Page 120 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

100 Mysterious Creatures

depicted as possessing many more powers and advanced and possessed a technology that
abilities than humans, but somehow they are seemed to be magical compared to the primi-
strongly dependent on human beings and tive tools of the primitive hunter-gatherer
from time to time they seek to reinforce their humans who later became the established resi-
own kind by kidnapping both human children dents of the area. The little people may have
and adults. died out, they may have been assimilated into
While the wee people and their associated the encroaching culture by interbreeding, or
entites—elves, gnomes, and leprechauns—are they may largely have gone underground,
most often depicted as sweet, little winged emerging topside often enough to be perpetu-
“Tinkerbells” and jolly forest creatures in ated in folklore and legend.
bright costumes and pointed hats, each of the
M Delving Deeper
fairy folk and their kin have a dark side. Some
Bord, Janet. Fairies: Real Encounters with Little People.
of the nursery tales throughout the centuries
New York: Dell Publishing, 1998.
have depicted a certain mischievous nature to
DuBois, Pierre, with Roland Sabatier and Claudine
the wee people, but the creatures can become
Sabatier, illustrators. The Great Encyclopedia of
downright nasty—even dangerous—if pro-
Fairies. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
voked.
Jones, Alison, ed. Larousse Dictionary of World Lore.
Medieval theologians seemed to favor
New York: Larousse, 1995.
three possibilities to explain the origin of
Keightley, Thomas. The World Guide to Gnomes,
these beings:
Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People. New York:
1. they are a special class of demoted angels, Random House, 2000.
2. they are spirits of the dead or a special class Mack, Carol K., and Dinah Mack. A Field Guide to
of the dead, or Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subver-
sive Spirits. New York: Henry Holt, 1999.
3. they are fallen angels.
Rose, Carol. Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins:
Most of the ancient texts declare that An Encyclopedia. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.
these entities are of a middle nature, “between
Spence, Lewis. The Fairy Tradition in Britain. London:
humans and angels.” Although they are of a
Rider, 1948.
nature between spirits and humans, they can
intermarry with humans and bear half-human
children. One factor has been consistent in all Elves
traditions: the “middle folk” continually med- In old Germany, “elf” was a name applied to
dle in affairs of humans, sometimes to do them any kind of supernatural spirit, especially one
good, sometimes to do them ill. that inhabited fields or forests. The Germans
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), author of many also blamed elves for sitting on their chests
books on spiritual matters, once suggested that while they slept and causing them to have a
the wee folk are a third rational species. The nightmare.
angels are the highest, having perfect goodness In Scotland, England, and Scandinavia,
and whatever knowledge is necessary for them “elf” was another name for a member of the
to do God’s will; humans, somewhat less per- fairy folk. Then, as fairy lore developed and
fect, are the second; fairies, having certain became more intricate and complex, with lev-
powers of the angels but no souls, are the third. els and classes within their supernatural ranks,
Because the folklore of the wee people is so the English designated elves as smaller mem-
multicultural and worldwide, some theorists bers of the fairy population and the Scots gave
have suggested that the fairy folk may actually the title of elf to those beings who were gener-
have been the surviving remnants of a past ally of human size. Things changed a bit in
civilization populated by a species of early Scandinavia, as well, when the people there
humans or humanoids that were of diminutive began to distinguish two categories of elves—
stature compared to evolving Homo sapiens. the benign light ones and the dastardly dark
These little people may have been quite ones. Scottish lore developed to perceive the

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