Lore of the Elves

I have to admit, I am not a fairy person. No way, no how. I most definitely have the cutesy, Tinkerbell-esq vision of a fairy stuck in my head; which I know from reading a lot of mythology and folklore is not always the case. In fact, fairies, (also spelled ‘faeries’ by some), can be malevolent creatures who steal babies and generally bring misfortune.

Elves for me have always been the earth elemental I feel most comfortable with, (I just can’t get on with gnomes either), and have done a bit of work with them before. The modern day image of Elves has most definitely been influenced by Tolkien, but it is evident in the energies felt from working with Elves that physical similarities are the main attribute that they share with Tolkien’s representation.

Elves are most predominant in Norse mythology, most notably through the 13^th Century ‘Prose Edda’ written by Snorri Sturluson. It states that there are two types of Elves; the Ljósálfar, (singular ‘Ljósálfr’), which is Old Norse for ‘Light Elves’, and the contrasting Dökkálfar, (singular ‘Dökkálfr’), which is Old Norse for ‘Dark Elves’.

The Light Elves resided on Álfheimr, an island in the Otherworlds which was ruled over by the God Freyr. They were said to be ‘fairer than the sun to look at’ and extremely beautiful and youthful. They were seen as minor gods of nature, fertility and creative inspiration and could either help or hinder humans with their knowledge and powers. They are either long-lived, or some say, immortal, and reside in forests and caves or wells and springs.

Gemälde (Öl auf Leinwand) von Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940) / Public domain

Dark Elves dwell beneath the earth in Svartálfaheim and are ‘blacker than pitch’. If they were exposed to the sun in any way, they would turn to stone, and so would avoid it at all costs. It was said that these Elves, the polar opposite of the Light Elves, would threaten or annoy humans. Some Dark Elves, known as ‘Mare’, had the power to cause nightmares in a person by sitting on their chest and whispering of bad dreams, to haunt the person. It was also said that they could haunt animals too, especially horses. Because of their connotations with the earth, they are sometimes also referred to as ‘Dwarves’, but as you can see their characteristics are very different from the coon associations made with the word ‘Dwarve’.

Elves are clever and creative in their problem solving, and encourage one to look ‘outside the box’. I had an elf guide for a short time, and I remember meditating with him and he told me to find a red stone, as this would provide a catalyst for me to be able to communicate with him, something physical to focus my energies. I spent a good few days looking at crystals and red-coloured pebbles, but none of them seemed right, it was almost as if I could hear him telling me ‘no’ whenever I thought I might had found the right red stone. I can’t remember exactly how I came across it, (this was a couple of years ago now) but it turned out that the ‘right’ red stone was actually the ‘stone’ from a plum. He had been testing me, to make sure that I was listening to him, and to teach me to think about things from all possible angles and to not disregard the unobvious. My ‘spirit elf’ didn’t stay with me for very long after that, but it was one of those lessons which has always stuck with me.

When I was younger and living in the country, there was a little walkway which took you behind some farms and into the country. I would feel the presence of elf energy very strong here, and a couple of times baked some cakes and took some down to this walkway and left them as an offering. I could sense the energies of the elves around me, and could tell that they were grateful for my offering. This is one of the only places I have felt elf energy so strongly, and still do whenever I go home. It has been said that elves are very quiet, almost ‘rare’ creatures and prefer to keep out of the way and this is something I have found; however, they will be there when you call on them.