What remained of the belief in elves in German folklore was that they were mischievous pranksters that could cause disease to cattle and people, and bring bad dreams to sleepers. The German word for nightmare, Albtraum, means "elf dream". The archaic form Albdruck means "elf pressure"; it was believed that nightmares are a result of an elf sitting on the dreamer's chest.The term lfsciene ("elf-shining") is used in the Old English poem Judith referring to elven beauty. On the other hand oaf is simply a variant of the word elf, presumably originally referring to a changeling or to someone stupefied by elvish enchantment.
Little documentation exists on English rustic beliefs and terminology before the nineteenth century, but it seems that the term elf was used, at least on some occasions or in some places, for various kinds of uncanny wights, either human-sized or smaller. But other terms were also used.
Before they became diminutive and whimsical, elves were probably akin to powerful pre-Christian forest spirits like the woodwose, the Green Man, and the drusi in the mythology of the Gauls beings to be respected and even feared. A trace of the former importance of elves in Germanic culture exists in names like Alfred (Old English lfrd, "elf-counsel") and Alvin (Old English lfwine, "elf-friend").
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In USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the modern children's folklore of Santa Claus typically includes diminutive, green-clad elves as Santa's assistants. They wrap Christmas gifts and make toys in a workshop located in the Arctic. In this portrayal, elves slightly resemble nimble and delicate versions of the dwarfs of Norse mythology. However, the elf legends are in fact, even older than Saint Nicholas, the bishop on whom Santa Claus was originally based.Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954-1958), became astoundingly popular and was much imitated. In the 1960s and afterwards, elves similar to those in Tolkien's novels became staple non-human characters in high fantasy works and in fantasy role-playing games (RPGs).The Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Shoemaker & the Elves is probably the most famous original elf tale. The elves are only one foot tall in this story, naked, and like to work on shoes, as leprechauns do. When the shoemaker rewards their work with little clothes, the elves are so delighted, that they run away and are never seen again. (This tales is echoed in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories: see below.)The influence of Shakespeare and Michael Drayton made the use of elf and fairy for very small beings the norm. In Victorian literature, elves usually appeared in illustrations as tiny men and women with pointed ears and stocking caps. There were exceptions, such as the full-sized elves who appear in Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter.Purchase celtic jewelry online in the largest celtic storeThe elves (light-elves) are often mentioned along with the Aesir, instead of the Vanir (a race of gods). The names Vanir and Alfar (light elves) may have been either synonymous, since the expression "Aesir and Alfar" meant "all the gods", or designating a difference in status between the major fertility gods, the Vanir, and the minor ones, the elves. The Van Freyr was the lord of lfheim (meaning "elvenhome"), the home of the light-elves, and he had as servants two elves: Byggvir and Beyla. Like the Vanir the elves were associated with fertility and, in late fall, the "alfablt" (elven sacrifice) was performed in the homes. It was secret, no strangers were allowed in the homes, and so next to nothing is known of it.
