However, from the early modern period onwards, elves started to be prominent in the literature and art of educated elites. Mer (also called Elvenkind or just Elves, or rarely Elfs) as a collective term, encompasses beings of the elven race in Tamrielic culture.. Drastically different culturally and physiologically from men and beastfolk, Mer are genetically capable of interbreeding with the former, and while rumors of the latter exist, they are unproven. [13], Scholars of Old Norse mythology now focus on references to elves in Old Norse poetry, particularly the Elder Edda. [68][69] As well as appearing in medical texts, the Old English word ælf and its feminine derivative ælbinne were used in glosses to translate Latin words for nymphs. [141], English and German literary traditions both influenced the British Victorian image of elves, which appeared in illustrations as tiny men and women with pointed ears and stocking caps. [142], The fantasy genre in the twentieth century grew out of nineteenth-century Romanticism, in which nineteenth-century scholars such as Andrew Lang and the Grimm brothers collected fairy stories from folklore and in some cases retold them freely. The effects of this on writing about elves are most apparent in England and Germany, with developments in each country influencing the other. Tolkien also appears to be the first author to have introduced the notion that elves are immortal. The idea also occurs in later traditions in Scandinavia and beyond, so it may be an early attestation of a prominent tradition. 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. Written by the late William Collins", "Getting Shot of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials", "Elves on the Brain: Chaucer, Old English and, "Magic, Miracle, and Popular Practice in the Early Medieval West: Anglo-Saxon England", "Elves in the Psalms? They make the toys in a workshop located in the North Pole.

[24][25] Research has shown, however, that stories about elves have often been used as a way for people to think metaphorically about real-life ethnic others.

Viewing elves as being more or less like people, and more or less outside Christian cosmology.

A hallmark of many fantasy elves is their pointed ears. These associate elves variously with the gods of Norse mythology, with causing illness, with magic, and with beauty and seduction. [72] Around the fifteenth century, evidence starts to appear for the belief that elves might steal human babies and replace them with changelings. [129] A 2006 and 2007 study by the University of Iceland's Faculty of Social Sciences revealed that many would not rule out the existence of elves and ghosts, a result similar to a 1974 survey by Erlendur Haraldsson. Beliefs in humanlike supernatural beings are widespread in human cultures, and many such beings may be referred to as elves in English. They occur most often in oral narratives and news reporting in which they disrupt house- and road-building. [105] The same pattern holds in Early Modern German. 1 elf year to human years or 15 elf years to human years or 2000 elf years to human years. [citation needed] Post-Tolkien fantasy elves (which feature not only in novels but also in role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons) are often portrayed as being wiser and more beautiful than humans, with sharper senses and perceptions as well. [78][79] The pairing is paralleled in the Old English poem Wið færstice[67] and in the Germanic personal name system;[66] moreover, in Skaldic verse the word elf is used in the same way as words for gods. 1 Tolkien never gives a birthdate or age for Legolas. [34], The main medieval Germanic cognates are Old Norse alfr, plural alfar, and Old High German alp, plural alpî, elpî (alongside the feminine elbe). [143][142] Thus in the US, Canada, UK, and Ireland, the modern children's folklore of Santa Claus typically includes small, nimble, green-clad elves with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats, as Santa's helpers. [55], 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 also paralleled in the Old Irish Serglige Con Culainn. Also surviving are the English surname Elgar (Ælfgar, "elf-spear") and the name of St Alphege (Ælfhēah, "elf-tall"). Snorri Sturluson identified Freyr as one of the Vanir. In the words of the local historian Anne Marie Hellström: ... on lake shores, where the forest met the lake, you could find elf circles.

So some examples: 18 Human Years = 90 Elf Years 25 Human Years = 125 Elf Years 40 Human Years = 200 Elf Years 65 Human Years = 325 Elf Years, And it can be done in reverse with division:102 Elf Years = 20.4 Human Years115 Elf Years = 23 Human Years236 Elf Years = 47.2 Human Years. [140], In Scandinavia too, in the nineteenth century, traditions of elves were adapted to include small, insect-winged fairies. [116] Other names also abound, however, such as the Sicilian Donas de fuera ('ladies from outside'),[152] or French bonnes dames ('good ladies'). So the dates I'm giving are the number of years since the beginning of the Third Age. Cedric "Wise Old" Elf is the main tritagonist in the series who leads the Elves in any way he can.He resides in The Great Elf Tree along with all the other elves.. Biography Early Life. Goethe's poem then took on a life of its own, inspiring the Romantic concept of the Erlking, which was influential on literary images of elves from the nineteenth century on. A widespread survivor of these in modern English is Alfred (Old English Ælfrēd, "elf-advice"). The clearest English example is Elveden ("elves' hill", Suffolk); other examples may be Eldon Hill ("Elves' hill", Derbyshire); and Alden Valley ("elves' valley", Lancashire). Since belief in supernatural beings is so ubiquitous in human cultures, however, scholars no longer believe such explanations are valid. [53][54] Throughout these sources, elves are sometimes associated with the succubus-like supernatural being called the mare.

They are similar to elves in that they can be helpful or malevolent, but are usually indifferent to mortals. They are often skilled archers. [144] The role of elves as Santa's helpers has continued to be popular, as evidenced by the success of the popular Christmas movie Elf. [35] These words must come from Common Germanic, the ancestor-language of English, German, and the Scandinavian languages: the Common Germanic forms must have been *ɑlβi-z and ɑlβɑ-z. Even when Icelanders do not explicitly express their belief, they are often reluctant to express disbelief. Humans being invited or lured to the elf dance is a common motif transferred from older Scandinavian ballads.


An elf (plural: elves) is a type of humanlike supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. In The Queen of Elfland's Nourice, a woman is abducted to be a wet nurse to the elf-queen's baby, but promised that she may return home once the child is weaned. The same idea is present in two post-classical Eddaic poems, which are also influenced by chivalric romance or Breton lais, Kötludraumur and Gullkársljóð. [61] Compare with the following excerpt from a 1749–50 ode by William Collins: 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. In particular, Álfheimr (literally "elf-world") is mentioned as being given to Freyr in Grímnismál. Re: Gandalf — Yes, yes, I'm pulling your leg. 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;[58] debate about its significance is ongoing.[59]. 2 People with Númenorian blood age more slowly: that's Faramir, Aragorn, and Boromir. Mention of the land of 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.

The Third Age began when the Ring was cut from Sauron's hand.

In the Swedish folktale Little Rosa and Long Leda, an elvish woman (älvakvinna) arrives in the end and saves the heroine, Little Rose, on condition that the king's cattle no longer graze on her hill. The word elf is found throughout the Germanic languages and seems originally to have meant 'white being'. Orang bunian are supernatural beings in Malaysian, Bruneian and Indonesian folklore,[162] invisible to most humans except those with spiritual sight.