I really have no idea, and it's very hard to find anything serious on elves on the web.
Except for really strange pages about people who think they really are elves...
What people think of as elves with Santa Claus is really more like a pixie or a prankster, while the elves that Tolkien first created, and I'll credit him with being the first true fantasy author, are very more like a magical race - which is what he intended them to be.
While I give Tolkien all kinds of credit for being the first modern fantasy author, let me point you in the direction of Lord Dunsany, who was writing in the 1920s. He's the first one I've seen to use Tolkien-style elves (in The King of Elf-Land's Daughter, for one). He's quite interesting--you should check him out. It's kind of like if Shakespeare were doing fantasy. Sort of.
And I agree that Santa's elves are more like pixies. I guess British authors decided that that wasn't as much fun to write about. ;)
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Date: 2004-01-06 09:01 am (UTC)Except for really strange pages about people who think they really are elves...
What people think of as elves with Santa Claus is really more like a pixie or a prankster, while the elves that Tolkien first created, and I'll credit him with being the first true fantasy author, are very more like a magical race - which is what he intended them to be.
While I give Tolkien all kinds of credit for being the first modern fantasy author, let me point you in the direction of Lord Dunsany, who was writing in the 1920s. He's the first one I've seen to use Tolkien-style elves (in The King of Elf-Land's Daughter, for one). He's quite interesting--you should check him out. It's kind of like if Shakespeare were doing fantasy. Sort of.
And I agree that Santa's elves are more like pixies. I guess British authors decided that that wasn't as much fun to write about. ;)