![]() However, reconstructing the early concept of an elf depends largely on texts written by Christians, in Old and Middle English, medieval German, and Old Norse. The word elf is found throughout the Germanic languages and seems originally to have meant 'white being'. The story of Wayland is also to be found in the Prose Edda. The names include Völund in Old Norse, Wēland in Anglo-Saxon and Wieland in German. He is known under many names, depending on the language in which the stories were distributed. Sometimes elves are, like dwarves, associated with craftsmanship. However, the details of these beliefs have varied considerably over time and space and have flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures. ![]() In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves generally seem to have been thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda. elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Ängsälvor (Swedish "Meadow Elves") by Nils Blommér (1850)Īn elf ( pl. For the lightning-related phenomenon, see ELVES. ![]()
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