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Who Are Elves?
Elves have been heavily covered both in mythology, and modern fiction. These creatures have become a mainstay of fantasy storytelling, made most famous perhaps by J.R.R. Tolkien. Modern role-playing games influence their image. From there, many different factions, images, and ideas about who and what they are have come into being. This article will be looking into what is arguably the origins of them.
We can trace back the origin of Elves to Germanic mythology, and their first descriptions come from these texts. They were creatures of a magical nature, neither directly hostile nor helpful towards the mortal race of humans.
They are like faeries who could be helpful to us, having a fair amount of power both in the magical and terrestrial realms. By this same virtue, they could easily cause great harm to those who wronged them and were perhaps more capable of doing so than most Fae.
Elves Vs. Fae
It is important to not make the mistake of thinking that the ‘Elves’ have anything to do with the fairies of the Elizabethan era, the small flitting creatures with gossamer butterfly wings. These are older, distinguished people with a long history.
The Elves we speak of today are known in the Edda as álfar, and are from a realm that exists alongside ours known as Álfheimr. They were given to the God Frey in the literature and may indicate that he rules over these people.
Types Of Elves
There are three types of Elves, and the Dwarves were counted among their number. They were the svartálfar, or ‘black-elves’, who dwelt beneath the ground and were dark of skin and hair, and dwelled within Alfheimr in Svartálfaheim. The Ljósálfar are fair of skin and hair and were said to be ‘fairer than the sun to look at‘, and live in the brighter overworld of Alfheimr.
There are many records of the Elves of Norse mythology, complete with the names of their Kings and the men who were born from them. Those from Norse Mythology are capable of interbreeding with humans. It is one more source of those who say they have Fae blood.
One could speculate that the Tuatha de Danann and the Elves of Alfheimr are the same creatures. Perhaps those who landed on Ireland’s shores were refugees of that same place.
Elves were also trickster spirits by the Christian authorities. People greatly fear them as causers of great mischief. It is again important to point out that these are not the Elves of Norse literature. The appropriation of the name makes it very important to draw the distinction.
When dealing with the Elves of Alfheimr, keep in mind that they come from a strong and noble heritage. They deeply value valor and honor. Any interactions you have with them should be based on this fact. If you wish to draw their attention or appease them, you could get worse advice than to give gifts of mead, bread, and meat left out for them.
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