elf
A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or dangerous magical influence; in later Norse sources, sometimes divided into benevolent light elves (inhabiting Álfheimr) and malevolent dark elves.
Noun
- A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or dangerous magical influence; in later Norse sources, sometimes divided into benevolent light elves (inhabiting Álfheimr) and malevolent dark elves.
- […] if theyr children at any time vvere frowarde and vvanton, they would ſay to them that the Guelfe or the Gibeline came. VVhich vvords novve from them (as many thinge els) be come into our vſage, and for Guelfes and...
- The man whom heauens haue ordaynd to bee / The ſpouſe of Britomart, is Arthegall: / He wonneth in the land of Fayeree, / Yet is no Fary borne, ne ſib at all / To Elfes, but ſprong of ſeed terreſtriall, / And whylome by...
- Their Robbin-good-fellowes, Elfes, Fairies, Hobgoblins of our latter age, which idolatrous former daies and the fantasticall world of Greece ycleaped Fawnes, Satyres, Dryades & Hamadryades, did most of their merry...
- A small, magical creature similar to a fairy, often mischievous, playful, or occasionally helpful.
- For there and ſeveral other places / About mill dams and green brae faces, / Both Elrich, Elfs and Brownies ſtayed, / And Green gown’d Farries daunc’d and played; […] - a. 1690, William Cleland, A Collection of Several...
- IN Days of Old when Arthur fill’d the Throne, / Whoſe Acts and Fame to Foreign Lands were blown; / The King of Elfs and little Fairy Queen / Gamboll’d on Heaths, and danc’d on ev’ry Green. - 1700, [John] Dryden, “The...
- Farefolkis, fairies, elfs, or elves; […] - 1802, J[ames] Sibbald, “Glossary; or An Explanation of Ancient Scottish Words”, in Chronicle of Scottish Poetry; from the Thirteenth Century, to the Union of the Crowns: To...
- A member of a race of tall, slender, graceful beings with pointed ears, typically immortal or very long-lived and possessing wisdom and magical abilities.
- Much of fairy lore clusters around the so-called fairy rings, that is, the green circles in old pastures within which the elfs were supposed to dance at night by the light of the moon. - 1889 May, “[Literary Notices.]...
- He was not speaking troll-talk now, but the language of Elfland, that grander tongue that he had had to speak when he was before the King: for he knew the language of Elfland although it was never used in the homes of...
- So they laughed and sang in the trees; and pretty fair nonsense I daresay you think it. Not that they would care they would only laugh all the more if you told them so. They were elves of course. Soon Bilbo caught...
- Ellipsis of Christmas elf.
- Since you’ve been out, the news arrives / The Elfs’ Insurance Company’s gone. - 1877, Sidney Lanier, “The Hard Times in Elfland. A Story of Christmas Eve.”, in [Mary Lanier], editor, Poems of Sidney Lanier, New York,...
- A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
- Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).
Origin
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *albʰósder. Proto-Germanic *albiz Proto-West Germanic *albi Old English ielf Middle English elf English elf From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Ultimately probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (“white”). Doublet of alf, awf, and oaf. The modern fantasy literature sense was popularised by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Forms
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Derived
Christmas elf dark elf dwelf elf and safety elf arrow elf barrow elf-bolt elf-cap moss elf-child elf circle elf-craft elf-cup elf-damsel elf-dance elfdock elf-dock elfdom Elfenland elfess elfette elf-folk elf-girl elf hill elfhood
Verb
- To twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.
- My face I'll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, and with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky. - c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”,...