An elf is a creature of Norse mythology. The elves were originally imagined as a race of minor nature and fertility gods, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and underground places and caves, or in wells and springs. They have been portrayed to be long-lived or immortal and as beings of magical powers.

Following J. R. R. Tolkien's influential The Lord of the Rings, wherein a wise, immortal people named Elves have a significant role, elves became staple characters of modern fantasy.

Etymology and Germanic origins

The English word elf is from Old NorseFact: date=September 2008 ælf or álfr (also ylf), from a Proto-Germanic *albo-z, *albi-z, Middle High German elbe. In Middle English, until the 14th century, elf was the masculine, while the corresponding feminine was elven (Old English àlfen, from *albinnja).

The word's ultimate etymology may be the Proto-Indo-European root *albh- meaning "white", from which also stems the Latin albus "white". Alternatively, a connection to the Rbhus, semi-divine craftsmen in Indian mythology, has also been suggested (OED). In this case, a Latin etymological root cognate would be laborFact: date=September 2008.

Something associated with elves or the qualities of elves is described by the adjectives elven, elvish, elfin or elfish. According to a convention of modern fantasy, the 'v' in elven or elvish refers to human-sized elvesFact: date=June 2008 (who correspond more closely to those of the old Germanic paganism)Fact: date=June 2008, whereas the f in elfin or elfish refers to tiny-sized elfsFact: date=June 2008 (who correspond more closely to the folklore of the Renaissance and Romantic Eras)Fact: date=June 2008.

The corresponding terms in Norse languages other than English are:

• North Germanic
• Old Norse: álfr, plural álfar.
• Icelandic: álfar, álfafólk and huldufólk (hidden people).
• Danish: Elver, elverfolk or alfer (note alfer today translates to fairies). .
• Norwegian: alv, alven, alver, alvene / alvefolket (note alvefolket today translates to elfpeople)
• Swedish: alfer, alver or älvor (feminine form - today translated to fairies).
• Continental West Germanic
• Dutch: elf, elfen, elven, alven (Middle Dutch alf)
• German: from the English: Elf (m), Elfe (f), Elfen "fairies". Elb (m, plural Elbe or Elben) is a reconstructed term, while Elbe (f) is attested in Middle High German. Alb Alp (m), plural Alpe has the meaning of "incubus" (Old High German alp, plural *alpî or *elpî).
• Gothic *albs, plural *albeis (Procopius has the personal name Albila)