Facts about Elf

So too a tangle in the hair was called an "elf-lock," as being caused by the mischief of the elves, and sudden paralysis was sometimes attributed to "elf-stroke."

The German word for "nightmare," Albtraum, means "elf dream."

On lake shores, where the forest met the lake, you could find elf circles.

An elf is a mystical creature found in Norse mythology that still survives in northern European folklore.

The influence of Shakespeare and Michael Drayton made the use of "elf" and "fairy" for very small beings the norm.

On the other hand, Edmund Spenser applies elf to full-sized beings in The Faerie Queene.

Something associated with elves or the qualities of elves is described by the adjectives "elven," "elvish," "elfin," or "elfish."

The vision of the small but crafty Christmas elf has come to influence modern popular conception of elves, and sits side by side with the fantasy elves following J. R. R. Tolkien's work.

The name translates literally from the German as "Alder King" rather than its common English translation, "Elf King" (which would be rendered as Elfenkцnig in German).