Editing Elf (section)

== Etymology ==

[[File:Phonological development of the word elf in English.png|thumb|right|upright=2|A chart showing how the sound of the word ''elf'' has changed in the history of English<ref>{{cite book|series=A Grammar of Old English |volume=1|title=Phonology|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]]|year=1992}}</ref>{{sfnp|Hall|2007|p=178 (fig. 7)}}]]

The English word ''[[wikt:elf|elf]]'' is from the [[Old English]] word most often attested as {{lang|ang|ælf}} (whose plural would have been [[Linguistic reconstruction|*]]{{lang|ang|ælfe}}). Although this word took a variety of forms in different Old English dialects, these converged on the form ''elf'' during the [[Middle English]] period.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=176–81}} During the Old English period, separate forms were used for female elves (such as {{lang|ang|ælfen}}, putatively from Proto-Germanic *''ɑlβ(i)innjō''), but during the Middle English period the word ''elf'' routinely came to include female beings.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=75–88, 157–66}}

The Old English forms are [[cognate]]s – having a common origin – with medieval Germanic terms such as Old Norse {{lang|non|alfr}} ('elf'; plural {{lang|non|alfar}}), Old High German {{lang|goh|alp}} ('evil spirit'; pl. {{lang|goh|alpî}}, {{lang|goh|elpî}}; feminine {{lang|goh|elbe}}), Burgundian *''alfs'' ('elf'), and Middle Low German ''{{lang|mg|alf}}'' ('evil spirit').{{sfnp|Orel|2003|p=13}}{{sfnp|Hall|2007|p=5}} These words must come from [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]], the ancestor-language of the attested [[Germanic languages]]; the Proto-Germanic forms are reconstructed as *''ɑlβi-z'' and *''ɑlβɑ-z''.{{sfnp|Orel|2003|p=13}}{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=5, 176–77}}

Germanic ''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/albiz|*ɑlβi-z~*ɑlβɑ-z]]'' is generally agreed to be a cognate with Latin ''albus'' ('(matt) white'), Old Irish ''ailbhín'' ('flock'), Ancient Greek ἀλφός (''alphós''; 'whiteness, white leprosy'), and Albanian ''elb'' ('barley'); and the Germanic word for 'swan' reconstructed as [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/albit|''*albit-'']] (compare Modern Icelandic ''álpt''). These all come from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*h₂elbʰ-'', and seem to be connected by the idea of whiteness. The Germanic word presumably originally meant 'white one', perhaps as a euphemism.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=54–55}} [[Jakob Grimm]] thought whiteness implied positive moral connotations, and, noting Snorri Sturluson's ''[[Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar|ljósálfar]]'', suggested that elves were divinities of light.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=54–55}} This is not necessarily the case, however. For example, because the cognates suggest matte white rather than shining white, and because in medieval Scandinavian texts whiteness is associated with beauty, [[Alaric Hall]] has suggested that elves may have been called 'the white people' because whiteness was associated with (specifically feminine) beauty.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=54–55}} <!--Some scholars have argued that the names [[Albion]] and [[Alps]] may also be related (possibly through Celtic).{{sfnp|Orel|2003|p=13}}{{Failed verification|date=January 2024|talk=Etymology not supported by sources}}-->

A completely different etymology, making ''elf'' a cognate with the ''[[Ribhus|Ṛbhus]]'', semi-divine craftsmen in Indian mythology, was suggested by [[Adalbert Kuhn]] in 1855.<ref name="Kuhn1855-p110">{{harvp|Kuhn|1855|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wvRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA110 110]}}; {{harvp|Schrader|1890|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.107733/page/n183 163]}}.</ref> In this case, *''ɑlβi-z'' would connote the meaning 'skilful, inventive, clever', and could be a cognate with Latin ''labor'', in the sense of 'creative work'. While often mentioned, this etymology is not widely accepted.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=54–55 fn. 1}}

{{anchor|Proper names}}

=== In proper names ===

Throughout the medieval Germanic languages, ''elf'' was one of the nouns used in [[Germanic name|personal names]], almost invariably as a first element. These names may have been influenced by [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] names beginning in ''Albio-'' such as ''[[Mars (mythology)#Celtic Mars|Albiorix]]''.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|p=56}}

[[File:Alden Valley - geograph.org.uk - 417197.jpg|thumb|Alden Valley, Lancashire, a place possibly once associated with elves{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=64–66}}]]

Personal names provide the only evidence for ''elf'' in [[Gothic language|Gothic]], which must have had the word *{{lang|got|albs}} (plural *{{lang|got|albeis}}). The most famous name of this kind is ''[[Alboin]]''. Old English names in ''elf''- include the cognate of ''Alboin'' [[Ælfwine]] (literally "elf-friend", m.), [[Ælfric]] ("elf-powerful", m.), [[Ælfweard]] ("elf-guardian", m.), and [[Ælfwaru]] ("elf-care", f.). A widespread survivor of these in modern English is [[Alfred (name)|Alfred]] (Old English ''Ælfrēd'', "elf-advice"). Also surviving are the English surname [[Elgar]] (''Ælfgar'', "elf-spear"), and the name of [[St Alphege]] (''Ælfhēah'', "elf-tall").<ref>{{cite dictionary |last1=Reaney |first1=P. H. |last2=Wilson |first2=R. M. |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-860092-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofengl0000rean/page/6 6, 9] |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofengl0000rean/page/6 }}</ref> German examples are ''[[Alberich]]'', ''[[Alphart]]'' and ''Alphere'' (father of [[Walter of Aquitaine]])<ref name=paul/><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Althof |editor-first=Hermann |title=Das Waltharilied |publisher=Dieterich |year=1902 |page=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AcnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA114}}</ref> and Icelandic examples include ''Álfhildur''. These names suggest that elves were positively regarded in early Germanic culture. Of the many words for supernatural beings in Germanic languages, the only ones regularly used in personal names are ''elf'' and words denoting pagan gods, suggesting that elves were considered to be similar to gods.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=58–61}}

In later Old Icelandic, {{lang|non|alfr}} ("elf") and the personal name which in Common Germanic had been *{{lang|gem|Aþa(l)wulfaz}} both coincidentally became {{lang|non|álfr~Álfr}}.<ref name=devreis/>

Elves appear in some place names, though it is difficult to be sure how many because other words, including personal names, can appear similar to ''elf'', such as ''al''- (from ''eald'') meaning "old". The clearest appearances of elves in English examples are ''[[Elveden]]'' ("elves' hill", Suffolk) and ''[[Elvendon]]'' ("elves' valley", Oxfordshire);<ref>Ann Cole, 'Two Chiltern Place-names Reconsidered: Elvendon and Misbourne', ''Journal of the English Place-name Society'', 50 (2018), 65-74 (p. 67).</ref> other examples may be ''[[Eldon Hill]]'' ("Elves'-hill hill", Derbyshire); and ''[[Alden Valley]]'' ("elves' hill valley", Lancashire). These associate elves fairly consistently with woods and valleys.{{sfnp|Hall|2007|pp=64–66}}