An elf is not just for Xmas
★ THE Mexican president has an elf issue as we revealed yesterday – after spotting one in a tree. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador posted a snap of what he claims is an “alux” – a cheeky woodland elf from folklore. ★ But how much do you know about the mythical creatures? NADINE LINGE has 12 enchanting facts…
1 Elves are a type of supernatural being from medieval German mythology and folklore. They first appeared as strong, beautiful, human-sized beings but in later Scandinavian myths they are sometimes small and even winged.
2 Later on in Scotland, they became associated with causing illness such as stabbing pains or trying to seduce unwitting humans. Several songs from the time describe them attempting to kidnap people.
3 During the Scottish witchcraft trials, which took place between the 16th and 18th Centuries, witnesses’ stories of encounters with elves were often interpreted as encounters with the devil, while in Chaucer’s Wife of
Bath’s Tale, the author links male elves to demons.
4 More than half of people in Iceland believe elves are real. Locals there call them Huldufólk – Hidden People – and they are said to be taller, thinner and better-looking than humans.
5 Iceland even has an elf school. For around £56, you can spend an afternoon learning about the beings – from where they live to what they look like.
6 Their association with Christmas stems from an 1812 Brothers Grimm fairy tale, The Elves and The Shoemaker, in which an exhausted cobbler meets his orders thanks to elfin helpers. Will Ferrell, above, starred as Buddy in festive classic Elf.
7 The word “oaf” comes from “elf” – the original meaning was “elf’s child” but it later came to mean “idiot child” or “halfwit”.
8 People who identify as elves may be known as “other-kins”. Kimberel Eventide, from Chicago, US, appeared on Good Morning Britain in 2019 claiming to be a “transpecies elf” complete with pointy ears.
9 JRR Tolkien, right, featured elves in his Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books, such as Galadriel – played by Cate Blanchett, above left, in the LOTR film trilogy and Morfydd Clark, above right, in the recent Amazon TV prequel.
10 The author had a real love of language and using elves as characters meant he could make up languages. He came up with the first one, Quenya, in 1915, the year he finished his degree from Oxford and enlisted in the Army for World War One.
11 There could have been a whole different cast of elves in the LOTR films. David Bowie wanted to play Elrond but the part went to Hugo Weaving, Helena Bonham Carter expressed interest in taking on Liv Tyler’s Arwen role and Lucy Lawless was considered for Galadriel.
12 Elves have also appeared in works by Shakespeare and Enid Blyton. Harry Potter author JK Rowling featured loveable Dobby the House-elf, far left, in her books and the character was voiced by actor Toby Jones in the hit films.