir ok Álfar'' ('Æsir and elves') and its variants. This was a well-established poetic [[Oral-formulaic composition|formula]], indicating a strong tradition of associating elves with the group of gods known as the [[Æsir]], or even suggesting that the elves and Æsir were one and the same.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=34–39}}{{sfnp|Þorgeirsson|2011|pp=49–50}} The pairing is paralleled in the Old English poem ''[[Wið færstice]]''{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=35–63}} and in the Germanic personal name system;{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=55–62}} moreover, in [[Skaldic verse]] the word ''elf'' is used in the same way as words for gods.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=28–32}} [[Sigvatr Þórðarson]]'s skaldic travelogue ''[[Austrfaravísur]]'', composed around 1020, mentions an ''[[álfablót]]'' ('elves' sacrifice') in Edskogen in what is now southern Sweden.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=30–31}} 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 [[Jötunn|giants]].{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=31–34, 42, 47–53}} Many commentators have also (or instead) argued for conceptual overlap between elves and [[Dwarf (mythology)|dwarves]] in Old Norse mythology, which may fit with trends in the medieval German evidence.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=32–33}}

There are hints that 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 the same group of beings.<ref name=simek2010/>{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=35–37}}<ref name=frog&roper/> However, this is not uniformly accepted.{{sfnp|Tolley|2009|loc=vol. I, pp. 210–217}}

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.<ref name=motz1973/>{{sfnp|Hall|2004|p=40}}

Although the relevant words are of slightly uncertain meaning, it seems fairly clear that Völundr is described as one of the elves in ''[[Völundarkviða]]''.<ref>{{harvp|Jakobsson|2006}}; {{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=39–47}}.</ref> As his most prominent deed in 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 lai|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.{{sfnp|Þorgeirsson|2011|pp=50–52}} Elves also appear in a couple of verse spells, including the [[Bergen rune-charm]] from among the [[Bryggen inscriptions]].{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=133–34}}

==== Other sources ====

[[File:Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Kibble Palace. William Goscombe John - 'The Elf', 1899.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Glasgow Botanic Gardens]]. Kibble Palace. [[Goscombe John|William Goscombe John]], ''The Elf'', 1899.]]

The appearance of elves in sagas is closely defined by genre. The [[Sagas of Icelanders]], [[Bishops' saga]]s, and contemporary [[saga]]s, whose portrayal of the supernatural is generally restrained, rarely mention ''álfar'', and then only in passing.{{sfnp|Jakobsson|2006|p=231}} 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]]''.{{sfnp|Jakobsson|2006|p=231}}{{sfnp|Tolley|2009|loc=vol. I, pp. 217–218}}

The [[Kings' sagas]] include a rather elliptical but widely studied account of an early Swedish king being worshipped after his death and being called [[Olaf Geirstad-Alf|Ólafr Geirstaðaálfr]] ('Ólafr the elf of Geirstaðir'), and a demonic elf at the beginning of ''[[Norna-Gests þáttr]]''.<ref>{{harvp|Jakobsson|2006|pp=231–232}}; {{harvp|Hall|2007|pp=26–27}}; {{harvp|Tolley|2009|loc=vol. I, pp. 218–219}}.</ref>

The [[legendary saga]]s tend to focus on elves as legendary ancestors or on heroes' sexual relations with elf-women. Mention of the land of [[Álfheimr (region)|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.<ref>''[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/viking/001_02.php The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050414154443/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/viking/001_02.php |date=14 April 2005 }}'' (Old Norse original: ''[http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/thorstei.htm Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar]''). Chapter 1.</ref><ref name=ashman_rowe/> According to ''[[Hrólfs saga kraka]]'', [[Hrolf Kraki|Hrolfr Kraki]]'s half-sister [[Skuld (princess)|Skuld]] was the [[half-elf|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 [[Nibelung]]en (Niflungar) describes [[Hagen (legend)|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]]''.{{sfnp|Jakobsson|2006|p=232}} The relatively few mentions of elves in the [[chivalric sagas]] tend even to be whimsical.{{sfnp|Þorgeirsson|2011|pp=52–54}}

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'').<ref name=skjold/>
Both Continental Scandinavia and Iceland have a scattering of mentions of elves in medical texts, sometimes in Latin and sometimes in the form of amulets, where elves are viewed as a possible cause of illness. Most of them have Low German connections.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=132–33}}{{sfnp|Þorgeirsson|2011|pp=54–58}}<ref name=simek2011/>

Sometimes elves are, like [[Dwarf (folklore)|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 is also to be found in the ''Prose Edda''.<ref name="Manea">{{cite web |last1=Manea |first1=Irina-Maria |date=2022-03-08 |title=Elves & Dwarves in Norse Mythology |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1695/elves--dwarves-in-norse-mythology |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=worldhistory.org |publisher=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> 

=== Medieval and early modern German texts ===

{{Main|Alp (folklore)}}
[[File:Margarethe-Luther-1527.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Margarethe Luther, believed by her son Martin to have been afflicted by ''elbe'' ("elves")]]

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 [[Faun]]s of Classical mythology{{nbsp}}... regarded as eerie, ferocious beings{{nbsp}}... As the [[Mare (folklore)|mare]] he messes around with women".<ref>"Naturgott oder -dämon, den Faunen der antiken Mythologie gleichgesetzt{{nbsp}}... er gilt als gespenstisches, heimtückisches Wesen{{nbsp}}... als Nachtmahr spielt er den Frauen mit"; {{harvp|Karg-Gasterstädt|Frings|1968}}, s.v. ''alb''.</ref> Accordingly, the German word ''Alpdruck'' (literally "elf-oppression") means "nightmare". There is also evidence associating elves with illness, specifically epilepsy.{{sfnp|Edwards| 1994}}

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: {{lang|gmh|die elben/der alp trieget mich}} ("the elves/elf are/is deceiving me").{{sfnp|Edwards|1994|pp=16–17, at 17}} The same pattern holds in Early Modern German.{{sfnp|Grimm|1883b|p=463}}<ref>In Lexer's Middle High German dictionary under [http://woerterbuchnetz.de/Lexer/?sigle=Lexer&mode=Vernetzung&lemid=LA00984 alp, alb] is an example: Pf. arzb. 2 14b= {{harvp|Pfeiffer|1863|p=44}} ({{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0QSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44|title=Zwei deutsche Arzneibücher aus dem 12. und 13. Jh.|last=Pfeiffer|first=F.|year=1863|place=Wien|contribution=Arzenîbuch 2= Bartholomäus" (Mitte 13. Jh.)}}): "Swen der alp triuget, rouchet er sich mit der verbena, ime enwirret als pald niht;" meaning: 'When an ''alp'' deceives you, fumigate yourself with [[verbena]] and the confusion will soon be gone'. The editor glosses ''alp'' here as "malicious, teasing spirit" ({{langx|de|boshafter neckende geist}})</ref> This deception sometimes shows the seductive side apparent in English and Scandinavian material:{{sfnp|Edwards| 1994}} 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").{{sfnp|Edwards|1994|p=13}} ''Elbe'' was also used in this period to translate words for nymphs.{{sfnp|Edwards|1994|p=17}}

In later medieval prayers, Elves appear as a threatening, even demonic, force. For example, some prayers invoke God's help against nocturnal attacks by ''Alpe''.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=125–26}} 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.{{sfnp|Edwards|1994|pp=21–22}} As in Old Norse, however, there are few characters identified as elves. It seems likely that in the German-speaking world, elves were to a significant extent conflated with dwarves ({{langx|gmh|{{linktext|getwerc}}}}).{{sfnp|Motz|1983|loc=esp. pp. 23–66}} 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.<ref name=weston/>{{sfnp|Grimm|1883b|p=453}}