We owe descriptions of elves (singular elf, plural elves) mainly to Norse and Germanic mythology as well as folk tales, ballads and fairy tales. Of all the “little people”, elves are portrayed as the most glamorous. Often, but not always, winged, they are somewhat capricious and playful. Although they are inclined to help humans rather than to hinder them, they will not co-habit with them, but rather live in woods with their kin in fairly good-sized communities.

They are considerably taller than dwarves, slender and pale, quite athletic and well known for their accuracy as archers. When called upon, they are skillful warriors, incredibly fast and daring. Their magic abilities are reasonable, albeit not to be compared to those of witches, for example.

A well-known poem in world literature, Der Erlkönig (The Elf King) by JW Goethe, describes elves as seizing and killing a child. This either has to be seen as poetic license – there are no other known cases of child abduction perpetrated by elves –  alternatively one goes with the school of thought believing that the “Erlkönig” should have been translated as the “Alder King” and the incidence has nothing to do with elves.

Proof that there were elves living quite openly in areas close to humans at one time, is the fact that there are a number of places named after them, such as Elveden (elves hill) in Suffolk and Eldon Hill (elves hill) in Derbyshire, England, for instance. Today few people manage to get a fleeting glimpse of an elf, since they have become very wary of humans.