Elves were originally found in Germanic and Scandinavian folklore. There were two kinds of elves – the light elves, who were fair, and the dark elves, who were darker than pitch. All elves were mischievous and wicked creatures, who would often cause illness and disease in humans and cattle. Sometimes they would bring bad dreams to sleeping people. They would also steal human children and leave behind changeling fairy children in their place.

In the British Isles and in parts of Europe, flint arrowheads and other Stone Age tools found in fields were believed by farmers to be magic weapons made by elves and used by them to injure cattle. These stone tools were called elf-shot, elf-arrows or elf-bolts. It was only as late as the 17th century that their origin became clear, that they were prehistoric tools made by the aboriginal inhabitants of Europe.

One of the best-known fairy tales about elves is about a shoemaker who is helped by a pair of hardworking elves; known popularly as The Shoemaker and the Elves, this tale was collected and written down by the Brothers Grimm. The elves in this story are diligent, helpful creatures, who go away never to return when they are paid for their work.

In modern times, elves are no different from the tiny, harmless and beautiful fairies of nursery folklore, though classics such as Goethe’s poem Der Erlkonig (The Elf King) and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings present them somewhat differently. In Goethe’s poem, the Elf King is a powerful but inimical creature, who tries to lure away a young boy first by promising him riches and a life of amusement, and when those fail to entice the child, he takes him away by force. The elves in Tolkien’s books are immortal beings with godlike characteristics. They are full of grace and light and tremendous power. Tolkien writes of Rivendell and Lothlorien where live the elves; of Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn, great elves who help the fellowship. Tolkien also created an entire history and mythology of the Elves of Middle Earth. These myths and tales can be read in the Silmarillion, which is an account of the Elder Days, or the First Age of Tolkien’s world.