Elves have been popular literary characters for centuries, from William Shakespeare's plays like A Midsummer Night's Dream to JRR Tolkien's classic fantasy novels written three centuries later. Probably the most famous of these magical creatures are the elves who work in Santa Claus's workshop at the North Pole.
Fairies and elves
Like fairies, elves from folklore were tiny magical creatures. For example, Shakespeare's elves were tiny, winged creatures that lived and circled around beautiful flowers. The same were the elves in the fairy tale "Thumbelina".
In English folklore, elf males were described as looking like little old men, although elf maidens remained invariably young and beautiful. Like the people of that time, elves lived in kingdoms located in forests and fields. In the fields they lived around flowers, and in the forests they settled in the hollow trunks of trees.
Elves, fairies and gnomes are closely related, even though elves most likely originated in early Norse mythology. By the middle of the second millennium AD, people began to include elves in stories and legends about fairies, and by the 19th century, fairies and elves were already considered just different names for the same magical creatures.
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Reputation
Like fairies, elves gained a reputation in folklore as little pranksters and pests, so strange everyday occurrences were often attributed to their machinations. For example, when the hair on the head of a person or in the mane of a horse became entangled, it was called a "clump of elves", and if a child was born with a noticeable mole or birthmark, he was called marked elves.
Judging by folklore stories, joking with the elves was at your own peril and risk. According to folklorist Carol Rose, who published the encyclopedia "Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes and Goblins" (Norton Publishing, 1998), although elves were sometimes friendly to humans, if people showed respect, they were ready to take terrible revenge on anyone. who offended or disturbed them. Not to mention trying to steal something from the little forest dwellers.
In response to the grievance inflicted, they could steal babies or cows, steal milk and bread from the house, or charm and hold young people captive for many years, returning them to real life as old people.
Santa's little helpers
According to the modern Christmas tradition, a whole army of little elves are at work in the North Pole helping Santa Claus prepare Christmas presents. This description, however, is relatively recent.
Santa Claus himself is described as "a very old elf" in the classic poem "Christmas Eve" by Clement Clark Moore in 1822.
The depiction of elves working in Santa's workshop has been popularized in magazines since the mid-19th century.
A popular magazine published an illustration in its 1873 Christmas issue, entitled Santa's Workshop, that depicted Santa surrounded by toys and elves. The headline said, "Here's our idea for preparing for Christmas at the North Pole."
Allegory
Meanwhile, in the same article, the facts of the actual production of toys were revealed, which were made not by little cheerful elves, but by poor, disadvantaged foreigners who were forced to work six days a week from dawn to dawn to ensure themselves a minimum living.
Santa's idea of observing the working life of toy-making elves was created to support the romanticized idea of American capitalism, where Santa rules his vast empire without opposition, leading nameless, anonymous workers who are almost indistinguishable from each other.
Elves of Iceland
Elves have been making their way onto television and monitor screens, book pages, and theater scenes relatively recently. In past centuries, the belief in the existence of fairies and elves was widespread not only among children and fantasy lovers, but also among adults.
The belief in these magical creatures is still strong in some places. In Iceland, for example, about half of the inhabitants believe in elven-like creatures known as huldufolk (hidden inhabitants), or at least do not rule out their existence.
According to Icelandic folklore, the hidden inhabitants appeared when Eve, ashamed that her children were too dirty, hid them from the eyes of God and said that they were not at all. God, knowing about Eve's deception, decided to punish her by saying: "Everything that you hide from me will remain hidden from you." These very children became Iceland's "hidden inhabitants" living in the rocks.
Belief or Truth?
The belief in the supernatural is so strong in Iceland that several road construction projects have been delayed or altered so as not to destroy or disturb the elves' homes. If the local population does not interfere with the initial plans, seeking to protect the residence of their magical neighbors, then the elves themselves prevent the project from completing.
For example, in the late 1930s, near the Elven Hill (Álfhóll), construction began on the Álfhóll road, which was supposed to go right through the most famous elven habitat, destroying it.
At first, construction was frozen due to financial problems, but when construction work began, workers faced a variety of seemingly random problems, from broken equipment to lost tools. Subsequently, they decided to lay the road around the hill.
Second attempt
Later, in the 1980s, it was decided to build a road right on the site of the Elven Hill. When the workers got to the site and tried to break the stone block, the hammer drill was blown apart. The replacement broke in the same way. After that, the workers were so scared that they refused to approach the site, and the hill was ranked as an Icelandic cultural heritage site.
According to a law passed in Iceland in 2012, all places that are associated with folk tales and beliefs must be protected as the country's cultural heritage.
Later elves
Over time, a new type of elf appeared, with a somewhat different nature, shape and history, not in any way reminiscent of the harmful, tiny elves from the folk tales of the past.
For example, the elves depicted in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy are slim, wise, almost immortal, and incredibly beautiful. Tolkien's elves were inspired by Scandinavian folklore, so it should come as no surprise that they were predominantly tall and blond. It is these characters - gorgeous, immortal and a little unattainable - that have become the prototype of almost all modern elves from all kinds of genres of literature, cinema and video games.
Gary Gygax, one of the creators of the original RPG Dungeons & Dragons, created his elves under the influence of Tolkien. In addition, his immensely popular play helped popularize elves as much as the author of The Lord of the Rings saw them.
The unceasing evolution of the elves
Regardless of whether they appear as positive or negative characters in a particular work, in any form and any genre, elves are strongly associated with magic and nature. These are perhaps the only characteristics that have remained with them throughout their history.
Today, it seems that each generation has its own vision of elves and their role in stories. Folklore, as well as language and culture, is constantly evolving, and elves are likely to stay with us forever in one form or another.
Hope Chikanchi