Posted: February 07, 2000 at 14:13:12: by Forkbeard
: One of Tolkien's basic points in his mythology is that he is reviving an ancient view of elves as a higher race than Man, rather than the little winged sprites or fairies of romantic and modern stories. Does anyone have an idea if such an older view of elves actually existed? In other words, are there in fact old German, Norse, or Anglo-Saxon legends with these high and noble elves in them? Any examples?In addition to what Martin and Beren have written, I'll toss in a tidbit that might help. In the Anglo-Saxon poem Judith, the heroine is described as "aelfscinu"-elf shining. Some commentators have taken that as purely a reference to her beauty, but others have argued for an otherworldly sense to the term, which goes along with what Beren and Martin reported about the elves. I can look further into this, or can look for other aelf- compounds and descriptions if you're interested.
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