Everything Under the Moon

I wasn't sure where to post this thread, so I am posting it here. Mods feel free to move this to a proper spot if this isn't the place.

I've been researching elves on-and-off lately. I'm extremely fascinated by their earthy yet magickal beings. Plus I've been told I look like an elf due to my long skinny figure, and elf like ears.

I'm curious to find out where they "originated" from. And any other information pertaining to them that would be prevalent. I'm not looking for someone to drop what their doing and explain everything to me, but rather point me in the right direction to do the research myself.

Any links to websites, or books I can purchase on the subject of elves ( not so much stories about elves but more so the history on them or anything pertaining to their qualities,rituals,magick )

I look forward to hearing, and seeing what you all have to show me!

-Dualis Lux Manibus

Elves tend to be a pretty widespread phenomenon. They pop up in a lot of European lore, even in eastern European lore under various names (Vila in my path). And seem to be lumped in with the general "faery" term a lot of the time.

On a personal note, I've come to understand them as always having been around. Maybe they weren't always in our realm of physical reality, maybe they were at some point in the distant past and they chose to cross the threshold into the otherworld. Since there's no currently-discovered archaeological or paleontological data suggesting they were ever a part of this reality, I'm prone to believe the former.

But as far as "originating," I couldn't say. A lot of lore across Europe (specifically) was destroyed with Christianization, either because the stories were burned or otherwise destroyed, or because they were simply passed on orally and were never written down and thus ceased being told in such frequency over the generations.

If I could choose one direction to point you in, I would say start looking into the Celtic Faerie lore. It's as good a start as any, and a lot of the stories hold so many similar themes (although they may all be reconstructed myths based on the same story, but whatever it's a start) that it's hard to ignore.

Thank you very much so for such an informative post Vesca *tips hat*

I wont be nearly as helpful as Vesca, but I know that Dwarves were quite important and lucky in ancient Egypt. Perhaps elves were mentioned as unlucky somewhere? Excuse my ignorance.

Xoxo