In old Germany, "elf" was a name applied to any
kind of supernatural spirit, especially one that inhabited fields or forests.
In Scotland, England, and Scandinavia, "elf" was
another name for a member of the fairy folk. Then, as fairy lore developed and
became more intricate and complex, with levels and classes within their
supernatural ranks, the English designated elves as smaller members of the
fairy population and the Scots gave the title of elf to those beings that were
generally of human size. Things changed a bit in Scandinavia, as well, when the
people there began to distinguish two categories of elves-the benign ones and
the dastardly ones.
Scandinavians also envisioned two principle divisions of the
beings. There were the lovely, charming elves, who easily passed for humans and
who loved to join in folk dances and in village parties. These elves,
especially the females of the bunch, could easily seduce any human male into
obeying their will. The male elves, though appearing handsome and dashing in
the firelight of a village festival, would usually be exposed as squat and ugly
when moonlight struck them in the forests. The Danes also noticed that even the
attractive elves occasionally betrayed themselves with a long cow-like tail
that popped out of their dress or trousers.
In contemporary presentations, elves are usually portrayed
as jolly creatures, humanlike in appearance, but extremely diminutive in size,
that love teasing humans and playing pranks on them. Of course there's that
"right jolly old elf," Santa Claus who brings good children toys at
Christmas time.
Fairies/Fey/Sidhe
Traditionally, the fairies are a race of beings, the
counterparts of humankind in physical appearance but, at the same time,
nonphysical or multidimensional. They are mortal, but lead longer lives than
their human cousins.
Years ago, I was sternly advised that if I should ever have
an encounter with a fairy and wish to survive basically intact, there are two
rules I must remember: 1) Don't you dare ask its name. 2) Don't you dare call
it a fairy. According to those who speak the Gaelic tongue of Scotland and
Ireland, the wee folk prefer to be known as sidhe (also spelled sidh, sith,
sithche and pronounced "shee"). There is disagreement as to the exact
meaning of sidhe. Some say that it refers to the mounds or hills in which the
supernatural folk abide. Others say that it means, "the people of
peace," and that is how the sidhe generally behave toward humans-except
for those seemingly incurable elfin traits of kidnapping human children and
shape-shifting into a seemingly endless variety of forms in order to work
mischief.
Alexander Pope wrote lovely passages idealizing fairies. Sir
Walter Scott emphasized the beauty of the fairy realm and the struggle of the
fairies to achieve humanlike souls. William Butler Yeats had a nearly obsessive
interest in the paranormal and strongly believed in fairies. And it was the
creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, who came to the
defense of Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in the famous and controversial
Case of the Cottingly Fairies in 1917.
Doyle theorized that the fairies are constructed of material
that emits vibrations either shorter or longer than the normal spectrum visible
to the human eye. Clairvoyance, he believed, consists, at least in part, of the
ability to see these vibrations.
In most traditions, especially in the British Isles and
Scandinavia, the fairy folk were supernormal entities that inhabit a magical
kingdom beneath the surface of the earth. In all traditions, the fairy folk are
depicted as possessing many more powers and abilities than Homo sapiens, but,
for some unexplained reason, they are strongly dependent on human beings-and
from time to time they seek to reinforce their own kind by kidnapping both
children and adults. Tales of folk being abducted by smallish beings did not
begin in the last few decades with accounts of the "Grays" from UFOs.
The Fey have never been popularly conceived of as spirits,
although some theologians have sought to cast the fairies in the role of the
rebellious angels that were driven out of heaven during the celestial uprising
led by Lucifer.
Most of the ancient texts declare that the
"gentry," as they are often called, are of a middle nature,
"between humans and angels." Although they are of a nature between
spirits and humans, they can intermarry with humans and bear half-human
children.
C. S. Lewis, author of many classic books on spiritual
matters, once suggested that the wee folk are a third rational species.
1) The angels are highest, having perfect goodness and
whatever knowledge is necessary for them to accomplish God's will;
2) Humans, somewhat less perfect, are the second;
3) Fairies, having certain powers of the angels but no
souls, are the third.
On the other hand, Medieval theologians favored three quite
different theories to explain the origin of fairies:
1) They are a special class of demoted angels;
2) They are a special class of the dead;
3) They are fallen angels.
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