Thursday, April 5, 2012

Elves

Elves are beautiful human-like creatures. Much like J.R.R Tolkien's elves in the Lord of the Rings series. (Although still not quite exactly like they were originally created)  J.R.R Tolkien's elves are the closest thing to the original I can reference, Santa's little helpers elves being the furthest from their true nature.  Elves are described as light skinned, fine boned, with with silken hair and large eyes.

Aelfsciene, an adjective in Anglo-Saxon, means 'Pretty as an elf'.  Quite the high compliment considering how beautiful elves are said to be.

33 comments:

  1. What a lovely word that is!

    I admit that I always thought about elves as being more like Santa's elves until I read Tolkien. Thanks for the information.

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  2. I was in love with Legolas from LOTR. Elves are the coolest of all the fantastical creatures.

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    1. *Place big cheesy grin here* Yeah I was too! And they are one of the coolest! (Dragons still are on the top of my list)

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  3. I have some elf ceramics figures - love them. Great E post!

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    1. Oooh I would love to see those! I collect dragons but I haven't started on Elves yet. I even have a couple fairies.

      Thank you!

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  4. Legolas is probably my fav, but that's cause nobody can pull him off but Orlando! *drool*

    I also love Norse elfs!

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    1. I'm with you on Orlando being the perfect Legolas! He has always been my favorite LOTR character!

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  5. I love elves and it never fails when I start drawing I always end up doing an elf.

    Stopping by via the A - Z Challenge, I've visited your FB page, added you via GFC and G+
    http://www.scatteredmusings.net/2012/04/buying-car/

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    1. Thank you for the adds and for stopping by! I have many talents, no doubt. Sadly drawing is not one of them.

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  6. i used to love the little story about the elves that made the shoes---used to have some stuffed elves and saw that they were back in fashion in the stores this past Christmas!

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  7. Oooh, I like that word! I love elves. In fact, when The Hubby and I played Everquest (an online roleplaying game), my character was Akshaya, a high elf cleric. And any alternate characters I made? Elves, too. I just love 'em! ;)

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    1. Yeah, I like that word too! That's cool, I'm not really into playing video games but it's always fun to hear about them.

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  8. I love elves! I think the challenge for any writer today is to use them in a way that recalls their origins but still makes them unique to the writer's world -- which Tolkein did.

    Erin

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    1. I agree! I have some elves in one of my series and I try very hard to make them close to the original and also make them unique. And agreed, Tolkien did a very fantastic job doing just that!

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  9. oh elf! I didn't think about elves when I was dreaming up a post for today. I do prefer Tolkien's elves to Santa Clause's though - they're more elegant.

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    1. It took me a while to choose which mythical creature to do for E but once I started reading about Elves, I knew my choice was made. And yes, Elves as in Tolkien's, are much more elegant.

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  10. elves rock... that is it.

    Excellent! ... to the challenge "E" is for Efficient!
    Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
    A to Z Co-Host
    IZOMBIE: Visit the Madness

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    1. :) I laughed when I read your comment because in a 'spoof' made of LOTR, Legolas has a guitar rather than a bow and arrow and he does in fact 'Rock'.

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  11. I had never read that description of elves, but it's quite fitting. Doesn't the word just make you smile? Elf. Oh no, now I'm thinking of that movie and it's just not the same...

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    1. Why yes, yes it does. (I try not to think about the movie when it comes to Elves.)

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  12. I have to admit I've never considered elves to be particularly "pretty" creatures, maybe they are victims of the stereotype too!

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    1. LOL that's funny. I guess I never looked at it like that. I don't think it's just a stereotype though. The person (whoever it was) who created Elves, just made them naturally beautiful.

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  13. I remember watching a documentary on the filming of Lord of the Rings. There were these two women doing the costumes for the elves and they mentioned how sick they were of looking at "pretty people" all day.
    Made me laugh.

    I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
    Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

    Tim
    The Other Side
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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    1. That is funny. I wonder how the people playing the elves thought about that. :)

      Thank you! I'm glad I made it to the list of ones you like then! :)

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  14. I don't know, perhaps the elves look like whatever the writer imagines them to be like. I think they are very little creatures whose features depend upon what part of the world they live in? I really enjoyed your post. Best regards to you, Ruby

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  15. If I could be any kind of fantasy creature, my first choice would be a mermaid but my second would be an elf! They have incredible hearing and eyesight and speed and are masters at everything they do. I definitely wouldn't mind being like that!

    I do like Santa's cute little helper elves though, haha. :)

    Hope you're having a great week, Konstanz!

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    1. Yeah I wouldn't mind being an Elf. The funny thing about Mermaids, is I don't think that is a life I could enjoy if I were one. (Which there will be more info on those fun creatures later on this month).

      Thank you! Hope you're having a wonderful week as well!

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  16. I love the Elves in the LOTR books and movies. Too often Santa comes to mind when elves are mentioned. Those little guys make me think more along the lines of brownies or gnomes.

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    1. :) Actually you are very close when thinking of santa's little helpers as brownies. (Not so much on the gnomes).

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