elf

Substantiv

1. 1

   A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or dangerous magical influence; in later Norse sources, sometimes divided into benevolent light elves (inhabiting Álfheimr) and malevolent dark elves.

   […] if theyr children at any time vvere frowarde and vvanton, they would ſay to them that the Guelfe or the Gibeline came. VVhich vvords novve from them (as many thinge els) be come into our vſage, and for Guelfes and Gibelines, we ſay Elfes & Goblins.

   The man whom heauens haue ordaynd to bee / The ſpouſe of Britomart, is Arthegall: / He wonneth in the land of Fayeree, / Yet is no Fary borne, ne ſib at all / To Elfes, but ſprong of ſeed terreſtriall, / And whylome by falſe Faries ſtolne away, / Whyles yet in infant cradle he did crall; / Ne other to himſelfe is knowne this day, / But that he by an Elfe was gotten of a Fay.

   Their Robbin-good-fellowes, Elfes, Fairies, Hobgoblins of our latter age, which idolatrous former daies and the fantasticall world of Greece ycleaped Fawnes, Satyres, Dryades & Hamadryades, did most of their merry prankes in the Night.

   Every elf, and fairy sprite, / Hop as light as bird from brier.

2. 2

   A small, magical creature similar to a fairy, often mischievous, playful, or occasionally helpful.

   For there and ſeveral other places / About mill dams and green brae faces, / Both Elrich, Elfs and Brownies ſtayed, / And Green gown’d Farries daunc’d and played; […]

   IN Days of Old when Arthur fill’d the Throne, / Whoſe Acts and Fame to Foreign Lands were blown; / The King of Elfs and little Fairy Queen / Gamboll’d on Heaths, and danc’d on ev’ry Green.

   Farefolkis, fairies, elfs, or elves; […]

   Prithee, young one, who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian child,—ha? Dost know thy catechism? Or art thou one of those naughty elfs or fairies, whom we thought to have left behind us, with other relics of Papistry, in merry old England?

3. 3

   A member of a race of tall, slender, graceful beings with pointed ears, typically immortal or very long-lived and possessing wisdom and magical abilities.

   Much of fairy lore clusters around the so-called fairy rings, that is, the green circles in old pastures within which the elfs were supposed to dance at night by the light of the moon.

   He was not speaking troll-talk now, but the language of Elfland, that grander tongue that he had had to speak when he was before the King: for he knew the language of Elfland although it was never used in the homes of the trolls, who preferred troll-talk. This language was spoken in those days also by men, for there were fewer languages then, and the elves and the people of Erl both used the same.

   So they laughed and sang in the trees; and pretty fair nonsense I daresay you think it. Not that they would care they would only laugh all the more if you told them so. They were elves of course. Soon Bilbo caught glimpses of them as the darkness deepened. He loved elves, though he seldom met them; but he was a little frightened of them too.

   Fantasy elves have human shapes. They're thin. They're tall. They're beautiful. They're blond. They have pointy ears.

4. 4

   veraltetA very diminutive person; a dwarf.

5. 5

   Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

6. 6

   Variante von Christmas elfEllipsis of Christmas elf.

   Since you’ve been out, the news arrives / The Elfs’ Insurance Company’s gone.

Verb

1. 1

   altertümlichTo twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.

   My face I'll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, and with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky.

Formen

Plural

elves, elfs

Präteritum

elfed

Partizip II

elfed

Partizip I

elfing

3. Person Singular

elfs