THE ELVES.
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, had their palace in Alf-heim, and were
gently governed by the genial god Frey. 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 Alps, those
snow-covered mountains, and to Albion (England), because of her white
chalk cliffs which could be seen from afar.
[Illustration: DANCE OF THE WILL-O’-THE-WISPS.--W. Kray.]
The elves were so small that they could flit about unseen to care for
the flowers, birds, and butterflies; and as they were passionately
fond of dancing, they often slipped down to earth on a moonbeam, to
dance on the green. Holding one another by the hand, they danced round
in circles, thereby making the “fairy rings,” which could easily be
discovered, as the grass grew greener and more luxuriant in the places
their little feet had trod.
“Merry elves, their morrice pacing
To aërial minstrelsy,
Emerald rings on brown heath tracing,
Trip it deft and merrily.”
WALTER SCOTT.
If any mortal stood in the middle of one of these fairy rings he could,
according to the popular belief in England, see the fairies and enjoy
their favor; but the Germans and Scandinavians vowed that the unhappy
man must die. In connection with this superstition, they tell 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 both died of grief 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.).
[Sidenote: Fairies or fays.]
These elves, who in England were called fairies or fays, were also
enthusiastic musicians, and delighted especially in a certain tune
which was known as the elf dance, and which was so irresistible that no
one could hear it without dancing. If a mortal, overhearing the air,
ventured to play 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
slipped behind him and cut the strings of his violin. His hearers, who
were forced to dance as long as the tones continued, could only pause
when they ceased.
[Sidenote: The Will-o’-the-wisps.]
In the North, in the mediæval ages, the will-o’-the-wisps were known
as lights, for these tiny sprites were supposed to mislead travelers;
and popular superstition claimed 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.”
[Sidenote: 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 held his highest revels on earth 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.
[Sidenote: Alf-blot.]
In Germany and Scandinavia sacrifices were offered to the elves to
make them propitious. These sacrifices, which consisted either of some
small animal, or of a bowl of honey and milk, were known as Alf-blot,
and were quite common until the missionaries taught the people that the
elves were mere demons. The sacrifice once offered to them was then
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 or
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 remain on a friendly footing with them.
[Sidenote: Images on doorposts.]
In Scandinavia the elves, both light and dark, were worshiped as
household divinities, and their images were carved on the doorposts.
The Norsemen, who were driven away from home by the tyranny of Harald
Harfager in 874, entered their ships, taking these carved doorposts
with them. 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, although 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 would know
comparatively little of the religion of our forefathers.
The sagas relate that the first Norse settlements in Greenland and
Vinland were made in the same way,--the Norsemen piously landing
wherever their household gods drifted ashore,--many years before the
voyage of Columbus and the accredited discovery of America.
[Illustration: OLD HOUSES WITH CARVED DOORPOSTS, NORWAY.]