The Realm of Faery
Besides the dwarfs there was another numerous class of tiny creatures
called Lios-alfar, light or white elves, who inhabited the realms of
air between heaven and earth, and were gently governed by the genial
god Frey from his palace in Alf-heim. They were lovely, beneficent
beings, so pure and innocent that, according to some authorities,
their name was derived from the same root as the Latin word "white"
(albus), which, in a modified form, was given to the snow-covered
Alps, and to Albion (England), because of her white chalk cliffs
which could be seen afar.
The elves were so small that they could flit about unseen while
they tended the flowers, birds, and butterflies; and as they were
passionately fond of dancing, they often glided down to earth on a
moonbeam, to dance on the green. Holding one another by the hand,
they would dance in circles, thereby making the "fairy rings," which
were to be discerned by the deeper green and greater luxuriance of
the grass which their little feet had pressed.
"Merry elves, their morrice pacing
To aërial minstrelsy,
Emerald rings on brown heath tracing,
Trip it deft and merrily."
Sir Walter Scott.
If any mortal stood in the middle of one of these fairy rings he
could, according to popular belief in England, see the fairies and
enjoy their favour; but the Scandinavians and Teutons vowed that the
unhappy man must die. In illustration of this superstition, a story is
told of how Sir Olaf, riding off to his wedding, was enticed by the
fairies into their ring. On the morrow, instead of a merry marriage,
his friends witnessed a triple funeral, for his mother and bride also
died when they beheld his lifeless corpse.
"Master Olof rode forth ere dawn of the day
And came where the Elf-folk were dancing away.
The dance is so merry,
So merry in the greenwood.
"And on the next morn, ere the daylight was red,
In Master Olof's house lay three corpses dead.
The dance is so merry,
So merry in the greenwood.
"First Master Olof, and next his young bride,
And third his old mother--for sorrow she died.
The dance is so merry,
So merry in the greenwood."
Master Olof at the Elfin Dance (Howitt's tr.).
The Elf-dance
These elves, who in England were called fairies or fays, were also
enthusiastic musicians, and delighted especially in a certain air known
as the elf-dance, which was so irresistible that no one who heard it
could refrain from dancing. If a mortal, overhearing the air, ventured
to reproduce it, he suddenly found himself incapable of stopping and
was forced to play on and on until he died of exhaustion, unless he
were deft enough to play the tune backwards, or some one charitably
cut the strings of his violin. His hearers, who were forced to dance
as long as the tones continued, could only stop when they ceased.
The Will-o'-the-wisps
In mediæval times, the will-o'-the-wisps were known in the North as elf
lights, for these tiny sprites were supposed to mislead travellers;
and popular superstition held that the Jack-o'-lanterns were the
restless spirits of murderers forced against their will to return
to the scene of their crimes. As they nightly walked thither, it
is said that they doggedly repeated with every step, "It is right;"
but as they returned they sadly reiterated, "It is wrong."
Oberon and Titania
In later times the fairies or elves were said to be ruled by the king
of the dwarfs, who, being an underground spirit, was considered a
demon, and allowed to retain the magic power which the missionaries
had wrested from the god Frey. In England and France the king of
the fairies was known by the name of Oberon; he governed fairyland
with his queen Titania, and the highest revels on earth were held on
Midsummer night. It was then that the fairies all congregated around
him and danced most merrily.
"Every elf and fairy sprite
Hop as light as bird from brier;
And this ditty after me
Sing, and dance it trippingly."
Midsummer-Night's Dream (Shakespeare).
These elves, like the brownies, Huldra folk, kobolds, etc., were
also supposed to visit human dwellings, and it was said that they
took mischievous pleasure in tangling and knotting horses' manes and
tails. These tangles were known as elf-locks, and whenever a farmer
descried them he declared that his steeds had been elf-ridden during
the night.
Alf-blot
In Scandinavia and Germany sacrifices were offered to the elves to
make them propitious. These sacrifices consisted of some small animal,
or of a bowl of honey and milk, and were known as Alf-blot. They were
quite common until the missionaries taught the people that the elves
were mere demons, when they were transferred to the angels, who were
long entreated to befriend mortals, and propitiated by the same gifts.
Many of the elves were supposed to live and die with the trees and
plants which they tended, but these moss, wood, or tree maidens, while
remarkably beautiful when seen in front, were hollow like a trough
when viewed from behind. They appear in many of the popular tales, but
almost always as benevolent and helpful spirits, for they were anxious
to do good to mortals and to cultivate friendly relations with them.
Images on Doorposts
In Scandinavia the elves, both light and dark, were worshipped
as household divinities, and their images were carved on the
doorposts. The Norsemen, who were driven from home by the tyranny of
Harald Harfager in 874, took their carved doorposts with them upon
their ships. Similar carvings, including images of the gods and heroes,
decorated the pillars of their high seats which they also carried
away. The exiles showed their trust in their gods by throwing these
wooden images overboard when they neared the Icelandic shores and
settling where the waves carried the posts, even if the spot scarcely
seemed the most desirable. "Thus they carried with them the religion,
the poetry, and the laws of their race, and on this desolate volcanic
island they kept these records unchanged for hundreds of years,
while other Teutonic nations gradually became affected by their
intercourse with Roman and Byzantine Christianity." These records,
carefully collected by Sæmund the learned, form the Elder Edda, the
most precious relic of ancient Northern literature, without which we
should know comparatively little of the religion of our forefathers.
The sagas relate that the first settlements in Greenland and Vinland
were made in the same way,--the Norsemen piously landing wherever
their household gods drifted ashore.